The Best BBQ I’ve Ever Eaten…So Far
Austin Original
My buddy and I were recently visiting Austin for the weekend and had a craving for BBQ. I pulled up Yelp on my phone and saw this place. I confirmed with Full Custom Gospel BBQ and decided to give this place a try. Let me first say that this place can be somewhat difficult to find at first. Especially for those that might be unfamiliar with the area. It’s not that you have to make some treacherous trek to find it, in fact, it’s right on the service road for I35 North. Once you see “Dreamers” and “Le Rogue”, slow down, you’re getting close (it’ll be the little turquoise trailer behind the chain link fence with a huge line in front of it!) If you see the Fiesta, you’ve gone too far.
Once we found it, I was immediately struck by the cool hodge podge of picnic tables and old rusty patio furniture. It has a real cool backyard BBQ vibe to it. I was glad I had looked at the menu on their website before driving over because the large line of people blocked most of the menu and the crowd of people behind me would not have appreciated me standing for a few minutes to decide what I wanted!
***IMPORTANT NOTE! We arrived shortly after 1:00 pm and they were sold out of 3 of the 5 meats they offer. I wasn’t sure if this was just poor planning on their part or a huge indicator of the popularity of this place.
They were out of both of the meats that I wanted to try (the pulled pork and ribs) so I settled for the sliced brisket. I was offered a free sample to help seal the deal. He asked me if I enjoyed fatty parts and end pieces…of course I said I did. It was another indicator that this wasn’t your typical BBQ joint. My total was around $10 for a brisket plate, two sides, two pieces of white bread, and a sweat leaf tea. After I paid I was handed a gorgeous plate that was simply overflowing with portions. Normally you order and get paper thin slices but this was not the case at Franklin! The cuts were thick and the extra “scraps” were thrown in on top.
What followed next was nothing short of amazing! The melty fat, the perfectly charred bits, and the smoky meat was BBQ ambrosia! I’ve had alot of BBQ in my time but nothing as dead on as this! I was so entranced by the beautiful flavors of the meat that I almost forgot there was BBQ sauce sitting on the table. I grabbed one of the bottles and squirted some on my plate. It was unique and fresh but defiantly was simply a sideshow for the meat itself. The sides (slaw and beans) were great but nothing to write home about.
I can defiantly see why this place is always packed, it’s certainly now one of my top 5 places to eat in Austin! Do yourself a favor and try Franklin BBQ if you consider yourself even a dabbler in the art of ‘cue…it’ll make all the BBQ you’ve had before seem second class!
