I’ll be back soon with the rest of my Israel postings, but I had to interrupt with this quick post. For some reason, I’ve been to Austin, TX quite a few times in the past couple of years, so I’ve had a chance to give a lot of the barbecue in the city a try.
Easily the best brisket I’ve had not just in Austin but, well, in life was at Franklin Barbecue. Located just outside the main downtown of Austin, you’ll be able to spot it with no trouble by the crowd standing in line to get in. Doors open at 11 am (only for lunch), and when we got there around noon there was already a one hour wait. I know it sounds like a long time, but it’s worth the wait.
Because of the limited supply of meat they have each day, they don’t guarantee that they’ll have what you want once you get up to the register. Waiters walk down the line every few minutes to give people an update on what supply is left. Unfortunately for us, they had run out of ribs by the time we were able to order, but the brisket they let us sample (and that we eventually ordered) more than made up for it. Moist, flavorful, fatty, meaty – it was done perfectly.
And they do not cheat you; for $13 you can get two meats and two sides with bread. I opted with the brisket and sausage. I could have taken the slabs of meat they flopped down on the plate and the two sides and made three meals out of it. In hindsight – I wish I just gotten the $10 one meat plate, skipped the sausage since it was “eh”, but just had the brisket to die for.
Days: Tuesday–Sunday, CLOSED all Mondays
Hrs: 11am–sold out (just open for lunch)
900 E. 11th, Austin, TX 78702