British Airways says it’s bringing Texas BBQ to its Austin route (for a month)

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Come Sunday (3 March), British Airways will have operated its Heathrow to Austin route for 10 years (with the occasional break for a pandemic) and to celebrate the occasion, the airline has adapted the menu on the Austin route for the month of March and has partnered with a famous Texas barbecue institution to produce limited edition bottles of their BBQ sauce.

BBQ on BA

In a move that should probably be considered brave, the month of March will see British Airways ‘showcase the rich and savoury taste of Austin’s barbecue tradition‘ by offering Business Class and Premium Economy passengers traveling on its Austin route its version of Austin’s finest barbecue.

According to the airline, British Airways’ Executive Chef Mark Brega visited Austin’s famous Franklin Barbecue and after spending time with pitmaster Aaron Franklin, came up with a dish to serve onboard.

Specifically, this is what will be served:

‘A lightly smoked and succulent beef brisket dish, served with sweet corn pudding, lightly spiced bean stew, pickled cucumber, red onion and vegetable slaw‘.

In addition, British Airways has partnered with Franklin Barbecue to produce limited edition bottles of their Original BBQ sauce which it has labeled BA-B-Q sauce.

These jars of sauce will be gifted to Club World customers flying from Austin to London throughout March while stocks last – grab ’em while you can!

This is what Calum Laming, British Airways’ Chief Customer Officer, had to say:

“We’re excited to celebrate a decade of connecting Austin and London. At British Airways we’re committed to providing an exceptional and original experience for our customers and we’re always looking for new ways to do that. Bringing the flavours of Austin to the skies with this special menu is one way of us celebrating this remarkable city and expressing gratitude for the support we’ve received over the past 10 years. And we can’t wait for customers to enjoy our limited edition bottles of Franklin Barbecue’s Original BBQ sauce.”

Quick thoughts

What I know about Texas barbecue would fit on the back of a postage stamp so I’m in no position to comment on how good or bad it is, but as I’m led to believe that when it’s done well it’s something very special, it will be interesting to see what Texans make of what BA will serve up on the Austin – London route next month.

I know that Franklin’s is held in very high regard (VFTW seems to like it), so that should mean that the sauce being gifted to Business Class passengers will be pretty good, but non-Texans serving Texas barbecue to Texans sounds like a recipe for disaster (and things aren’t going to get better at 38,000ft), so this is a brave move by BA – I’m almost tempted to book a flight just to see how things work out 🙂

Bottom line

Next month, British Airways will be handing out bottles of what should be very good BBQ sauce to Business Class passengers traveling between Austin and London and it will be serving up a version of Texas barbecue in both Business Class and Premium Economy.

If any readers are traveling on this route while this ‘celebration’ is on, please come back and let us know what it’s like.