1. Franklin. Best brisket and beef rib (have to go on a Saturday). Line was actually fun to hangout with everyone in a good mood for sitting in a line for 6 hours since 7 am. Breakfast brisket tacos while we waited were also awesome. Unlike any eating experience before.
2. Terry Black's. Awesome brisket and banana cream pie. Beef rib was really good as well, but not rendered as well as Franklin's. If you're having dinner in Austin, eat at Terry Black's.
3. Smitty's. Cool atmosphere with the open fire pit next to the line, wrapped up meat in butcher paper, and no forks. Brisket was a little tough but the turkey and sausage were really good.
4. Louie Meuller. We went later in the day and the only meat left was Brisket. It was good, but I wanted a beef rib too. For such a historic Central Texas barbecue establishment, it was by far the slowest. We were the only ones eating there.
5. Kreuz. Brisket was tough but the pork chop was fairly good. They could hold 20x the amount of people that were eating there that day, but I don't feel the need to go back.

This was my wife's Christmas present to me last year. I'll admit I cried.