Why a small Texas town has superb Korean food

With its boom in a creative class, Taylor now sports some of the best food east of I-35 — much of it occupying various rooms of its repurposed old high school.

Why it matters: You should head to Taylor, if only to experience excellent, homey Korean food in an old-school locker room.

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Start your day at Plowman's Kitchen , a southern-inflected diner occupying the old high school band hall.

• Our recommendation is the eggs Benedict — served on lovely, fluffy, from-scratch biscuits.
• Pro tip: Sub the cheesy grits for the cottage fries.

Go to lunch at Taylor Seoul Food , where the boys and girls locker rooms have been repurposed as a kitchen and classily appointed dining room.

The bibimbap at Taylor Seoul Food. Photo: Asher Price/Axios

What they're saying: Sungeun Naomi Park was living in Circle C, in southwest Austin, when her father, in South Korea, read about Samsung's expansion to Taylor and recommended she check out the town.

• "It reminded me of Burnet Road, with all its antique shops and old buildings," Park tells Axios.
• She opened the restaurant in 2022, and reckons half her clientele are Korean nationals working at the Samsung plant, where production is now slated to start in 2025 .
• The restaurant now attracts customers from Pflugerville, Elgin and Rockdale — "we are a gem in a gym," she likes to say.

Sungeun Naomi Park shows a picture of her relatives in South Korea. Photo: Asher Price/Axios

To eat: Go for the Bling Bling Bowl ($18.75), featuring bulgogi served in a clay hot pot with scrumptious veggies and a sunny-side-up egg, served with homemade kimchi.

If you have room — and, frankly, even if you don't — stop by Louie Mueller's for a sausage, in all its juiciness a perfect specimen of its species.

• Texas Monthly BBQ editor Daniel Vaughn recently recounted how eating at the Taylor standby was " life-changing ."

The smoked sausage at Louie Mueller's. Photo: Asher Price/Axios

Cool off with an evening libation at the Loose Screw , which occupies the shorthand and typing classrooms in the old high school.

• "Teachers and students will come back and say, 'I wish this was here when I was in school,'" said Tammy Struble, who owns the spot with her husband.

The bottom line: "We're close enough to Austin to do all the fun stuff we want but still have a small-town feel," Tammy says. "We hope we can maintain that small town identity while having the benefits of a big semiconductor."

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