UPDATE: According to our friends at Man Up Texas BBQ, Franklin Barbecue will be moving to 900 E. 11th St., the former location of Ben's Long Branch Barbecue, hoping to open some time in early January.

On our recent Central Texas anniversary tour, Aaron Franklin of Franklin Barbecue in Austin told us that he was looking to move soon to a permanent building.

For about a year, he has been operating out of trailers at the back of an old gas station on the east side of I-35 at 34th street, producing what many of us in the Posse think might be the best brisket in Texas. Diners eat outside, at picnic tables.

Will Franklin, shown below chatting with our group, be able to duplicate his current quality in his new location, which he hopes will be on the east side of I-35 near downtown?

He thinks so because he will have more control over variables such as temperature, wind, precipitation.

"We're just spinning our wheels out here dealing with the elements," he said. "If it's cold outside, the ribs cool off in three minutes."

Seems reasonable, but some in the Posse still worry that Franklin's my lose some of its charm and ambiance when it moves.

Bruce Tomaso says he is telling friends to visit Franklin as soon as they can, before it changes locations. "The trailer experience will never be duplicated in a restaurant," Tomaso said, "and the brisket might not be, either."

(Photos by Chris Wilkins)