Outstanding - wish I had been there. ^:)

Could be La Barbecue. The pitmaster there used to work at Franklin BBQ. I've eaten at both and they are perceptually the same.

But, Brown's BBQ is my favorite at the moment. Never more than a handful of folks waiting. So good and close to where I live that I gave up smoking briskets at home, although family and friends still make me do it from time to time.

Heads-up--I'll be over tomorrow night. :D

I agree on the Raleigh location being superior to the Durham one.

Tempting, very tempting

That is one exhaustive list! You need to have a blog

If I was by myself I would probably hit every place. I'll consider myself lucky if I can get the group to one of them.

People told me that 20 years ago. Wasn't up for the responsibility,
and now that ship has sailed. How many BBQ blogs are there?
More than the world needs, for sure.
Ah. Joe's is more of a group type of place. Q39 (as with Jack Stack)
is a sit-down venue. You might have to call ahead for a group.

That is true. It's hard to compete with those who have unlimited funds, time, and the dedication to keep their blogs updated continuously.

I have the same problem when it comes to BBQ. Pretty much on my own in most cases.

Not unlimited funds, but a fair amount of time.

Brisket observations from my last BBQ trip, second week February
2016, in order of preference (first three very close; last one not
close). The rest of the meals - Mexican and hamburgers - obviously
off topic. All orders a pound of moist and beer where available;
maybe a side or two and another meat. All notes from this trip.
The first three are return visits.

Black's, Lockhart - this is my happiest happy place for barbecue,
edging out both by food and experience other happy places. I will
go there (if someone drives me) in preference to all others. This
time the meat was well smoked but not well colored, the result
being a little gray. Nice texture, a little soft; I know some
frown upon a pot-roasty barbecue, but for me if it tastes right,
that's the clincher. A little saltier than the norm. Sauce,
moderate spice, thicker than average for the area. Good though
wholly unnecessary. The outfit now has a series of hot sauces -
the ghost pepper one is pretty numbing but doesn't enhance the
food at all. Beer around $4.

Two Bros., San Antonio - for reasons unknown, this is not an
Internet favorite, despite its being in Texas Monthly's list and
its serving some of the best I've ever had. I am so confident in
the cook's talents that this is one of the few places I will
order chicken, though I didn't this time. The texture of the
brisket here - soft but not too soft, with a distinct grain,
lots of delicious intramuscular fat - may be the best ever.
Relatively heavily smoked; this intensified to an almost but
not quite unpleasant level in leftovers consumed in the evening.
The thing that drags this down to a tie for second was that
this might be the first Texas brisket that cried out, albeit a
little meekly, for salt. The tangy sauce was only a little
spicy and vinegary, more than amply sweet. There are two other
sauces; I tried the sweet, which was like sugar water. Beer
$3.50-4.

City Market, Luling - another of the perennial greats, with a
line to match. The most balanced brisket of the lot, but the
meat wasn't as luscious as either of the above. For those who
like their moist to be moist but not fatty, this might be your
little piece of heaven. The stuff is of a perfection, but to me
it seems to be missing some little kick, so the famous peppery
mustard-tomato sauce is almost necessary. On the other hand,
the pork spare rib here is perfect and needs no adulteration.
No beer - a separate station and line for sides and soft drinks,
which are $1-2 a can or bottle.

R&G, McMahan - ordered a plate of extra moist with two sides,
as there was no bulk price posted and no time to negotiate,
because a line was forming behind us. The cashier/waitress
shouted "moist" to the kitchen. When she came to the table
with our order, I discovered she'd rung in for two plates,
not a terrible thing as they were somewhat modest plates, and
the charge for the both was about what one would pay for one
at one of the big boys. What was a terrible thing was that
the meat was not moist. I mean, it was tender enough, and
there was a little rim of fat here and there, but no. I asked
the girl if the kitchen could spare an ounce or two of fat
to luxuriousize the serving, so she went back to talk to the
cook, who talked back to her loud enough for me to hear. Who's
the guy who wants the fat? I shouted across the room, no great
feat as it's very resonant, I can hear you, whereupon there
was silence. In a while a couple ounces of trim came out,
after which the meat was perfect. The beans were okay, and
I thought the yellow potato salad likewise, but my podner
found the former a bit underdone and the latter painfully
sweet. A good but not great meal; the best deal of the
trip, though, as plates were something like $6. Soft drinks
$1, beers $2.

Davila's, Seguin - ordered a plate of extra moist plus ribs
with two sides, as there was no bulk price posted and no time
to negotiate, because a line was forming behind us. The
brisket would have been great if it had been cooked a couple
more hours and foiled or coolered a bunch of time to rest.
As it was, the fat wasn't rendered enough, and the grain of
the meat was too developed. Tender enough but not the texture
that I favor - fibers too prominent. Decent flavor, too light
smoking. The ribs by contrast had had too much heat and too
much sitting around time, a tough skin forming on the outside.
The inside of one rib was meltingly, perhaps almost too, tender;
the other, actually an end piece, was resilient throughout;
adequate seasoning and smoking. Beans were okay; the rice was
flavorless and with a weird day-before-yesterday texture.
Beers $3 something. A little more time and effort and this
would have been a contender, too.

Thanks, violist, now I'm starving (and jealous)

By the way, R&G was the other place my friend had mentioned. I kept thinking R&R, but couldn't find a place with that name. Sounds like your experience doesn't jive with his.

You guys made me hungry for BBQ. Going tonight.

Probably La Barbecue, or yet-another-creation of John Mueller whos known to have lots of personal and business issues. L.B. is run by estranged family members of his.

I like Helena's Hawaiian Food in Honolulu. I love their Pipikaula short ribs!! :D

#1 Parker's BBQ. Wilson, NC

I was reading up on Mueller. This guy seems to be a genius cook but an absolutely horrendous business decision maker (either that or he's hiring some of the worst attorneys known to man).

How this guy manages to lose control of his own restaurant time and time again is mind boggling.

Well, let's just say that John is his own man. And, sometimes that character flaw manifests itself as his own worst enemy and sometimes it manifests itself as a genius pitmaster. When he's on the mark, he's among the best and when he isn't, you don't want to be there to taste the results. Inconsistency is his hallmark, IMHO. I've had BBQ from his shanty that was among the best I've ever eaten and other times when I simply couldn't finish it.

I will be in Austin in May. Is it worth renting a car to investigate the best BBQ places?

Franklin is an easy walk from downtown.

I don't know much about the rest of the in-city Austin BBQ scene, but the other legendary places (Lockhart, Luling, etc.) are a ~45 minute drive out of town. You'll definitely need a car if you're interested in those.

Not to be a shill or anything, but there's one hotel so close one could literally walk 100 yards east over the 11th Street bridge to get there. ;)

Other than Franklin, the downtown choices would probably be limited to the Ironworks, Stubbs, and Lambert's. My pick among those three would be Ironworks. There may even be the occasional food truck that has moved in unnoticed.

Of course, if one is hale and hearty, it might also include La Barbecue and Mickletwait Craft Meats since they are within 3 - 4 miles of the Capitol.

In the end, though, I'm not sure we can decide if it is worthwhile to rent a car to make the rounds. If I was a fan of BBQ (and I am), I certainly would, but that may not be what someone else would do.

Thanks both!

'sOK, I'll shill for ya. ;)

If you stay here, you can get a few more minutes of precious sleep before waking up at 0-dark-thirty to get in line at Franklin: http://www.starwoodhotels.com/sherat...ropertyID=3079

(For the cheap budget-conscious, like me, there's also this, about the same distance away: http://www.super8.com/hotels/texas/a...0901:Rio:Local.* :p)

*I'm not vouching for it, as I've never stayed there myself--I just saw it on Google Maps.

I'm biased, but I've never had BBQ anywhere else that came close to the quality of meat in Austin.

If you don't want to wait in line at Franklin, La Barbecue is often around an hour wait or so, and is more or less imperceptible from Franklin (though I'd give the slight nod to Franklin).

Micklethwait is right around the corner from Franklin and is also extremely good. Been 3-4 times, and longest wait was about 10 minutes. Well worth it, and it probably tops my "quality for wait" quotient.

John Mueller is as good as anyone, when he's on. If he's not, it's still above average but nothing special. Personally, it's worth the gamble, as arguably the best single piece of BBQ I've ever had (a beef rib from the gods) came off his pit.

For the love of God don't let anyone convince you Salt Lick is worth a trip. It's woefully mediocre, and caters to the tourist who want the Hill Country BBQ experience and go off name alone.

If you want a phenomenal Hill Country BBQ experience, Cooper's in Llano is as authentic as it gets. Definitely a top ten for me.

Other places in and around Austin worth a visit:

Kerlin BBQ - get there early, he has a very limited amount of 'cue, but it's really damn good

Stiles Switch - One of the few places that you'll be able to find open for dinner. Their stuff is solid, and again, is high on the "quality for wait" quotient.

City Market - Luling is a bit of a trek (about an hour from downtown), but the BBQ is really good.

I haven't been super impressed by the offerings in Lockhart lately, but it's still solid.

You guys don't need to rent a car to go on a BBQ adventure in Austin. Just take an Uber.

quick strawpoll - i'm having BBQ catered as part of a wedding - what ratio of fatty:lean brisket should i split? It's in Austin, so everyone will be familiar with BBQ.

Would say 30 fatty to 70 lean. I prefer lean myself.

#bestweddingever

If most of the guests are local to Austin, I'd ask the caterer/pitmaster for his recommendation, based on what he's seen at past events. If there will be more non-Texas guests, then I'd err towards more lean; the fat can intimidate the inexperienced.

just order by weight and takes what comes with the "packer" brisket :D

I would go more 50-50, with an emphasis on how to make sure the brisket stays moist and does not dry out. Moist is good fatty not so much. Will they be slicing the meat and sausage for each guest or using the steam tables?

Daughter got hitched at the Salt Lick. Only time I have eaten there. My expectations were not high and they were met. No. 2 son decided to have a whole pig roast for his wedding. Looked and smelled good, but barely edible.

I want to try Snows in Lexington, but only open Sat 8 til noon and an hour drive from town. Stiles Switch as mentioned earlier is best no wait proposition. Their beef ribs are the best in town. Rudy's also is consistent although they take some hits for being more of a bbq factory and gas station. Locals like House Park, only open for lunch and been around since the 1940's. I will never eat at the Iron Lung or whatever it is called again and will not stand in line for Franklin.

Happy eating all. I have company coming in tonite. May carry them to the County Line. Visitors love that place.

"All our brisket is moist." As I've said elsewhere, I wanted to
punch the guy out (Urban Bar-B-Que in the Washington DC
area, for the record). Moist brisket is fatty brisket, that's what
it means. Started out as a euphemism, but then it became
accepted usage. I get irritated to have to order "extra moist"
because of the morphing of the language by people who don't
know good from evil. Anyhow, I shake my head at people who
want lean brisket. It's like asking for a grilled cheese with
lowfat cheese.

Here's the thing: What matters is how thinly the brisket is sliced. I like it extremely extremely thinly cut. If it's cut how I want, I don't mind the fat. If it's a thicker cut, then I don't want a thick piece of fat at the end of it because, well, thick pieces of fat are disgusting.

This is true - pencil thin according to Diners, Drive-Inns and Dives

Safer with lean - I would go 80 lean 20 fatty.

Fatty brisket tastes better, having basted itself with that fat while smoking. That's what I order, but I discard most of the fat before eating.

It's your personal preference, but for me...no. Extremely thin-sliced brisket is just a way to hide toughness, IMHO. You'll find this a lot in Kansas City.

This. If there is too large a fat cap left on, then I merely cut it down to something I can handle. But, I want a thick enough slice to be able to do a respectable pull test for tenderness.

Franklin's Brisket is very thinly sliced.

Never in the two dozen times that I've eaten there personally has it ever been very thinly sliced by my understanding of the term. It has always run a 1/2 inch or better. If that is very thinly sliced to you, you should see the paper thin slices of brisket they serve in KC. lol

Mine definitely was less than 1/2 inch. I'd say more in the range of 1/4 inch which is just how I like it. And it was the most tender, tasty, brisket of my life.

1/4 is acceptable, and not extremely thin, IMHO. A lot depends upon the cut of the brisket it is taken from though. If you have Aaron's book take a look at the sliced brisket he prepared on page 182. Most of the flat is cut a 1/4 inch thick+ while the point runs a 1/2 inch+.

Seriously though, most of the sliced brisket (not burnt ends) I ate in KC was paper thin. When I hear someone say "extremely thin-sliced" it evokes that memory, not one from Franklin BBQ.

I need to hit KC again and check it out