SteveBott said:

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Well?

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Okay, so my final verdict is - worth it.

As mentioned, the line was actually enjoyable. Kind of like tailgating. Yes, if you just want to pick up food and have lunch, this isn't ideal. But for an experience, it's fun.

To get to the point, it was the best barbecue I've ever had. I wouldn't say it was by a long shot, but it was definitive. Now when I judge barbecue, it's almost exclusively based on the brisket. I also ordered sausage and a beef rib, but I basically did that just so I wouldn't be "that guy" ordering 6 lbs of brisket and nothing else.

It was the best brisket I've ever had. Now interestingly enough, it was actually the flat that I was most impressed with. Yes the point was very good - but honestly, if you blind tested me with his point and then a few other top notch points, I really don't know if I would choose Franklin's. I certainly don't know of any point that's definitely better than his, but I also don't know that his is hand's down the winner. I would love to do the blind test mentioned.

But the flat was amazing. I'm typically not a big fan of flat brisket, but his flat was better than a lot of places' point. It was super tender and the flavor was excellent. Not too smoky, but it was definitely noticeable and admittedly I'm a sucker for Central Texas salt/pepper flavoring. He nailed it. So with the flat being hands down the best flat and not being able to call any other point better than his, it was definitely the best brisket I've ever had.

The sausage was average sausage.

Holy crap the beef rib! This was the big surprise. I like beef ribs. This wasn't a beef rib. This was something else. It was on a whole other level than other beef ribs I've had. Unfortunately I only got one, and wound up having three friends show up right as Franklin's opened, so we split it four ways. It was a smaller beef rib (you pay per lb so that was fine with me when the butcher asked, though I later wished I would have gotten more!) so we wound up only getting a couple bites each. Man it was good! I wish I would have had more to really give it more thought, but it might have even been better than the brisket... which sounds insane I know. That's why I wish I would have had more so that I could really have tested it out after the initial shock of the first couple bites.

So in the end, totally worth it. Yes, it's expensive, but compare the brisket price per pound to what you'd pay for a ribeye at Texas Roadhouse - the brisket's way better. Yes you have to wait a long time. I totally understand why that's a problem for some people. Yeah, Franklin's is not going to be a regular lunch pickup. But as an experience, it's pretty cool.

Glad I did it, and I'm going to do it again. Though I want to hit up several other places before that so I can have a better comparison. Valentina's, La Barbecue, Stiles Switch. Any others?