Austin Bbq Trip Report

There are numerous helpful threads on Austin Bbq, but I figured I would dump my recent report here in one place as it might be helpful for future travelers. I know this board has become my go-to resource for any trip planning over the past 10 years. Also, I included some pics for the visual learners. Click on pics for better quality.

My son and I spent 48 hours on the ground in Austin. We hit 7 BBq places. Here’s how it rolled out in order of visits. A ranking at the end of this OP.

Franklin’s
Ok- Here’s the play-by-play: We landed at 10AM on a cold and rainy Thursday, jumped in our rental and we were at Franklin’s at 10:40. We were playing it by ear in terms of the line and considered going to LA Barbecue first and swinging back to Franklin or going to Franklin’s earlier the next morning.

Upon seeing the line just touching the parking lot (thanks, cold rainy day), my son said, now, we do it now. So he jumped out and was in line at 10:45. The line really was fun, hard to believe, but you end up talking to fellow travelers, have a couple beers, and the staff is very friendly and they stop by with very accurate predictions on how long you will be in line based on where you are. Like Disney. Long story short, we were inside at 12:10 and ordered at 12:50. Not bad at all and better than the 4-5 hour waits that are often the norm. We drove by Saturday morning on our way to Micklethwait and on a nice, sunny Sat the line was through the parking lot around the corner and up the street by their take out trailer at 10:45. yikes.

The brisket at Franklin’s. Wow. Other worldly. Despite eating at 6 other top spots, this brisket just stands above. Uncanny. The texture, flavor, smoke, just perfect. The fatty slices were heaven. And the bark. Mouthwaters thinking about it. We packed a cooler along the trip and the Franklin’s from Thursday was still amazing when we reheated it last night upon returning home to ATL. The sausage was also very good. They ran out of ribs about 30mins before we ordered. AND they ran out brisket about two groups after us. Hearing that would not make me very happy after the wait. The sides at Franklin were forgettable.

La Barbecue
Hit La Barbecue immediately after Franklin’s, around 1:45. No line. Weird set up as LA Barbecue basically occupies a counter counter inside a hipster coffee shop/mini-mart/prepared food Quickie Pickie. Least favorite ambience of the trip. Very good brisket, best ribs of the trip. The mac and cheese was very good. Did not try sausage, my mistake, just forgot it is what they do best.

Stiles Switch
Not many of the top BBQ spots stay open past late lunch, so we opted for Stiles Switch at 6:30. Decent evening crowd inside, no line. Third best brisket of the day, and very good pulled pork. The frito pie was a tasty and guilty pleasure. Fun atmosphere, cold beer, good people. Enjoyable. Any other day, I would be talking about it as great BBQ, just tough to follow the first two stops.

Valentina’s Tex Mex
Friday morning breakfast tacos at Valentina’s was one of the highlights of the quick trip. Scratch made flour tortillas are a thing of beauty. Potato, egg and brisket taco and the migas special tacos were so good. Wanted to come back here to try more food later in the day, but it is slightly out of the way and the Austin traffic…yikes. Excellent visit, despite the fact it was a 38 degree morning and Miguel didn’t turn on the heaters in the shed until half way through our meal. Of the places we hit this trip, this is the spot I would most like to revisit again soon.

Louie Mueller
Outside of the brisket at Franklin’s, this was the overall highlight of the trip. Once you get outside of Austin, you feel like you are really in Texas. You can smell Louie Mueller the minute you turn on to the main strip in Taylor. The inside of the building is what I think of when I think of an old school Texas bbq shack. Smokey, dark, the walls caked with years of smoke. Dimly lit, dudes in cowboy boots and hats. And the food…The beef rib, oh, the beef rib. Ours cost $39 and worth every penny. The brisket was also sublime. We got some nice burnt ends that were as good as Franklin’s in all honesty. I really enjoyed Louie Mueller. Everything about it. Glad we made the trip.

John Mueller Black Box
John Mueller seems to pop around a good bit. He’s most recently popping up at Granger City Brewing about 15 minutes from Louie Mueller. He cooks at higher heat than most. Brisket very good. More prominent smoke. Tender. Top few.

Micklethwait Craft Meats
Micklethwait was the lone disappointment of the trip. Our last stop before heading out of town on Saturday. Long line prior to open at 11 am. Brisket was dry, lacked personality. The pork shoulder was average, at best, the ribs were decent. Best sides of the trip, though, excellent smoked mac and cheese and the cole slaw was good. Overall though, poor showing. Maybe just an off day.

Overall Rankings/Food/Setting/Etc

  1. Louie Mueller
  2. Franklin’s
  3. Valentina’s
  4. La Barbecue - best ribs
  5. John Mueller
  6. Stiles Switch (but the frito pie was one of the top guilty bites) - best pulled pork
  7. Micklethwait

Brisket

  1. Franklin’s- by a good bit. Uncanny
  2. Louie Mueller
  3. John Mueller
  4. La Barbecue
  5. Stiles Switch
  6. Micklethwait - only sides worth talking about

I’ll add more thoughts as they come and some pics will follow below.

Franklin’s.
Line at 11:00
Franklin line 1100.jpg
Franklin Brisket.jpg
and brisket
Franklin tray.jpg

La Barbecue
La Barbecue Food.jpg
La barbecue .jpg

Stiles Switch
Stiles Switch.jpg
Stiles Switch outside.jpg

Valentina’s Tex Mex
Valentinas Tacos.jpg
Valentina Shed.jpg

Louie Mueller
Louis Mueller OUtside.jpg
Louie Mueller Inside.jpg
Louie Mueller Tray.jpg
Louie Mueller Rib.jpg

Mickelthwait
Mickelthwaite Truck.jpg
Mickelthwait Spread.jpg

Here’s the truth: wasn’t hungry until I read this and now I am famished. GREAT report and pics. I take it you just decided vs going to Lockhart because of time? Or just bbq’d out

Thanks, Neal! Makes my mouth water looking at the pics. Though, I am brisket-ed-out for a few weeks, at least. We decided against Lockhart and went to Taylor instead for the Mueller family. Taylor is 30 mins north of Austin, Lockhart is 30 mins south, and we had limited time and only so much room in the belly. There’s so much good bbq right in Austin now, that you don’t really have to leave imo. We passed on Kerlin’s, Black’s, and a few others. Actually had pizza the last night (40 North- excellent) as I could not put any more smoked meat near my mouth. Was a great trip.
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Another note: Austin is much bigger and more metropolitan than I realized. There is new construction EVERYWHERE. And the traffic SUCKS. I live in ATL and I can tell you the Austin traffic sucks. So much roadwork, highway bridges, ramps, extensions. Place is booming, it seems. I was looking forward to getting back to i285. lol

Do any clubbing? Hear any music?

My son is not quite clubbing age. No clubs. No music. Visited UT Austin, too, as my son is considering it for engineering. So we were busy.

Any thoughts on what is good in town? I will be there for 44 hours starting tonight (we get in early enough for dinner) so I have 2 dinners and 2 lunches (and two chances at breakfast tacos too) to fill, but working around some client meetings so no time to leave town and no time for lines.

Hi Michael,
My only experiences are what is chronicled here: Stiles Switch is in town and very good and open later (9PM). LA Barbecue is in town and had zero line at 1:30 on a Thursday and was the best brisket we had “in town” aside from Franklin’s. Valentina’s breakfast tacos are awesome, but 20mins from downtown. The pizza at 40 North is very good, in town, and a nice break from bbq.

Others will have far more, better advice than mine. Also search the older Austin threads, there were very good recommendations for food beyond bbq. Cheers.

I live in Austin. In addition to the places listed above, Terry Black’s is just across the river from downtown. Black’s is just north of UT. Cooper’s is downtown. Kerlin’s is a trailer on the east side.

For dinner, see about ATX Cocina or Comedor. Both are higher end/gourmet Mexican, with great drinks. ATX has a decent wine list; Comedor’s is smaller.

Thanks Dennis. Great combination of words and pictures.

Great job Dennis. My old standby was Saltlick, but it’s been a while. When are you doing Austin TexMex?

I have family and dear friends in Austin. Need to get back there. Soon!

Thanks!

Fun place to visit for sure. I’ll head back soon enough. Once i get the urge for brisket again. Lots of veggies this week!

Coopers did us right for an in town short line place. Had the brisket, beef rib, sausage and turkey. Brisket was the best thing on the plate by far with the rib coming in second.

Going to give the Salt Lick a try at the airport this afternoon. AUS looks like it has pretty good food for an airport (better than the awful and overpriced, even by airport standards, burger I had at Newark on the way out)

Glad you enjoyed Austin. Cooper’s is not a top-5, but it’s good and consistent, and the brisket and beef ribs are typically very good. I agree with you on their sausage – there is so much great sausage here in Central Texas that I’m always surprised that they have never stepped up their game.

Austin airport shifted the focus to local restaurants a few years ago. Apart from a handful of places, all of the restaurants are local names, which is nice. FWIW – the new Delta sky club is very nice – almost as nice (and larger than) a Centurion lounge.

Coopers was damn good BBQ to me. We have legit Texas style Q in NY now, but not this good. The brisket in particular was divine. Salt Lick at the airport under-performed, seriously.