Franklin BBQ, today is quite possibly one of the most famous BBQ joint's in Texas. It has sold out of BBQ everyday since it's brick and mortar store opened over three years ago. To say I was excited was an understatement and after a failed attempt several days ago I was sure as hell not going to miss it again. My alarm went off at 6am and I managed to organise my life, get in my shiny red mustang and hurl it to Franklins. It was 7am when I arrived and there was already around 30 people in the line in front of me. The guy at the front had been there since 5am. That is so awesome, who the hell lines up 6 hours before a restaurant even opens? I love the culture of BBQ in Texas, everyone has an opinion, everyone has their favourite place, everyone loves a certain cut of brisket, everyone just wants to have a good time and everyone agrees Franklin is the best.
My friend Kristiana that I had met several days earlier had volunteered to join in the extravagance and to keep me company in the line. The time slowly ticked by but we had lots of interaction from the members of staff and everyone in the line was entertaining to chat too. One man called Benji came round and chatted to everyone, lots of regulars and lots of people from around the world, all there to eat the famous BBQ. It wasn't long before they opened that a lady came by and asked everyone what they would be ordering so that could predict when they would sell out of meat. This was serious business and if you got there too late it was all over. They started turning people away around 10:30am before the restaurant had even opened it's doors. It was nearly 10:40 and the smell started wafting through the air, post oak slowly burning and smoking everything, it was an infectious smell. 11am hit and the doors opened to the masses. There must have been about 300 people lined up at this point and we were all hungry!
The lined moved slowly and even though they let the people at the front inside it was still an hour before we were even close to being served food. Once we made it inside the door shit got real. There was meat going everywhere and people salivating all over the floor. I was so hungry at this point, my tummy was grumbling and I was running my order over and over in my head because once you have said it, you can't get back in the line again! I finally made it to the front of the line and as is traditional the cutter handed me a bit sized piece of barky brisket for us to munch while we placed our order. I put the whole thing straight in my mouth and tasted the salty delicious meat. It was heavenly, soft and tender on the inside and just ever so crunchy and delicious on the outside. So much goodness falling apart in my mouth. I then started reeling of my order - one and a half pounds of brisket, half lean half fatty, 4 ribs, a sausage link, some turkey, pulled pork bun, potato salad and two jalapenos. The final order came to around $70, the most expensive BBQ experience so far! It was so much food, but I was not going to mess this up. I wanted to eat everything!
We sat down and I took my customary 200 hundred photos and videos before we ate the food. I set my camera rolling, took a breath and placed the first piece of brisket in my mouth. My expectations had been set high, it was hard to keep all the hype out of emotional state. I shut my eyes and chewed on the soft meat, it was lovely, it was everything I wanted it to be. The meat just fell apart in my fingers and was so soft in my mouth, salty and full of flavour - smoky, perfectly seasoned and a great quality piece of meat. I could talk about it all day, it was amazing! I then picked up the massive ribs and munched away. Oh boy, oh man, this was the best rib I had ever eaten in my life. It was so salty and delicious, the smokiness was perfect and it was so tender and soft. I really was so happy! The sausage was OK, nothing special and the turkey was great too, still not as good as the first turkey I had eaten on day one. The potato salad was deliciously pickely and the pulled pork was incredible. The pulled pork we have back home is slow cooked, but not by a smoker. This shit is boss. The pulled pork was so soft and just full of flavour, melt in your mouth stuff!
It didn't take long before we were both so full. There was so much meat and I had eaten myself stupid. Even though I ate slowly and chewed everything I was so full of meat that I thought I was going to explode. I was slightly concerned for my overall health and daily calorie intake but other than that I was definitely in a happy place. You could see everyone around you having the same feelings of happiness, the feeling of waiting for several hours and then getting to eat your prize, it was lovely to see and share the same feelings. I took my last breath and I had a final munch on the delicious brisket and ribs and then prepared my body for moving again. Once I actually stood up and moved around a bit I knew I had eaten too much, but it was time for a nap. All this waiting in line stuff was hard work!
Score
My friend Kristiana that I had met several days earlier had volunteered to join in the extravagance and to keep me company in the line. The time slowly ticked by but we had lots of interaction from the members of staff and everyone in the line was entertaining to chat too. One man called Benji came round and chatted to everyone, lots of regulars and lots of people from around the world, all there to eat the famous BBQ. It wasn't long before they opened that a lady came by and asked everyone what they would be ordering so that could predict when they would sell out of meat. This was serious business and if you got there too late it was all over. They started turning people away around 10:30am before the restaurant had even opened it's doors. It was nearly 10:40 and the smell started wafting through the air, post oak slowly burning and smoking everything, it was an infectious smell. 11am hit and the doors opened to the masses. There must have been about 300 people lined up at this point and we were all hungry!
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| The Line at Franklin goes back all the way around the street! |
The lined moved slowly and even though they let the people at the front inside it was still an hour before we were even close to being served food. Once we made it inside the door shit got real. There was meat going everywhere and people salivating all over the floor. I was so hungry at this point, my tummy was grumbling and I was running my order over and over in my head because once you have said it, you can't get back in the line again! I finally made it to the front of the line and as is traditional the cutter handed me a bit sized piece of barky brisket for us to munch while we placed our order. I put the whole thing straight in my mouth and tasted the salty delicious meat. It was heavenly, soft and tender on the inside and just ever so crunchy and delicious on the outside. So much goodness falling apart in my mouth. I then started reeling of my order - one and a half pounds of brisket, half lean half fatty, 4 ribs, a sausage link, some turkey, pulled pork bun, potato salad and two jalapenos. The final order came to around $70, the most expensive BBQ experience so far! It was so much food, but I was not going to mess this up. I wanted to eat everything!
We sat down and I took my customary 200 hundred photos and videos before we ate the food. I set my camera rolling, took a breath and placed the first piece of brisket in my mouth. My expectations had been set high, it was hard to keep all the hype out of emotional state. I shut my eyes and chewed on the soft meat, it was lovely, it was everything I wanted it to be. The meat just fell apart in my fingers and was so soft in my mouth, salty and full of flavour - smoky, perfectly seasoned and a great quality piece of meat. I could talk about it all day, it was amazing! I then picked up the massive ribs and munched away. Oh boy, oh man, this was the best rib I had ever eaten in my life. It was so salty and delicious, the smokiness was perfect and it was so tender and soft. I really was so happy! The sausage was OK, nothing special and the turkey was great too, still not as good as the first turkey I had eaten on day one. The potato salad was deliciously pickely and the pulled pork was incredible. The pulled pork we have back home is slow cooked, but not by a smoker. This shit is boss. The pulled pork was so soft and just full of flavour, melt in your mouth stuff!
It didn't take long before we were both so full. There was so much meat and I had eaten myself stupid. Even though I ate slowly and chewed everything I was so full of meat that I thought I was going to explode. I was slightly concerned for my overall health and daily calorie intake but other than that I was definitely in a happy place. You could see everyone around you having the same feelings of happiness, the feeling of waiting for several hours and then getting to eat your prize, it was lovely to see and share the same feelings. I took my last breath and I had a final munch on the delicious brisket and ribs and then prepared my body for moving again. Once I actually stood up and moved around a bit I knew I had eaten too much, but it was time for a nap. All this waiting in line stuff was hard work!
Score
- Brisket - 9/10 - I'm going to give this a 9, I feel like each place's brisket has been different in it's own way. I think I know what kind of brisket I like know. Snow's was probably overall even with bark and the tenderness and moistness, yet Franklins was the most tender and flavoursome thing I had ever eaten, yet I felt the bark could have been crunchier. Still, these two places had been the best brisket I had tried so far.
- Ribs - 10/10 - The best ribs I have ever had to date. They were perfect. Could not be faulted, deliciously big in size and just tasting banging!
- Sausage - 6/10 - They tasted like sausages, the sauce definitely made it way easier to eat them.
- Turkey - 7/10 - Lovely tender meat, still could have been more moist, but delicious none the less.
- BBQ Sauce - 8/10 - They had three different types, one was standard, one had a coffee infusion and the other I can't remember, good sauce, good chat.
Conclusion
This place has a lot of hype and a lot of people believe that this is the holy grail of BBQ. I think you need to be careful when you use big words like 'The Best' because it places huge expectations. I think that Franklins is definitely up there with the best, but I would put Snow's BBQ up there with them. I think the other thing that is hard to achieve with Franklins is a personal feel to the restaurant, even though they went around and said hello to everyone, it still felt like they were churning out food to the masses, while at Snow's I was able to spend time with the owner's and chat about BBQ. All that said, the manager on that day spent a lot of time with me explaining everything post meal regarding the smokers and pits. Interesting facts - they get 1000 pounds of meat every day and they sell out every day. They go through trailers of post oak wood per day and the fires are constantly going 24 hours a day except Mondays when they have a day off. It's an incredible BBQ story that started as an Austin food truck and now one of the biggest BBQ joints in the world. A must see if you have 6 hours to wait in line and right in the heart of Texas.
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