Your correspondent with Vencil Mares at the Taylor Cafe, c. 2013.
Texas barbecue giant Vencil Mares, proprietor and pit boss at the Taylor Cafe in Taylor TX, passed away on November 24, 2019. He had just celebrated his 96th birthday.
You can find several references to Vencil Mares on Burnt My Fingers by doing a search for his name. In a long conversation back in 2013, he shared his secret for getting brisket past the “smoke stall” (he wraps it in butcher paper and puts it in a Coleman cooler overnight; we wrap in aluminum foil and put in oven at low heat for a few hours), advised on the importance of feeling the “give” when you hand-test brisket for doneness, and pointed out how important it is to distribute your seasonings so the customer gets some in every bite.
According to his obituary, “Vencil served bravely as a medic in the 102nd EVAC unit that landed in Normandy in the Rhineland, Ardennes, and Central Europe. He also fought in the Battle of the Bulge. He earned the Bronze Star, an award for meritorious action, for serving in five battles. He never forgot those that were lost in combat. He was so very proud of his oldest great grandson that followed in his footsteps and is an Army medic, SPC Kyle Mares.
“He opened Taylor Café in 1948 and was an icon in the barbeque world. He has been featured in numerous publications, including Texas Monthly and was once featured in a Super Bowl Chevrolet truck commercial. Vencil was proud and honored to have recently received the Key to the City of Taylor along with the mayor’s proclamation of declaring November 10th, “Vencil Mares Day”.
“Vencil will be missed by all he has left behind, but all those that have gone before him – get ready, because the pits will be fired up in Heaven!”
If you’d like to share your thoughts or make a memorial contribution, the directions are in the obituary. RIP Vencil Mares.
Will you be preparing brisket in his honor. He sounds like a hero in many venues. Sixteen years ago I met an old fellow who had been working oxen since he was 8 years old. He died a couple of years ago and it felt like the end of an era. His name was Howard van Ord. I met him because his daughter lived in Costa Mesa and told him to visit our oxen team in 2004.
I was able to listen to this wise old man for four hours. I felt as though I was in the presence of a genius. This man knew oxen well. I wish I had met him ten years later when I could have appreciated his wisdom better. Sixteen years ago I was too much a novice with oxen to know what to ask him. By the way, that is a terrific photograph of you with him.
I prepared my sixth ever Turducken this Thanksgiving. It was great. If you decide to do this some day I have some ideas that will help you succeed.
As a matter of fact, I was smoking brisket on the day he passed, for a pot luck the next day. We’ve had an early winter here, cold temps and snow, but that day was an exception. Vencil must have been looking down from that smoke pit in heaven.
Regarding your turducken… I am not likely to make one of these so might hope to get you to share your recipe here some Thanksgiving. Do you have pictures? Also, what do you do with the wings and legs… leave them on the turkey or take the meat off the bone and stuff inside?
I was eating Vencil’s brisket, as a kid, staying with my grandparents in Taylor, from my 9th birthday. Still stopped there every time I came through on a trip and to visit friends. I was lucky enough to have had conversations with Vencil, each and every time. He will be missed and now that I have learned the Taylor Cafe is closed, it also will be missed.
Not surprised the Taylor Cafe is closed, with the chief smoker and Coleman cooler-manner gone. And now they’re going to build a microchip fab there. Enjoy the memories.