OT - It was worth the wait...

Black_Badger

A couple weeks back I made my first ever trip down to Austin and decided to go brave the line and try to BBQ at Franklin. All in all I was in line for about 4.5 hours (arrived at ~7:30 on a Saturday and was within the first 50 in line), drank a couple of beers with some folks I met from Missouri, and experienced probably the best overall BBQ experience I've ever had. I wrote up a review on Yelp and hit the character max, which I didn't even know existed (haha)! Best of all, I came away inspired to cook even more and to really work hard on getting my BBQ to be as amazing as what I had in that little shop on 11th st.

Here's what I had:

1/3# brisket flat - WOW, this stuff is good!!! Flavor is awesome, texture is perfect, it even LOOKS beautiful. Moist, delicious, smoky, with just enough fat and a gorgeous smoke ring. Really, the textbook example of a pretty much perfect brisket.

1/3# brisket point (burnt ends) - Officially 'burnt ends' aren't on the menu but I requested them anyway and was not disappointed. The carver took that whole delicious ridge of rib-eye like goodness from the very distal end of the point and cubed it up in about 1.5" cubes. These guys were unbelievably good. Barky and crunchy outside, ridiculously moist and meaty inside. I liked them best with a slice of white onion and just a touch of the vinegar/red pepper sauce on the table.

1/3# pulled pork - Hands down the very best pulled pork I've ever had; period. Super moist, but not the least bit mushy. The guys I met in line didn't get any pork and I insisted they try it. They were cussing themselves for the rest of the meal for not ordering it (haha)! Perfect ratio of bark to luscious inner meat and just enough vinegar sauce to give it a bit of bite. Exceptional on it's own, but even better with a slice of pickle. I honestly believe I could eat 3 or 4 pounds of this stuff without getting tired of it.

2 pork spare ribs - Perhaps the only thing I would register a complaint about. Bones pulled out even before I could finish the first bite, which is usually a sure sign they're overcooked. That being said, these were tender and delicious, again without being at all mushy. I'm not sure how that was accomplished, normally a rib whee the bone pulls like that just disintegrates when your chewing it but these had a nice chew. Some sort of voodoo magic at work here; but only in the best possible way.

1 sausage - Like everything else, it was crazy good. Love the taste and the texture of the sausage. Great snap from the (I assume) natural casing, and the grind on the meat was perfect. I had some other sausages in Austin that thought used too fine a grind and ended up disappointing; not so at Franklin. With so much other great bbq this ended up being almost an afterthought, but most anywhere else it could have been the star of the show.

That and an iced tea was literally my entire order (haha). I would have loved to try some sides, bread, or dessert, but I was flying out just a couple hours after lunch and I knew stomach room was at a premium!

I loved Franklin, even on a cloudy/rainy/cool day, and I could definitely see doing it all over again. Bring a chair, bring some beer, bring some friends, and stick it out to try some of the most amazing BBQ ever; I can't believe you'll be disappointed...

Cheers all -
B_B

Foghorn

Nice post.  It is definitely worth experiencing at least once.  My visit there inspired me to raise my game.  We actually found that the chopped beef sandwich was our favorite.  It's the best bite of food I've ever eaten.