Franklin Barbecue Pop-Up Drops Prices, Sells Out in Under A Minute [Update]

Tickets to the hotly anticipated, two-nights-only Franklin BBQ pop-up in San Francisco sold out in less time than it takes Aaron Franklin to light the smoker in the morning. When Eater SF checked the Eventbrite page at around 9:18 a.m., tickets for both nights had already sold out. Update: As many eager BBQ fans have let us know, tickets may have been gone before the clock even hit 9:01 a.m.

@eatersf @FranklinBbq started refreshing page 5 minutes ahead, selected date and wouldn’t let me select tickets. Sold out instantly #bummed

— Robb (@Godogs21) April 24, 2015

One smoke-ring silver lining for all those who got up early to hover over the ticketing page: prices quietly dropped from the original $130 price quoted earlier this week to a more reasonable $70 a head for two beers from Magnolia, a plate of the celebrated barbecue and the opportunity to hang out with Franklin and his local co-author Jordan Mackay. That is, of course, no consolation to those who weren't quick enough on the draw. Also, the lower price no longer includes a copy of the Franklin Barbecue: A Meat-Smoking Manifesto cookbook, which is available for purchase at the event.

A Franklin Barbecue pop-up placeholder page has appeared on StubHub, but as of this posting no one has tried to flip their tickets for a profit. So, we can at least have some faith that those who gobbled up the tickets are actually in it for the brisket and not just barbecue day traders.

For anyone who just wants to get their hands on the cookbook and start smoking meat themselves, Franklin will be signing copies at Omnivore Books on Monday, May 11th at 6 p.m.

[Note: an earlier version of this post stated books were included with the lower $70 ticket price. This is no longer the case.]