Where exactly do you buy beer when inline?

If you dont bring your own there is a chock selling It

I gotta go again soon. So awesome.

There is also great little grocery/cafe right down the street that has beer

I live in Austin, never been to Franklins, never will. The thought of waiting from 8:30 until 12:45 for brisket is absurd. It's not about being too good or too strung up. It's about a restaurant owner who is too arrogant to come up with a system that allows people to purchase his food without setting aside a good chunk of a day waiting.

I'm sure it's amazing, line is fun, etc. etc., but no thanks. I won't do it out of principle.

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I live in Austin, never been to Franklins, never will. The thought of waiting from 8:30 until 12:45 for brisket is absurd. It's not about being too good or too strung up. It's about a restaurant owner who is too arrogant to come up with a system that allows people to purchase his food without setting aside a good chunk of a day waiting.

I'm sure it's amazing, line is fun, etc. etc., but no thanks. I won't do it out of principle.

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If you had bothered to read anything about Aaron Franklin, you would realize what you posted is a load of crap.

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I live in Austin, never been to Franklins, never will. The thought of waiting from 8:30 until 12:45 for brisket is absurd. It's not about being too good or too strung up. It's about a restaurant owner who is too arrogant to come up with a system that allows people to purchase his food without setting aside a good chunk of a day waiting.

I'm sure it's amazing, line is fun, etc. etc., but no thanks. I won't do it out of principle.

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If you had bothered to read anything about Aaron Franklin, you would realize what you posted is a load of crap.

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Ok I'll bite. Educate me. Mind you, I live in Austin, know plenty of people who have been there, watched plenty of cooking shows with Aaron on there. If I'm missing something here, I'm happy to eat crow.

What is this nugget of trivia that will make me realize that making people wait in line for 5 hours for bbq is okay and not arrogance?

I'll answer your question with a question. What do you expect him to do to make the line shorter?

Do you realize how difficult it is to mass produce brisket that tastes that good? It's impossible. The reason he doesn't expand and the reason there's a line is because he doesn't want to lose quality for quantity.

If he starts to grow the franchise he won't be able to be involved in the day to day and will have to trust his expertise and talent with other individuals who are just as likely to learn the trade and bolt to start their own badass joint.

The guy cares about BBQ and making sure it's done perfect. Read his daily schedule they posted online. The guy is nuts.

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I'll answer your question with a question. What do you expect him to do to make the line shorter?

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Hand out tickets to people in line so they can come back later.

Have said ticketing system online so people can get their spot in line without having to show up in person until it was time.

Southwest Airlines figured this out years ago, they've solved this problem for Aaron Franklin. Maybe he's never flown southwest?

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Do you realize how difficult it is to mass produce brisket that tastes that good? It's impossible. The reason he doesn't expand and the reason there's a line is because he doesn't want to lose quality for quantity.

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No I get that, and I really respect that. It reminds me a bit of the documentary Jiro Dreams of Sushi (great documentary if you've never seen it, on netflix), where the 80-something-year-old chef runs one of the best sushi restaurants in the world, and still goes down to the dock every day to choose his fish, prepares everything himself, etc.

I truly respect and love people who have mastered their craft to this level, and take so much pride in what they do.

Look, I have nothing against Franklin, maybe I'm wrong saying he's arrogant. I'm sure he's probably a great guy. He may be the most humble guy in the world. But if people were waiting for 5 hours outside my place of business for me, I'd (1) feel extremely flattered, but (2) probably try to find a way to not make them wait if I could help it.

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I'll answer your question with a question. What do you expect him to do to make the line shorter?

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Hand out tickets to people in line so they can come back later.

Have said ticketing system online so people can get their spot in line without having to show up in person until it was time.

Southwest Airlines figured this out years ago, they've solved this problem for Aaron Franklin. Maybe he's never flown southwest?

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Open your own BBQ place and run it your way. Online check-in would produce no-shows and arguments from people who showed up late. You are 100% certain to have overbooking online, and they could start the day with all the BBQ sold in advance with none available for people who physically show up.

That is an anti-social model of running a business. Aaron Franklin is just not that kind of guy.

He could raise prices to infinity and that would shorten the line. He won't do that. I bet he thinks often of how he can preserve what believes in and serve more people. No good answers yet without going to a massive scale.

I get what you're saying but honestly I think the concept is perfect. He's got a product that's so good people are willing to make a day out of it. I've had it multiple times and honestly it's good enough to wait that long for. It's priced affordable enough that nearly anyone can eat it.

Last time I was in line a guy from Toronto was right ahead of me. He literally flew in the night before and was flying back after lunch. Just to eat brisket. I ate with him and he was in heaven.

A lot of people are eager for more than just food. They want an experience and Franklin's is one of the best. It may not be everyone's cup of tea but it sure is popular as hell.

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Last time I was in line a guy from Toronto was right ahead of me. He literally flew in the night before and was flying back after lunch. Just to eat brisket. I ate with him and he was in heaven.

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That guy is an idiot.

Agreed. But just goes to show how willing people are to make Franklin's a journey.

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Open your own BBQ place and run it your way. Online check-in would produce no-shows and arguments from people who showed up late. You are 100% certain to have overbooking online, and they could start the day with all the BBQ sold in advance with none available for people who physically show up.

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Again, Southwest has figured this out. They charge for the tickets prior to getting in line, so a no-show still guarantees the product is sold, and those that are late are SOL because they're not going to de-board the plane just so some dude can pick his seat. And fortunately, I don't think any of Franklin's bbq is gonna go to waste. There's always someone in need of a meal.

Furthermore, this is a problem for any restaurant that offers reservations. That's why many restaurants reserve a fairly significant number of walk-in spots, so that people are not required to have a reservation, and no-shows are filled by a walk-in.

I think Franklin is leveraging the lines and obsession the same way Apple does when it launches a new iPhone, or Best Buy and Walmart on Black Friday. And anyone who wants to wait in line can feel free to do so. I just won't do it because I feel like there's an element of marketing that goes into the decision to not address the line situation, and the hordes of people outside the store just fuel the hysteria.

I haven't read his book. Or watched his TV shows. I have better things to do. I don't doubt that Aaron Franklin has put in some great time learning and understanding the nuances of smoking brisket. And he's obviously done a great job marketing, spreading the word and gaining a following.

But it's still BBQ.

Do people not know how to BBQ anymore?

Can't all of the things mentioned in this thread happen in your backyard or on a ranch or wherever where 1) play games, drink beer, make friends, sit in lawn chairs and hell...stand in line if you want, all while 2) knowing that your waiting will lead to you getting food. My understanding is your waiting in line in the hopes of getting food at Franklins. I just imagine all these poor saps who stand in line for hours only to get to the counter and be told there's nothing left. Sure it's arguably worth the wait for the last guy and everyone ahead of him, but how can it be anything but a waste of time for everyone else?

Glad to see you are speaking from a place of knowledge. They go thru the line asking what everyone is going to order so that they can tell people after a certain point that they aren't likely to get any BBQ.

As for charging for reservations, some restaurants in SF and NYC are starting to do that. It's been controversial, and I don't see a Texas BBQ joint doing that anytime soon.

Aaron Franklin cares about his product and the experience and I'm sure he is doing what he thinks is right.

And I thought I liked to argue for the sake of arguing

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Do people not know how to BBQ anymore?

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Never been to Franklin's personally.

I know how to BBQ and think I'm pretty decent at it. But I'm not an expert, I don't get the same cuts of meat that Franklin uses, I don't have the same equipment or time to dedicate specifically to cooking a brisket that he has, and a whole lot of other factors. Simply because I can throw some wood on a pit and stack some meat on top of it does not mean that my cooking is equivalent to somebody else's.

Same for a whole lot of things. I mean, I can cook a hell of a steak at home. But sometimes, it's just nice to go to a steakhouse and let somebody else do it for me. Is it any better? Depends, but me not having to do it and actually going somewhere different often makes up for it.

Some people act like going to Franklins is the only way possible to get food; nobody makes such a claim. I don't personally like the idea of waiting in line 4 hours myself, but i'm not going to tell somebody that makes a choice to do so that they are an idiot either.

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Glad to see you are speaking from a place of knowledge. They go thru the line asking what everyone is going to order so that they can tell people after a certain point that they aren't likely to get any BBQ.

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Your sarcasm sucks sir. You need to lay it on thicker than that if you hope to get by here.

As for the rest of your post - TLDR.

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Same for a whole lot of things. I mean, I can cook a hell of a steak at home. But sometimes, it's just nice to go to a steakhouse and let somebody else do it for me. Is it any better? Depends, but me not having to do it and actually going somewhere different often makes up for it.

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There damn sure ain't a steakhouse, chinese, thai, sushi, french, Italian, indian, or middle eastern restaurant that I'll wait in line for 4 hours just because they are doing the cooking instead of me. Not sure why bbq warrants that kind of behavior. For some reason I blame hipsterism mixed with texas mythology.

Your argument is basically "I don't know anything about this guy and how we runs his business, but people like it enough to wait in line for it, and that pisses me off!!"

Clever reply.

Well, yeah! It's a bunch of people I don't know doing something I don't particularly care to participate in to support a small business - all of which has zero effect on me.

It really ruins my day.

The thing that I call an opinion you're referring to as an argument. Do you know the difference?

I've been to Franklin's once.

And it was better than advertised. The brisket is amazing.


Personally, I don't think I will wait in line again. Just too much else going on to justify spending a half day out there. But it was a great experience and I'd recommend it to anyone.

dustin999: Southwest "figured it out" because it is what they needed to do be be profitable. Franklins does not have that problem. No offense, but comparing the two businesses is one of the most laughable things I have ever heard on texags

By all account, Aaron is a great guy. nothing arrogant about him at all.

Fuggin ridiculous.

Yes Southwest and there God Awful open seating plan have it figured out. No thanks. I fly every week from Austin and will gladly avoid SW. Aaron is a great dude, I have talked to him several times at the pits and spoke with him about BBQ for about 30mins one day randomly at Home Depot.He also shares his knowledge free of charge via PBS and youtube and for a fee at TAMU BBQ and Brisket camps. They do an incredible job of managing the line, they gather information from line to make sure you don't end up waiting for nothing. The line is truly a bbQ social experience. The staff are well educated on the product and they deliver on quality every time. But I am sure principal is on your side here, sounds like you are just too cool for school.

Aaron also just won a James Beard. How many James Beard award winning chefs can you eat at their place for under 25 a head. But keep your opinions about Mr. Franklin and his business practices, it keeps the line shorter for me.

Louie Mueller won the James Beard Award in 2006.

Just to be clear, Louie Muellers (the restaurant, not the man) won an American Classic award (so has Joe T Garcias and Sonny Bryan's) but not the "best chef" award that Aaron Franklin won. While both are incredible honors, there's a big difference in the meaning of the award.


As for the line argument, I'll chime in: I couldn't give a single **** what other people choose to do with their own time.

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Just to be clear, Louie Muellers (the restaurant, not the man) won an American Classic award (so has Joe T Garcias and Sonny Bryan's) but not the "best chef" award that Aaron Franklin won. While both are incredible honors, there's a big difference in the meaning of the award.


As for the line argument, I'll chime in: I couldn't give a single **** what other people choose to do with their own time.

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Just out of my own curiosity, isn't Franklin a pit master and not a chef? I'm not super educated on culinary things, but I was always under that impression. Also, I have no idea what the award is for or how prestigious it is, so I'm obviously out of the loop.

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Last time I was in line a guy from Toronto was right ahead of me. He literally flew in the night before and was flying back after lunch. Just to eat brisket. I ate with him and he was in heaven.

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That guy is an idiot.

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You probably haven't had what they call barbecue in Canada.

I could do some brisket poutine right now.

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I'll answer your question with a question. What do you expect him to do to make the line shorter?

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Hand out tickets to people in line so they can come back later.

Have said ticketing system online so people can get their spot in line without having to show up in person until it was time.

Southwest Airlines figured this out years ago, they've solved this problem for Aaron Franklin. Maybe he's never flown southwest?

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I don't think this is a problem for Aaron Franklin. People line up and he's famous. How do you figure he's got a problem.

I'm fairly certain they do a certain amount of online preorders for each day, and you can come in to pick it up at like 10:30 while skipping the line. But it involves having your order placed about 2 weeks ahead and you have to be one of the lucky few that gets their order in between 00:00:00 and 00:00:30 or so to get your order filled.

I'd prefer the few times I want to go, having the ability to get there at 8:00 and eat at around 11:30. I'll talk to people or read a book while waiting.

If you've eaten there and say you wouldn't wait again, I can respect that. If you haven't eaten there and say you wouldn't wait in the line, I can respect that. If you insist people are nuts or stupid for waiting in the line while never having eaten there, no one cares what your opinion of their choices are.