Cranky Frank’s BBQ

We are picky BBQ eaters and we highly recommend this place! Very very good!!! I wish there was more outdoor seating but that won’t stop me from going back here every time I’m in town!

We had the plate. Sides were okay, nothing great. If you want the real deal – chops and ribs – drive up to Llano. They do BBQ the way it’s supposed to be done…

3^rd time I’ve been here and the food just keeps getting better. I had the sausage/​brisket combo plate with the sausage being tender and flavorful and the brisket lean and moist. The sides are always outstanding. One of my favorite places for Que in Texas.

Loved this place, get there early the line starts forming out the door. Excellent brisket, we got the moist, mouth watering! Get the plate then you can have all the sides you want.

Texas BBQ at its best! We had the lean brisket sandwich and ribs, beans. The meat is really tender and flavorful. The beans too. We loved all the sides in the help yourself service bar, including pickles, cole slaw, potato salad, corn, and sauces. But the brisket is our favorite! It’s nice to see it sliced right in front of you, which other places do too. Can’t wait to get back there!

Authentic central TX barbecue. Lean brisket was super moist, even at 1:30. Not as much smoke as I prefer, but that’s subjective. Couldn’t really detect a rub, but again, sometimes smoke and salt are all you need. I will say that the sauce is a great compliment for overall flavor, but the meat texture and quality was on point by itself.
Ribs are St. Louis cut and cooked perfectly – almost fall off the bone, but not quite. Again, I think the pitmaster is relying mainly on mesquite smoke for flavor, and there’s nothing wrong with that. If you are in the camp that says mesquite is a little too heavy for ribs and they deserve a spicy sweet rub, then these probably won’t be your favorite ribs. But they’re still dang good, and well above average.
Great beans and KILLER potato salad.

2^nd time and just as good.
I had the marbled brisket plate. My husband had the smoked sausage plate. The brisket is amazing. I could eat this every single day and never get tired of it. The brisket just melts in your mouth. The sides are ok, nothing great, but I’m not here for that. Just brisket.
It’s a pretty small little joint and obviously popular as it gets pretty crowded the few hours its open. There was a line this time but it moved pretty quickly.
If you are a BBQ fan, make time to come here for lunch one day.

Amber made plans for us to do some wine tasting with friends around Fredericksburg. That morning, we hiked up to the top of Enchanted Rock. The views were beautiful from the summit. We worked up an appetite after walking around the park. I did not know about the rest of my party, but I was ready for some barbecue from Cranky Frank’s Barbeque Company. Cranky Frank’s is on the latest Texas Monthly Top 50 list. The hike took longer than I had expected, and we arrived at the restaurant just before 1 PM.
When we were standing in line, they ran out of moist brisket and pork ribs. I ended up ordering some lean brisket, pulled pork, and sausage. We were one of the last people to get brisket. The brisket had a good flavor and smoke. The slices however were dry and falling apart. It needed some BBQ sauce. Same thing with the pork. The pork came in pieces instead of being pulled. They tasted fine, but the texture was too dry for me. The sausage was pretty standard and had a good snap from the casing.
Since our visit, I have seen recent pictures of the Cranky Frank’s brisket, and they look fantastic. It might be that we came in on an off day or it was just too late in the day. I will try to come back earlier next time. Go try them out and judge for yourself the next time you are in Fredericksburg. My stomach was content when we left the restaurant. I needed all that meat to absorb the wine that was about to be had.

I was in the mood for good brisket and not wanting to try any place new, I opted for Cranky Frank’s. This was my third visit, and the «Marbled» brisket was as good as it ever was. «Melts in your Mouth» does not describe the texture and most of all the taste. Afterwards I’m still burping up that smokey flavor. Their sausage is adequate, but I came for the brisket. Their sides are homemade and All-​You-​Can-​Eat which has a huge appeal to me. Their hours are limited (11 – 3). Closed Mondays. I recommend getting there early before they run out. It is definitely worth the drive from Austin or San Antonio or Kerrville or anywhere in the Hill Country.

The brisket, awesome! It pulled or fell apart with the touch of a spoon, very tender, flavorful, could taste the smoke and just had an awesome flavor. You have to pick either «lean» or «marble-​lie», I preferred the lean, which was NOT dry, actually perfect! The sides were good, corn — buttery, green beans, tender and buttery-​garlic, potato salad was the bomb, unique, not like all the other BBQ joints and that goes for the slaw too! Two kinds of sauce, one kind of sweet and one a little tangier. My two partners got the pudding, said it was great… I went dessert-​less and the bread free option… but they have both vanailla and chocalete pudding and both unlimited white or wheat bread if you want!

I managed 8 classic Central Texas joints in 4 days: Franklin, Louie Mueller, Cranky Franks, Smittys, Blacks, Kreuz, City Market, and Harmons. Cranky Franks was the unexpected gem and a clear 2^nd place. The moist brisket was fantastic; very juicy, perfect amount of smoke, just the right amount and mix of Texas Rub. Truth be told I didn’t try anything else as I was short on time but, getting down to the heart of this thing, it’s brisket that counts. Overall rankings:
1^st place: Franklin Barbecue, Austin
2^nd place: Cranky Franks, Fredericksburg
3^rd place: Harmons, Cibolo
4^th place: Blacks, Lockhart
5^th place: Louie Mueller, Taylor
6^th place: Kreuz, Lockhart
7^th place: Smittys, Lockhart
8^th place: City Market, Luling

Had marbles brisket, ribs, and sausage. Nothing really had any flavor. Sauces were good but my thing is you shouldn’t really need sauce or much of it if the meat already has a good taste. Best had to be the pinto beans

Best bbq ive had in years. Great brisket great sauses… And not an arm and a leg pricewise.

This place is amazing, some of the best brisket I’ve ever had. I really enjoyed the German BBQ sauce, potato salad and green beans as well. They have limited operating hours, but it’s well worth the planning to grab a bite at Cranky Franks!

OMG! The brisket just melted in our mouths and the pork was just a good. The sauces weren’t my bag, but. with meat this good who needs them. The sides were very good too, I would absolutely come back again, and you should too!

Amazing brisket sandwiches! Perfect portion, perfect size, perfectly delicious! The coleslaw was great, as were the green beans. We must not have seen Frank because there was no one cranky around. The menu had humor. This is a great roadside stop! Totally worth it!

This is one of the very best! Had the marbled brisket and a little burnt end — so delicious! Their original bbq sauce is good but their German one is outstanding, not that the meat needed any. Also appreciate their judicious of salt! And their sides of potato salad, cole slaw and beans were the best! An outstanding example of Texas BBQ!

We found this place looking for some BBQ to complete our day trip to Fredericksburg. We got there at 1PM on Good Friday and they were running out of food, but lucky us We were able to get the last of the brisket and pork ribs. I like the ribs the best! The meat was fall of the bone and not too salty. Everything else was tasty especially the potato salad. If you are near Fredericksburg and you want bbq this place is legit!

BBQ snob review here. I am from SC and happened upon this hole-​in-​the-​wall shack of a bbq joint on the side of the road on the outskirts of Fredericksburg. I can write, without hesitation, that this place has the best BRISKET I have ever had. Flavorful, moist, tender, juicy… o my! You have a choice, but make sure you get the fatty, marbled brisket. It’s black on top but it is not burnt.
Very simple atmosphere, TRY ALL THE SAUCES: they are all good. You buy your meats and the sides are buffet style. Get there early because the line typically is out the door and when they run out, that’s it for the day. I am typically in San Antonio when I am in TX and Cranky Frank’s is like an hour away… it is worth the drive.

I’m in the process of doing my best to try all of the top 50 barbecue places according to the 2013 Texas Monthly rating and so when I ended up hungry in Fredericksburg, I went to check this place out.
Top notch Texas barbecue. Great brisket, but not the best ever. The pork ribs stand out a bit more since they’re seasoned differently – and I think less – than other places and they’re the kind with a solid bone as opposed to the kind with two bones and some cartilage. If I went back, I’d get more ribs and less brisket.
The sides are all-​you-​can-​eat and pretty good. There’s a corn relish that stands out particularly well and they have both vanilla and chocolate pudding to wash it all down.
Other minor things that make it a notch above a lot of other barbecue joints are that they have root beer with cane sugar on the soda fountain and they have two kinds of barbecue sauce: Texan and German. I’m not hugely into sauce, but if you are, it’s a nice addition.
If you’re out this way and want a good lunch, this place is probably the best place to eat in Fredericksburg. The Sunset Grill is a close second and first if you’re not in the mood for meat, meat and more meat.