After a couple months of packing, moving, house guests, etc. it is finally time to get back to writing. And what better way to start it out than a post about my trip to Franklin Barbecue.
If you aren’t familiar with Franklin Barbecue here is a quick primer: Franklin’s is known for being the best barbecue (particularly brisket) in the world. Yeah, there will be a few people who disagree but the consensus is Franklin’s consistently turns out the best smoked brisket you will ever have. They are located in Austin, TX and grew out of a food trailer. Franklin’s is known for their lines and people will start lining up well before sunrise to get their food.
Franklin Barbecue serves pork ribs, pulled pork, sausage, turkey, and on some days beef ribs but they are known for their brisket. They season it heavily with salt and pepper and smoke it over oak wood in some offset stick burners.
I have wanted to try Franklins for years and when a work trip took me to Austin I made sure to give myself time to try it out. I ate at La Barbecue and Mickelwaith’s last year when I was there since Franklins was recovering from a fire. Both of those were excellent and I am glad I ate their first for a comparison.
My friend and I met at Franklin Barbecue at 8 AM on a Wednesday and were about 12th in line. On the weekends you have to get there well before then to ensure you get some food. We sat, chatted, enjoyed a couple morning beers, and really enjoyed the waiting experience. It was kind of like tailgating. The two chairs at the bottom of the ramp were us. By the time the doors opened at 11 AM the line was to the back of the building.
As you are waiting in line the anticipation definitely builds. We would occasionally get some whiffs of the smoke and food and as the time got closer our mouths started to water. I felt more excitement for those doors to open than I did when Geraldo opened Al Capone’s vault.
Franklin’s opens the doors of the restaurant well before the food is ready so there are bathrooms available while you are waiting and if you want to buy a t-shirt or hat or another souvenir I would do it at this time. I got a t-shirt and some sauce (forgot about TSA when I bought it and it didn’t make it home) but the blue cafeteria trays were pretty sweet as well.
At 11:00 sharp the doors open and the crowds funnel into the restaurant. It only took about 5 minutes or so before it was our turn to order.
When you get to the front of the line one of the workers quickly cuts your meat and puts it on your tray covered in butcher paper. No plates here. They also cut off some little bits to sample while you are waiting which were delectable.
I went big when ordering. Never again would I get to have a first experience at Franklin’s so I wanted some of everything. I ordered 2 pounds of brisket, a half pound of ribs, a quarter pound of turkey, 2 sausage links, and some pulled pork. The food isn’t cheap so the prices gets up there very quickly. Brisket runs $25 per pound and most of the other meats are between $19 and $25 per pound.
And now for the money shot:
Once you taste the first bite of brisket you will instantly know that Franklin Barbecue is worth the hype and there really aren’t words to describe how good it is. The brisket has incredibly moist and the bark on it is a perfect mix of salty, pepper, fatty, and chewy.
I have cooked a few briskets in the past and they have turned out very good but this stuff was on another level. There was no dryness in any of the bites, no bad chunks of unrendered fat, and no bits of bark that were over or under seasoned. Nothing I have eaten in my life really compares to the perfection of this brisket.
Out of all the other meats the turkey was my second favorite. Very moist and flavorful. The sausage and ribs were very good but I didn’t really care for the pulled pork. Wait until a trip to the Carolinas for that.
We ate and ate and ate and didn’t want to stop. But alas, at some point we just had to stop. There are no to-go boxes but there is a wrapping station set up with some butcher paper so you can wrap up your leftovers and take them home. Luckily my hotel had a fridge in the room so I ate well for the next couple days. It might be blasphemous to say but the brisket was almost better cold.
After we ate I asked one of the workers there (they were all extremely friendly) if I could see the pits and they were more than happy to oblige. All their meats are cooked on 5 huge offset stick burners built by Aaron Franklin himself. Every day they cook about 1000 pounds of brisket (around 100 briskets) and 1000 pounds of other meats.
As I was looking at the pits and talking to the pitmaster Aaron Franklin himself came into the pit room. I could tell he was in a hurry to get somewhere but I did get a chance to say hi, shake his hand, and chat a bit. He couldn’t have been more friendly, especially considering he was right in the middle of a lunch rush.
We chatted with the pitmaster for about 10 minutes talking about their fire last year, how much wood they go through (about a cord of post oak every day), how they cook everything, what time they have to start cooking, and so on. The pits run pretty much all day every day except for Sunday afternoon and evening when the fires go out and they clean all the pits.
If you ever get a chance to go to Austin plan a day to go to Franklin Barbecue. There is nothing about the experience that will not live up to the hype. From waiting in line to the food to the staff everything about the visit was top notch and I would do it again in a heartbeat.
