After a decade of enjoying smoked meats from London and Melbourne, I couldn't wait to go to the mothership - Austin, Texas - where beef reigns king. It was a short weekend there, but my start was less than successful initially.
Franklin's is the most well known place, however at that point in time, it was only doing takeaway orders, with strict limitations such as you must order online with a forced tip, minimum 3lb(!!!!) meat, need to do it about a week in advance to get brisket. I couldn't get the brisket and didn't want the other items by themselves.
La Barbecue is also decently reputed and owned by a female (which is unusual). I tried to make an online order in advance, but it didn't accept my non-USA cards. It was a short queue but really, really slow as 1 person takes the order, 1 person serves, and 1 person takes payment. Very inefficient and just our luck they ran out of brisket as I was front of the line. The pork rib was fine, but not Memphis quality.
Brown's is in the carpark of a petrol station. It was closed that week for a fishing trip.
Loro's is co-owned by Franklin's but with Asian influence, and so it was the closest I could get to the original. There was a long dinner wait, so we ordered very fast takeaway and sat outside to eat. Brisket was part soft and part really dry, whereas the smoked bavette was better.
Finally that left Terry Black's. A large carpark houses two buildlings, one for the restaurant/dining area, and a large shed with lines of smokers that house lines of meats. One of the cooks was happy to show me and let me take a few photos. It was a very long queue (35mins from queue to food) and I chatted to a local paramedic in line who told me just how many shootings they attend to.
Anyway the queue moves reasonably well and efficiently. First comes what sides you want (cornbread, green beans, pinto beans USD3.75 per single serve). Staff ask which cuts of brisket (USD31/lb) you want, the fattier one or the leaner one (and recommended to me the fattier one). It was excellent, soft, tender, moist and delicious. Even better was the beef rib on the bone (USD30/lb) with it's huge slab of meat on a bone handle charred brilliantly with a delicious bark. The sides, pickles and sauces complemented the meat well. The white bread was... well, as expected and not worth eating much of it.
In addition to the excellent food, cleaning staff work hard and are polite.
An unforgettable local experience.