A Look at Franklin Barbecue’s Burned-Out Pit Room, and More A.M. Intel

— Texas Monthly took a tour of Franklin Barbecue’s burned-out pit room after the establishment caught on fire in late August. The publication noted that there was one person already in line for barbecue when the fire truck arrived early that morning. Pitmaster Aaron Franklin is still working on a plan to cook barbecue before the building can officially reopen, which is now looking to be sometime around late November.

— Personal finance website WalletHub ranked Austin as the city’s 18th best coffee city, based on the number of coffee shops in each location to the price of coffee.

— Portland chef Sam Smith, who oversees Middle Eastern restaurant Tusk, is coming to June’s for a family-style pop-up dinner. The Israeli four-course menu will be served family-style, with dishes like feta with za'atar and hibiscus eggplant, lamb shank, and pistachio matcha pavlova, all paired with wines. The South Congress restaurant is also unveiling its own sparkling rose. The dinner is $65, with an additional $30 for wine pairings. It takes place on Sunday, October 15, from 5 to 10 p.m.

— South Lamar restaurant Eberly is raising money for Mexico earthquake relief through Thursday, September 28. $1 of the $3 tacos and frozen ghost pepper-infused prickly pear margarita will go towards the Mexican Red Cross.

— The Austin chapter of Les Dames d’Escoffier is hosting its annual En Garde event on Thursday, September 28. It features a pastry competition as well as a Chopped-style one, auction, food, drink, and more. The group's scholarships and stipends will be distributed.

— Crestview bar The Local Post was featured in this week’s Food Network show Food Paradise. The “Fully Loaded” episode covered over-the-top dishes, which meant Local’s ten pound can of nachos and chimichangas.

— The latest season of Food Network’s Halloween Baking Championship includes an Austinite, Cliff Butler. He worked at Green Pastures before the revamp, and is currently the pastry chef of private student housing space Twenty21 Student Spaces on the UT campus.