Franklin BBQ
900 E 11th St
Austin, TX 78702
franklinbbq.com
A 5 hour wait to eat food deserves a long entry...
Every single "Best of BBQ" TV show or list inevitably includes Franklin BBQ as one of America's top BBQ joints. Enough cannot be said of its famed brisket, which is slowly smoked over 12-18 hours and the envy of many. The line and long wait speaks volumes to its fame and popularity. The place doesn't open until 11am, but people start lining up at 7am or maybe even earlier. You're probably thinking WTF?! WTF indeed! You'd think Franklin was a Texas institution. Smoking brisket and satisfying the BBQ needs of Texans for generations. Helmed by a really fat, bearded, hard core traditionalist, occasionally ornery but overall loveable and huggable bear type of old man. Nope, the man behind this operation since its inception in 2009 is a young hipster-looking Aaron Franklin, 37 years old. His BMI is surely south of 30 right??
After some debate, Smooth Obturator and I decided we had to try Franklin BBQ because when else would we ever have this chance? We skipped out on some pre wedding festivities just for this. I guess you can see where our priorities laid. Somehow, our debate concluded with me waking up at the crack of dawn to camp out while he chilled at the hotel. Luckily, I had The Annoyer in tow who was my partner in crime for this food adventure. I wasn't super nazi about getting in line early. I was shooting for 8am but arrived at 830am. I didn't think it was going to make a difference. Uhh, another 10 minutes and I would have been SOL for brisket!
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