Franklin BBQ in Austin

My dad introduced me to Kansas City BBQ when I was around 14 years old. My brother and I followed a few steps behind as he led us through the run down restaurant door and began speaking a language we didn't understand, ordering food that wasn't even listed on the menu, and chatting up everyone he encountered like they were old friends. He calibrated his dialect like he was Hillary Clinton giving a speech in Selma. Brent and I made eye contact  - "who is this guy?"

Once I took a bite of my "beef-ana-haff" brisket sandwich I was hooked for life.

My friend, Don, shares my love of KC BBQ and suggested that Kim and I check out Franklin while we are in Austin. He cautioned us that the lines can be long - but it is a "must do" thing in Austin.

We did a little research. We learned that Franklin usually sells out of meat by 2:00 pm and the line starts forming at 7:00 am. Yes, 7:00 am.

We started preparing the day before. We got online and reserved the last two soul cycles at Loves Cycling Studio on 5th street. I huffed and sweated and tried to follow along with the 1-pound miniature dumb bells inventing my own cadence and confusing the ladies around me who couldn't help but pedal out of rhythm by my off-beat spasms. I banked a few hundred calories. That should do the trick. 

We woke to our alarm and packed for the day. Since we expected to be in line for hours, I took my e-reader, my iPad, my data hot spot, and my headphones. I wanted to be sure that I didn't get too bored.

We began our 2-mile walk to Franklin...

Past Mini Mick Jagger at the funky antique store.

Past the new mural

Past the Texas State Building

Made it!

Arrived at 8:45 am

The people at the front of the line told us they arrived at 7:00 so they would be guaranteed to get an order of the Turkey. Huh? Turkey??? I didn't expect turkey to be the prized offering.

We grabbed a couple of folding chairs from the community bin and took our place in line. We were greeted by a hostess with a notepad who asked us what we planned to order. We misunderstood and thought that we were actually ordering. So we started asking specific questions about sizes and sides and such. She smiled and explained that she is just gauging the meat-demand for the day and setting expectations for those towards the back of the line. She set the expectation with us that there would probably not be any Turkey by the time we get there. Again with the Turkey. We told her that we would want brisket and ribs so she wrote down 1 lb of each and moved on down the line. Kim and I debated whether we told her the right things and a guy leaned over and said "don't worry about it - everyone changes their mind when they actually get to the window".

I saw that several people around us had bags from CVS full of beer. Being a pretty smart guy - I figured out that there must be a CVS nearby and even though it was only 9:00 am - the cold beers looked pretty good.

In the end, we didn't need iPads or eReaders or headphones... all we needed was CVS and a six pack of Lone Star tall boys. CVS was sold out of 12 oz six packs of everything.

Just around the corner

16 oz Tall Boys

Here are a couple of links to videos while we waited in line.

Tuesday morning line at Franklin's BBQ

Wall Art at Franklin's BBQ

The doors open at 10:59 am. The people at the front of the line start putting their chairs back into the bin about 15 minutes before that. Our time in line flew by too fast. There were a lot of interesting people and things going on and the beer had kicked in nicely. 

We found that once you get inside the door - there is about 45 to 60 minutes of wait time remaining. Each order takes more time because you are greeted at the counter by a friendly and knowledgeable meat concierge who engages each customer in a probing conversation to help navigate the ordering process. We learned during this process that there was still some Turkey available so we added some to our plate.  

We were eating by 12:00!

We had brisket, turkey, and pork ribs. Sides of potato salad and slaw. All of it was excellent and worth the wait.

It struck me that Franklin BBQ is all about the meat whereas KC BBQ relies more on the spice rub and sauce. In a youtube video, Franklin showed that they cook their brisket with just salt, pepper, and smoke from Texas Oak. How they get the result is amazing. All of the meat had just the right texture, moisture, and flavor. I can't wait to go back. Next time we will go at 7:00 am so we can have more time to enjoy the pre-lunch experience.

Since we finished our lunch earlier than we planned - we embraced a full afternoon ahead of us. We passed by the long line of anxious people remaining outside and embarked on our two-mile walk home under a brilliant blue Texas sky and contemplated the endless possibilities for the rest of the day. 

We arrived at our place and I sat for a moment to think through our next move. We could go for a bike ride, play some golf, hike along the river, find some live music...The choices were a bit overwhelming. 

Look out world, Here I come!