Texas 2013 Day 10: Franklin BBQ

7/7/2013
Texas 2013 Day 10: Franklin BBQ

Heeeerrre we gooooo!!!!!!!!!!

We got up SUPER early today to drive from New Braunfels to Austin, just to get in line for 3+ hours for BBQ. But not just any BBQ... the place defined as "one of the 10 most important restaurants in the US" and consistenly voted the top BBQ in Texas since they opened. They have sold out of their food on EVERY SINGLE DAY OF OPERATION. Think about that for a second. They have NEVER *NOT* SOLD OUT of all of their food on any day they are open. Amazing.

So you can imagine our excitement this morning.

8:20am, Austin. Let's do this.

A nice message while we wait in the sunshine

Franklin BBQ, you epic place

The line gets longer and longer

We got in line at 8:20 and we were far from the first people there. There were perhaps 30 or 40 people ahead of us already, which had us a little worried that we might not get any brisket... but thankfully it all worked out. Fortunately they are super organized and they have a guy walk down the line and take your orders and give you any warnings of food that might be out by the time you get in. Eventually, the line actually gets cut off so that people don't wait forever and end up with no food. Franklin BBQ opens at 11am, and it was already getting hot at 8:20.

Susie kindly showed up to bring us coffee and doughnuts, what a champion. Michal and I at one point were so hot we headed to the CVS around the corner to get some water. Whew!! But with lots of drinking of water and lots of staying in the shade, we were all good and still excited when 11:30am rolled around and we got to go inside into the glorious A/C.

Susie brought us doughnuts!

Chillin' out in line

And the line gets longer!

11:30am: We're in!

We waited in line for about 30 min inside and all bought T-Shirts to commemorate what was going to be the tastiest brisket of all time. We got up to the front and got to watch the owner of the place in awe while he worked his magic.



We really wanted to try the turkey as well, but the lady in front of us ordered the entire thing for her son's birthday party. Nooooo!!! That was too bad and the owner must have overheard us. He sliced off a small piece for us to taste... what a nice guy. Excited about my new shirt (and trying not to get BBQ sauce on it), I ordered exactly what Anthony Bourdain ordered when he was there: 1lb brisket - 1/2 lean, 1/2 fatty. No nonsense stuff like sides or extras. Just straight amazing brisket.

Here's the man himself, slicing some brisket for us!

Ohhhhhhhhhhh so good

Check out the "smoke ring" on this brisket

SO PSYCHED

This was amazing

They had free pickles and also they gave us some plain white bread to dip in the sauce. The sauces were fantastic, and the Espresso one was my favourite. Glad I have the bottled versions of those to take home to California with me! I did also get a small Banana Bourbon pie to take away for dessert later.

The food was absolutely phenomenal. The brisket was exceptionally soft and tasty, the smoke flavour was just permeating perfectly through the meat, and the fatty and lean versions of the brisket were both excellent. The lean one was a little easier to just eat the whole piece at once, while the fatty one was a little juicier (just a little bit) but you had to eat around the fat. This was literally the best brisket I've ever had. It was insanely amazing.

After a truly stellar meal of 1lb meat only and nothing else, it was time for a break in the park. We headed to sit by the water and relaxed and digested our massive meal. It was nice to walk around a bit there and to just enjoy Austin after such an epic food experience.

From the park, we headed to the UT area and went to a coffee shop where I bought a Freddo, which is something like my favourite Cafe Shakkerato! That was really good. We then headed down to do some random shopping and I saw a "Keep Austin Weird" t-shirt. I also saw those hilariously small Texas flag shorts that girls wear for July 4th, and joked about buying them for myself.

Out for a drink

From there we went to the Driskill Hotel to look around the lobby and also to get a drink and chill out from the heat outside. This was fun and a relaxing break after so many hours outside again today. There was a possibility of a cool bat show in the evening, but we were all so tired that we headed back to the lake house instead. When we got there we were so tired from the day that we just stayed in for the rest of the evening and chilled out. What an amazing day!!