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Fearless Critic restaurant review
Austin
Food
Feel
Price
9.5
6.0
$15
Barbecue
Counter service

Hours
Daily 11:00am–4:00pm

Features Outdoor dining
Bar BYO
Credit cards Visa, MC

www.franklinbarbecue.com

East Austin
900 E. 11th St.
Austin, TX
(512) 653-1187
Franklin Barbecue
The barbecue’s worth a long drive out of town—thankfully, that’s not necessary

This mega-popular retro-trailer act moved down the access road to the brick-and-mortar where Ben’s Longbranch used to be. It doesn’t yet seem to have alleviated the long, even ridiculous queues that hardly advanced from half an hour before opening to just an hour later, when the “Sold Out” sign would hastily appear. That’s not so different from some of the most culty Hill Country smokehouses, actually. People get up at 8:30 am on Saturdays to get to Snow’s before it runs out of brisket; and we have to admit, this brisket’s equally worth the trouble.

Even if you’re in the anti-sauce camp, the homemade sauces here are too good to pass up: one’s an earthy-deep espresso; another’s a traditional peppery and thin sauce; and a third, a Carolina-style sweet vinegar, is absolutely necessary for dressing up the dry pulled pork (that’s the whole point, really). But the pork ribs and brisket? Best nekkid. The former slips shyly and easily off its bone like the nightie off a blushing bride; the beautiful brisket is smokier’n Lauren Bacall’s voice. We’ve rarely seen the fat line melt into the meat this well, without making it spongy or greasy in the slightest. And we’re charmed by a potato salad that’s more mustardy than creamy.

We can’t wait to not have to wait for these extreme delights.

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