Franklin Barbecue Review

As we drove through Texas, we decided we had to get some barbecue while we were here. The only place Chris wanted to get barbecue from was Franklin Barbecue. They have won numerous awards, including being named one of the top 50 barbecue spots in the WORLD. We looked it up and found that it was in Austin, which was on our planned route.

The only issue with Franklin Barbecue is that people typically start lining up by five in the morning to wait for their chance to taste some of the tantalizing goodness. They usually sell out not long after they open.

While, at any other time, we would be up for the party, we are in the middle of a pandemic. The thought of waiting for hours in a crowd of people did not sit well with either of us.

As it turned out, the pandemic worked in our favor this time. We learned that Franklin Barbecue is only doing curbside pickup until it is safe to open normally again. They have an excellent system where you order online and pick your date and time to pick up. The only catch is that there is a minimum order of at least three pounds of meat in any combination.

We decided to get a pound of brisket, a pound of smoked turkey, and a pound of pulled pork with potato salad and coleslaw. We also ordered two chopped beef sandwiches to eat right away for lunch. It was not cheap, but the food covered us for six meals.

We arrived at the restaurant at our scheduled time, where an employee directed us to a parking space. We texted the number on the sign and opened our back window for contactless pickup. After 15 minutes (they don’t cut the meat until you get there), a friendly young man placed our food bags in the window. The truck quickly filled with the lovely aroma of smoked meat.

We drove to the spot we planned to eat lunch and pulled out the sandwiches. The chopped beef, tossed in espresso barbeque sauce, comes on a potato bun with pickles and onions. It is straightforward and fantastic. The meat was tender and luscious with a zesty zing from the sauce, making it a perfect barbecue beef sandwich. The onions and pickles were lovely accents as well.

The coleslaw was good, but nothing to write home about. I enjoyed the potato salad. It was more mustard forward than what I am used to eating. I wasn’t sure about it when I first tasted it, but I fell in love with it as I continued to eat it. The oomph from the extra mustard worked well against the flavorful smoked meats.

Next, we broke into the brisket. We kept it simple, just heating the slices and eating them with sauce, the slaw, and the potato salad. It was so tender we didn’t need anything more than a fork to eat it. The flavor was nicely smoky, without being over the top. It was sheer deliciousness with the perfect mouthfeel.

We used the smoked turkey in a chickpea salad with artichoke, red bell pepper, and olives. It was tasty the first night, but the second time we ate it, the flavors had melded together to make it spectacular. We also added the little bit of leftover brisket we had to the salad the second day. Total we had enough of the salad for three meals.

Finally, we made it to the pork, using it in pork tacos. They were some of the best-flavored pork tacos I have ever eaten. I only wish we had ordered more.

All the hot meat orders come with pickles and onions, plenty of white bread, and their three signature sauces. The Texas sauce is sweet, tangy, and peppery, perfectly cutting through the meat’s smoky flavor. The Espresso sauce is velvety and rich, with a distinct coffee taste that adds an extra dimension of flavor to the smoky meat. Finally, the Pork sauce is tangy, vinegary, and a lot more spicy than sweet. It is perfect with the pulled pork but works well on the other meats as well.

Without a doubt, Franklin Barbecue has earned its accolades. It was the best barbecue either of us has ever eaten. Cost for a pound of brisket, a pound of pulled pork, a pound of smoked turkey, two chopped beef sandwiches, a pint of coleslaw, and a pint of potato salad $99.81, and worth every penny!