My Franklin BBq Pilgrimage - Los Angeles to Austin Tx in 24 hrs - A Day In Pictures

The Cen-Tex Smoker

SoCalTim said:

The Cen-Tex Smoker  - I see Stubb's has 3 restaurants in Austin, have you ever eaten at any of them??

I’ve eaten at all of them. They are terrible. 

Here is your Austin hit list:

Franklin
Valentinas
styles switch
mickelthwait
labarbecue

dallas:

Pecan Lodge

outside of austin:

snow’s in Lexington TX
Louie Mueller taylor TX

The Cen-Tex Smoker

Download the Texas monthly bbq app. It’s a great resource for all things TXBBQ. 

dmchicago

A friend of mine, who is also my Insurance Agent, maintains a Top 20 BBQ list.
These are his opinions based on his visits but provide an decent overview of the Central Texas BBQ scene.  

SHEEHANCAN TOP 20 BBQ LIST

PM=Pitmaster

1. Stiles Switch BBQ – Austin, 6610 N. Lamar, 512-380-9199
   (PM Lance Fitzpatrick, Bill Dumas)
2. Franklin’s BBQ – Austin 512-653-1187
   (PM Aaron Franklin)
3. It’s All Good BBQ – Spicewood 512-264-1744
   (PM Frankie Hoch)
4. Snow’s BBQ – Lexington, 979-773-4640
   (PM Kerry and Ms. Tootsie Tomanetz, open Saturday Only)
5. Kreuz BBQ – Lockhart, 512-398-2361
   (PM Roy Perez)
6. Valentina’s Tex Mex BBQ– 11500 Manchaca, Austin, 512-221-4248
   (PM Miguel Vidal)
7. Black’s BBQ – Lockhart, 512.398.2712
   (PM Kent Black)
8. Creekside Cookers BBQ – Wimberley, 512-947-1609
   (PM Kelly Evers)
9. Miller’s BBQ – Belton 254-939-5500
   (PM Dirk Miller)
10. Brown’s BBQ – Austin 512-517-8520 (PM Daniel Brown)
    
11. Louie Mueller BBQ– Taylor, 512-352-6206
    (PM Wayne Mueller)
12. La Barbecue 1200 E 6th, Austin, (512) 605-9696
13. Freedmen’s BBQ – Austin, 24th & San Gabriel, 512-220-0953
    
14. Salt Lick BBQ – Driftwood, 512-858-4959
    (PM Scott Roberts)
15.  City Market BBQ– Luling, 830-875-9019
    (PM Joe Capello)
16. Schmidt Family BBQ– Bee Cave, 512-263-4060 
    (PM Chad Franks)
    
17. Southside Market – Elgin, 512-281-4650
    (PM Bryan Bracewell)
18. Kenny’s Smokehouse – Plano, 972-473-7478
19. Sonny Bryan’s BBQ – Dallas 214-357-7120
    
20. Micklethwait Craft Meats – 1309 Rosewood Ave, Austin, 512-791-5961

20stone

Houston has a spot or two as well.  I smell a BBQ tour that needs to happen. 

MaskedMarvel

Foghorn said:

SoCalTim said:

The Cen-Tex Smoker  - I see Stubb's has 3 restaurants in Austin, have you ever eaten at any of them??

I've been to the one that is downtown and has a Sunday Gospel Brunch.  It's a fun experience mixing some rock n' roll gospel music with a BBQ buffet on a Sunday morning.  The food is decent but by itself it is nothing to write home about.  

Did you get up and dance? They used to make people get up...

good bloody Marys..

SoCalTim

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

SoCalTim said:

The Cen-Tex Smoker  - I see Stubb's has 3 restaurants in Austin, have you ever eaten at any of them??

I’ve eaten at all of them. They are terrible. 

Here is your Austin hit list:

Franklin
Valentinas
styles switch
mickelthwait
labarbecue

dallas:

Pecan Lodge

outside of austin:

snow’s in Lexington TX
Louie Mueller taylor TX

Bingo! That’s what I wanted to know!! Thank You!

The Cen-Tex Smoker

SoCalTim said:

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

SoCalTim said:

The Cen-Tex Smoker  - I see Stubb's has 3 restaurants in Austin, have you ever eaten at any of them??

I’ve eaten at all of them. They are terrible. 

Here is your Austin hit list:

Franklin
Valentinas
styles switch
mickelthwait
labarbecue

dallas:

Pecan Lodge

outside of austin:

snow’s in Lexington TX
Louie Mueller taylor TX

Bingo! That’s what I wanted to know!! Thank You!

Add freedman's in Austin. I've never been but it shows up on everyone's list of good spots. 

DFW

My wife and I drove down to Austin early December, and the lines wrapped outside the doors of ALL the top BBQ joints is not a joke!  We had our 18 month old grandson with us, or my @ss would have been in line, in the rain, outside Franklin's.  Will definitely be heading back to Austin with the hopes of feasting on the world's best brisket, a la 'Franklin'....so hope to connect with some of the eggheads 

lousubcap

@DFW based on only two personal data points and one from @JohnInCarolina, you can score Franklins mid-week (at least in Dec and jan) with no more than an hour in the queue.  
Within the same calendar dates I walked up to LaBarbeque 10 minutes before they opened (happened at 11 AM) and was first in line.  Valentina's- high noon 5 in line. (Yes I figured I was living right-and who knows why!!)
You must have drawn the shortstraw or things have really progressed within the past year.  FWIW-
Don't know your launch point but if within a reasonable drive I would go again soon.  

SoCalTim

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

SoCalTim said:

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

SoCalTim said:

The Cen-Tex Smoker  - I see Stubb's has 3 restaurants in Austin, have you ever eaten at any of them??

I’ve eaten at all of them. They are terrible. 

Here is your Austin hit list:

Franklin
Valentinas
styles switch
mickelthwait
labarbecue

dallas:

Pecan Lodge

outside of austin:

snow’s in Lexington TX
Louie Mueller taylor TX

Bingo! That’s what I wanted to know!! Thank You!

Add freedman's in Austin. I've never been but it shows up on everyone's list of good spots. 

I didn’t see Salt Lick mentioned, have you been?

thetrim

I'm headed to Fort Worth in April for a friend's daughter's wedding.  What a must up that way?

Foghorn

Salt Lick is good, but not great BBQ.  But it is a great experience if you go with a group on a sunny weekend afternoon and see all the people that drive from miles around to hang out at a place in the middle of nowhere and get some good food.  BYOB and plan to wait a while on a nice day, but that time waiting can be time drinking (and/or kicking a soccer ball, or playing catch, or chess, or guitar, etc) with friends on a nice day in the Texas Hill Country...

DFW

@lousubcap, it was a random Sunday morning...my wife just rolled over and said hey, we should drive down to Austin today...so I jumped at the opportunity.  I will certainly heed your advice and make a return trip soon, but it will be slightly more of a planned event on the next attempt.  Actually, my SIL will be visiting next month, so will probably take another stab early Feb.  We drove by Valentina's after Franklin, and the line wasn't nearly as long, but it was a rainy Sunday, so a no-go for the little guy. 

Also, I'm in Arlington, TX - about 3hrs from Austin...so count me in the next time the eggheads decide to throw down!

Legume

Foghorn said:

Salt Lick is good, but not great BBQ.  But it is a great experience if you go with a group on a sunny weekend afternoon and see all the people that drive from miles around to hang out at a place in the middle of nowhere and get some good food.  BYOB and plan to wait a while on a nice day, but that time waiting can be time drinking (and/or kicking a soccer ball, or playing catch, or chess, or guitar, etc) with friends on a nice day in the Texas Hill Country...

Yep to all of the above.  it's a destination for us when family are in from out of town because of the atmosphere and people absolutely love it there as long as they're not cue-heads.  Food is good, but it definitely gets a bump from the setting and the smells.  If you're on a holy-brisket quest, this is not the detour you want.  Brisket, sausage, turkey, ribs and chicken.  No pulled pork.  I like their sauce, it's a texas style mustard based sauce, similar to City Market mentioned above.  Their habanero sauce, their pickles and their bread are fantastic.  You can get Salt Lick in the Austin airport if you fly in here and it's also in one of the terminals in DFW (can't recall which).  Anything at the airport is brought in and reheated, so, it's good in comparison to most airport grub, but a step down from what you get at the actual location in Driftwood.

SoCalTim

I didn't see Smitty's Market BBQ on any of the lists, anyone been there??

Legume

I've never actually eaten in Lockhart at any of those places.  There is a place in Austin called Terry Black's BBQ that is from the same family as Blacks in Lockhart and that was one of the best beef ribs I have ever had.  Right there with Valentina’s beef rib.

The Cen-Tex Smoker

Foghorn said:

Salt Lick is good, but not great BBQ.  But it is a great experience if you go with a group on a sunny weekend afternoon and see all the people that drive from miles around to hang out at a place in the middle of nowhere and get some good food.  BYOB and plan to wait a while on a nice day, but that time waiting can be time drinking (and/or kicking a soccer ball, or playing catch, or chess, or guitar, etc) with friends on a nice day in the Texas Hill Country...

Perfectly said. Not the best Q but definitely the best place. 

The Cen-Tex Smoker

SoCalTim said:

I didn't see Smitty's Market BBQ on any of the lists, anyone been there??

Several times. Cool place but the places in Lockhart don’t hold up the way they used to. These were the Mecca’s for TX BBQ until Franklin upped the game. These places are legendary  but they don’t hold a candle to any of the top 5-6 places in Austin. 

Definitely worth a visit if you if you want to see where it all started (along With Louie Mueller in Taylor which is still on top of the game). 

The only old school place that deserves to mentioned in the same breath as franklin, stiles, Valentina’s, labarbecue and a few others is Louie Mueller. 

The Cen-Tex Smoker

smittys has a live fire on the floor 2 feet from where you order with a flimsy post and chain the only thing keeping you away. I think they have a “danger” sign hanging from it so it’s super safe.  

I have no idea how they get that past the fun police but they have for 100 years (more or less) 

The Cen-Tex Smoker

The Cen-Tex Smoker

This gives you a little better perspective. And I guess they just got rid of the chain and post. It looked silly anyway

SoCalTim

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

smittys has a live fire on the floor 2 feet from where you order with a flimsy post and chain the only thing keeping you away. I think they have a “danger” sign hanging from it so it’s super safe.  

I have ave no idea how they get that past the fun police but they have for 100 years (more or less) 

Those pictures are incredible, there is no way any city would allow someone to do that today. Thanks for the info on Smitty's - I wanna go see it for myself!

The Cen-Tex Smoker

SoCalTim said:

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

smittys has a live fire on the floor 2 feet from where you order with a flimsy post and chain the only thing keeping you away. I think they have a “danger” sign hanging from it so it’s super safe.  

I have ave no idea how they get that past the fun police but they have for 100 years (more or less) 

Those pictures are incredible, there is no way any city would allow someone to do that today. Thanks for the info on Smitty's - I wanna go see it for myself!

You should. A great day would be to go to Lockhart and hit Smitty’s, Kruetz (sounds like “Krites”), and Blacks. Smittys and Kruetz are the same family and have a 100 year history in TX BBQ. Some pretty crazy stories about money and family breakups but they are all back together again. 

This is is a good read if you want the backstory. 

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.texasmonthly.com/bbq/a-timeline-of-lockhart-barbecue/amp/

Carolina Q

SoCalTim said:

The Cen-Tex Smoker said:

smittys has a live fire on the floor 2 feet from where you order with a flimsy post and chain the only thing keeping you away. I think they have a “danger” sign hanging from it so it’s super safe.  

I have ave no idea how they get that past the fun police but they have for 100 years (more or less) 

Those pictures are incredible, there is no way any city would allow someone to do that today. Thanks for the info on Smitty's - I wanna go see it for myself!

I always wondered how this guy got this (in his home kitchen) past the building inspector, not to mention his insurance company! But wouldn't it be cool to have it?!

Focker

I'm struggling with the decision to eat at Smokey D's tomorrow over Fong's or Red Rosa, let alone 19 other BBQ restaurants.  Can't remember the last time I stepped into a BBQ establishment, over a decade for sure.  Seems like wherever I go, BBQ is nowhere on my radar.  A BBQ tour, of nothing but the same BBQ, just doesn't light my fire.  Drove by Smokey D's several times.  We'll see how this goes.

SSQUAL612

Looks like you were in Austin around the same time as my trip to go see my Dad.  Due to the circumstances the only Q I was able to sample was Cooper's in Llano and it must have been an off day...brisket was way over salted.  The experience was good though.  Drove right through Lockhart on my way back from seeing Dad and although the reviews aren't near Franklin's rating I still want to check it all out.  Will be relocating to Texas someday so it'll have to wait till later.   Glad you made it to Meca...looks like you had a good trip.

TEXASBGE2018

Helpful hint on Franklins. This works most of the time. The big thing here is If you aren’t picky about what you want to get you can get up there around noon. The line will still be probably an hour or 2 long but you will still be able to get some decent meat. Usually it’s lean brisket, chopped brisket, sausage and maybe some
ham or turkey. But every time we have done this we are one of the last in line and they usually tell us they will just throw together a little bit of each they have left and it’s like 20 bucks. Probably will be around 2-3lbs or so of meat and all the sides. Pretty sweet.

Spring Hen

Glad you enjoyed it. The turkey is my favorite. Aaron is such a personable guy. Glad to see he has recovered from the fire and back in business.  Did you get a tee shirt to make the rest of the world jealous as you wear it around town? Mine just makes me hungry and wanting to go again :-)

SoCalTim

Spring Hen said:

Glad you enjoyed it. The turkey is my favorite. Aaron is such a personable guy. Glad to see he has recovered from the fire and back in business.  Did you get a tee shirt to make the rest of the world jealous as you wear it around town? Mine just makes me hungry and wanting to go again :-)

Thank You, Aaron wasn't in where we were there, and yes I did get a couple tshirts.

TEXASBGE2018

thetrim said:

I'm headed to Fort Worth in April for a friend's daughter's wedding.  What a must up that way?

There is a place called heim bbq in ft worth. It’s like number 10 or so on the top 50 list. There are 2 things to get bacon burnt ends, and Greene chili Mac and cheese. The bacon burnt ends are seriously life changing.