Franklin Barbecue — Restaurant in Austin

Our first visit to Franklin…. After trying some of the best brisket in Texas we decided to try the one with the biggest reputation - Franklin Barbecue. As everyone knows, they have a queue well in advance so we decided to get there two hours prior to opening on a Tuesday with our previous mindset of ‘better to do the waiting at the start and not miss out’. When we arrived, the line was already long with most people taking up the offer to loan one of Franklin’s fold out chairs (a nice touch). After a while a staff member advised us all that we could use the bathrooms and/or purchase merchandise inside the restaurant if we wanted. Next, a staff member came along to note (not take) our orders for meat to keep an eye on stock levels and gauge when they’ll run out. We advised we were ordering brisket and turkey only and were met with a head shake and him stating ‘you’ll regret it’. This attitude surprised us (side note I encountered the same staff member later on and let’s just say maybe he should have stayed home that day). Next, we ventured inside to check out the merch. They do it well here, as you can pretty much get anything with the Franklin name on it, so we grabbed a few things in anticipation of the opening. By this stage we had struck up a friendship with a couple from out of town, so the wait felt less than what it actually was. Once the doors opened at 11am the queue moved slowly and we were served after about 30 x mins. We asked the server for moist brisket and was unexpectedly met with an eye roll and a visible mumble under his breath (which confused us as he’d cut the meat as requested for the previous customers with no issue). Next we ordered sides and paid (the two girls here were really friendly and helpful) and grabbed the next vacant table.

Now to the main event, the brisket was without a doubt some of the best that we have had in Texas. It was so flavourful, it made you forget everything that you had endured to get it. The turkey, potato salad and slaw however were forgettable. The sides in particular were so unremarkable that it surprised us (the bourbon banana tart that we ate later on however, was delicious and was made by a local bakery). After we’d finished we spoke to one of the staff about checking out the pits and they happily showed us around (which was great to see if you get a chance).

And then it was over. The verdict on our side was that we were glad we had ticked this off our bucket list. Would we go back, no. If we wanted to have brisket we would definitely venture towards one of the other places we had previously tried on our trip. There are others doing brisket just as good with hardly any wait time AND some are doing sides that will blow your mind! I think Franklin Barbecue have definitely captured a great market for visitors to Austin (when we reassessed afterwards, the queue was mostly made up of tourists and out of towners around us). The marketing appears to be working for Franklin and they have been doing things the same way for over 15 x years, so I suppose why should they change...

I travel for work and I’ve had most of the other perennial top 15 BBQ in TX. It’s never really been convenient for me to try Franklin, but I just happened to be in town on a cold January day and found a line that was probably much shorter than usual, arriving at 10:10am to only about 20 in line in front of me. I also placed a prepaid to go order, but figured I might as well get the full experience. The doors opened at 11 as expected, and the line moved fairly quick once they started taking orders.

I’ve had so much BBQ in my life that I could honestly be getting burned out by it. The thrill of visiting a new, highly-touted place is not what it once was for me… but it’s still there. I REALLY wanted to love the food… but sadly, it just didn’t meet expectations at all.

I tried a little of almost every meat available and skipped the sides. I’m not sure why, but I was drawn to the pulled pork and jalapeño sausage - so I tried those first. Both outstanding. I’m not sure what they were adding to the pork (drippings?) as they prepared the plate. Unfortunately it was all downhill from there. The brisket (even the lean) seemed overly greasy, and just didn’t have the wow factor that I was expecting at all. Maybe we’re going a little overboard with the tallow? The turkey looked great as it was cut, but then she proceeded to dip it in something (more meat drippings or tallow?) and I found the turkey to be subpar as well. The pork rib… not sure what’s going on with the flavor here, it was cooked fine, but the flavor is just not for me. I took 2 bites and had enough.

The inside seating area is quite small, and I was the last (solo) to join a table of about 10, with at least 3 other groups. Most of the others at the table were finishing up, I had already packed most of my leftovers, but left a sandwich I wanted to finish. An employee asked if I needed help packing that and I told him I was going to finish it there. I got a bit of an eye roll 🙄 and bad vibe like I was taking up precious space so I just packed it up and left. Sheesh bro I was barely seated for 20 minutes if that!

I bought a bottle of the original sauce recently so I knew what to expect. It seems like a sauce that is more suited to pork or turkey, which I think it goes OK with. But not the brisket. The espresso sauce is definitely not for me.

I’ve seen some other reviews critical of having 1 meat cutter- and I tend to agree that the inefficiency of this is what keeps the lines long, and the hype alive. When employees are all asking where you’re from - I have to wonder what percentage of people waiting in line for hours are locals… probably very few.

I hope I just came on an “off” day, but I really can’t imagine that things are significantly different any other day.

The mandatory tip for a to go order is a bit pretentious too… I’m sure you have local repeat catering customers who don’t have to “tip” just to complete an order before they’ve ever...

Franklins is the most famous BBQ restaurant in all of Texas. I have wanted to make this trek for years. I came on a Saturday morning around 10am and waited in line for almost 3 hours. The atmosphere was great, everyone was happy and it was HOT! I chose the worst weather in Texas to stand outside in the sun but it was fine I and many others came prepared with drinks, chairs & large hats. A lady came out and took everyone’s rough orders to gauge the amount of food they would have left and cut loose the others, she was very nice and her time estimate for our position in line was seriously accurate which I was impressed by.

To get the the meat of this review, the meat was absolutely excellent, I got absolutely everything they had besides the beef rib which they were out of. A shame because after having their pork ribs I’d could imagine it being a religious experience. For me the brisket was great, the pork ribs are absolutely the best pork ribs I’ve ever had in my life, you could eat the bone they are so tender. The sausage was great (sausage is always good). The turkey slices are also fantastic, probably the best. I found the pulled pork to be just OK, and the chopped beef sandwich ehh at best in my opinion. Which you’d think for how good their brisket was it would be delicious but I have some issues I will list below.

My issues are minor & this place is worth going to #1 The only reason this place takes so long is inadequate seating & order taking. This is it. They have 10 tables 7 inside and 3 outside. And one order taker, 1 meat cutter and 1 person on sides. Most other busy BBQ places such as terry blacks move people much quicker along the line. I found this to be extremely frustrating once I saw the inside and how limited it was. And I totally understand they are sticking true to what the place originally was, but they could and should easily improve this. You’re only really waiting because they don’t have a large enough ordering counter.

#2 In my personal opinion the BBQ sauce they had was just not good, they had 4 options and I wasn’t impressed. Luckily with most the meat you don’t need it or want it. But this did kill the chopped beef sandwich for me.

#3 The sides are not good, the potato salad is not much or at all better than what they have at the grocery store & the coleslaw I wouldn’t eat again. I did not try the beans…

I’m giving this place 5 stars because it does deserve it and it deserves a visit. With that said there is comparable bbq without the line elsewhere in Austin. This place is famous and deserves a ton of respect but it’s not the Holy Grail of BBQ I had imagined. I think it’s important people understand why they are coming here and what to expect.

Pro tip if you aren’t underneath the building when the line starts you probably won’t be getting beef ribs. And I think their preordering online service is...