407 Colorado St
Austin, TX 78701
With a motto of “Hot Dogs, Cold Beer”, it would be pretty difficult to dislike an establishment such as Frank. Their downtown location is a veritable wiener emporium, with specialty housemade sausages like The Jackalope, a combination of antelope, rabbit and pork.
Frank’s specialty seems to be swine-centric dining. They have an option on all their sausages to “pork it”, which splits it in half, stuffs it with cheese, wraps it in bacon and then deep fries it. Amazing. Plus they offer no less than THREE dessert options featuring bacon.
The particular bacon-y treat I was after was their famous bloody mary, the Red Headed Stranger ($8). Made with their special bacon-infused Tito’s vodka, it boasts a glorious spice crusted bacon swizzle stick, in addition to a more unusual cheddar cheese block garnish.
You’ll find that most bars in town use the pre-mix Zing Zang for their bloody marys, which is not a bad thing at all, since it’s a damn delicious mixer. But it does mean that so many mary experiences are the same ol’ thing. Frank have their own mix, which I was delighted to find includes horseradish. Serious nom.
Behold the glory:
Verdict? Really delicious. Lovely thin consistency so it’s not too filling, but with many layers of flavour. I will admit, however, that the bacon-infused vodka is a waste and you’re better off ordering the regular (cheaper) kind. Once you take a bite of the bacon swizzle stick, any chance you have of tasting the subtle bacon vodka is gone.
You didn’t think I’d leave without eating, did you? Having flown in from L.A. that morning, the city of lip filler and crappy salads, I was hankering for some obscene Texas cuisine. I ordered their Notorious P.I.G. dog, but subbed the pork sausage for a brisket one. The wiener was then smothered in mac’n'cheese and BBQ sauce. I renamed it the “flyin’ J”.
Kinda wish the mac’n'cheese was more melting cheese, and less dry crumbles. I would completely recommend any Bloody Mary fan to go in and try it at least once.
This sounds so familiar! Sounds like something i saw that was featured on the travel channel or food network for the bacon bloody Mary!