Regan, the SSFL member voted Most Likely To Keep Her Ear To The Ground, heard a rumor that the infamous Franklin BBQ line was at its shortest on Ash Wednesdays. Obviously it was up to us to heathen our way down to 11th street and find out for sure.
If you aren't from Austin/familiar with the cult of Franklin's, you might not be impressed when I tell you that we moseyed in at the late late hour of 8:30 am and were very near the front of the line. That's only 2 1/2 hours before opening!
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| Insanity! In the opposite way than it sounds! |
The problem/advantage of a wait like that, particularly when you can smell the smoky brisket the entire time, is that by the time you get to this point:
...whatever order you had been formulating in your head instantly becomes "five of everything, and also three pies."
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| The giddiness is so real at this stage that a magical gnome is necessary to guide you through the rest of the process. |
I didn't actually get five of everything. Just of most things. And I made sure to order a side of slaw to balance out my plate.
We sat at a table right next to the line and I have never in my life known the sharp stares of envy the way I knew them from those still waiting for the gnome to gently take their hand.
Their longing could not pierce the comfortable haze of smoke and fat with which I had surrounded myself, however.
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| Clean plate club. |
The number one question about Franklin BBQ is: is it worth the wait? I don't know! It's really delicious, and I happened to be there on a pleasant morning with coffee and a friend to talk to and everyone was in a good mood and the Franklin people were very nice and accommodating. So it was worth it for me, that day. I will say, the brisket gets so much love that it might not seem obvious that the turkey is a must-try in this context, but that's only because you haven't seen them pull it out of the vat of melted butter where it lives. The turkey is a must-try. I will also say, I would rather wait three hours for a plate of Franklin's barbecue than spend ten minutes walking down Sixth Street with a box of Voodoo Doughnuts. So there you go!
In other news, teeth are just continually jumping out of this child's head.
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| She also dropped her newly lost tooth in the grass 0.5 seconds after I took this picture. |
