Open a BBQ restaurant, they said. It will be fun, they said

Only took two days to catch up!

Awesome thread. I began reading yesterday, and eventually started skimming through it, and just finished today. Obviously I am not getting any of my own work done. HAHA. Great story. And congrats.

My thoughts on your space problem: Don't do a damn thing. The original Sonny Bryan's here in Dallas is similar to that. It's packed and they sell out when they sell out and there is no room to park or eat inside. People eat on their cars in the lot. If you want it as a consumer, you plan accordingly. And people do every single day for as long as I can remember.

You said your business model was to see far fewer daily visits than you are seeing now, so this must mean you are profitable given that you are 2-3x greater on daily visits than anticipated. That being said, people will adapt to your routine. You have been open only a few months. As word spreads, people will line up far in advance knowing that you will be sold out and if they want a spot in the parking lot, they are going to have to get their early. Seems simple enough. BBQ is a very time consuming business and as the man in charge of doing it all, if you try to please everyone, you will run yourself ragged.

Just my opinion.

I'd sure like to try some of that spicy sauce!

killerdc said:

Awesome thread. I began reading yesterday, and eventually started skimming through it, and just finished today. Obviously I am not getting any of my own work done. HAHA. Great story. And congrats.

My thoughts on your space problem: Don't do a damn thing. The original Sonny Bryan's here in Dallas is similar to that. It's packed and they sell out when they sell out and there is no room to park or eat inside. People eat on their cars in the lot. If you want it as a consumer, you plan accordingly. And people do every single day for as long as I can remember.

You said your business model was to see far fewer daily visits than you are seeing now, so this must mean you are profitable given that you are 2-3x greater on daily visits than anticipated. That being said, people will adapt to your routine. You have been open only a few months. As word spreads, people will line up far in advance knowing that you will be sold out and if they want a spot in the parking lot, they are going to have to get their early. Seems simple enough. BBQ is a very time consuming business and as the man in charge of doing it all, if you try to please everyone, you will run yourself ragged.

Just my opinion.

I'd sure like to try some of that spicy sauce!

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This plus, ever see the line at Franklins??

I don't know if a BBQ restaurant follows the honeymoon principle like some other businesses, where its new, gets a lot of buzz, explodes for a short while, then calms down. My other thought would possibly to invest in a trailer arrangement, where you could cook extra capacity onsite when needed, or use it to do the catering gigs.

Just catching up on your saga. Congrats, I love to hear a happy story.

For you Texas guys, I know Sonny Bryan's has been around forever, but how long was Franklin's in business before it started getting customers who are willing to wait hours for food with no guarantee that there will be any left when they get to the front of the line?

I'm just not buying the argument that it is good business for a new restaurant to turn away customers because they run out of food and don't have enough parking spaces. Maybe it's a Texas thing, but none of the many BBQ joints here in Memphis operate like that.

Memphis Que said:

For you Texas guys, I know Sonny Bryan's has been around forever, but how long was Franklin's in business before it started getting customers who are willing to wait hours for food with no guarantee that there will be any left when they get to the front of the line?

I'm just not buying the argument that it is good business for a new restaurant to turn away customers because they run out of food and don't have enough parking spaces. Maybe it's a Texas thing, but none of the many BBQ joints here in Memphis operate like that.

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He used to be a food truck/trailer, so it was just how it was...I think now it is just the way it is for Franklins because that is how he started.

Memphis Que said:

For you Texas guys, I know Sonny Bryan's has been around forever, but how long was Franklin's in business before it started getting customers who are willing to wait hours for food with no guarantee that there will be any left when they get to the front of the line?

I'm just not buying the argument that it is good business for a new restaurant to turn away customers because they run out of food and don't have enough parking spaces. Maybe it's a Texas thing, but none of the many BBQ joints here in Memphis operate like that.

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As you know the time it takes to make bbq isn't short. So you have a hard limit of the capacity of your smoker. If your customer base exceeds your smoker capacity the only thing you can possibly do is add another smoker to make more food. Adding another smoker is limited by space at the restaurant and cost. So a good bbq restaurant will run out of food if they do not have the capacity to supply the demand that is wanted. It is perfectly ok for a bbq joint to run out of food, provided they are running at full capacity.

Parking is a limiting factor by how much space is on the land. If you have extra land on the property, maybe you can expand the parking lot when the weather gets nicer or next year. But having a packed parking lot isn't a bad thing. It helps with the buzz of "you need to get there early to get food and parking" Lines aren't a bad thing. Yes you would like to serve everybody, but if your restaurant was designed to only serve X people that is a hard limit for you unless you expand. I know myself and friends do not mind waiting in line for great food.

As for people driving by because the line is too long. That is on them. You won't be able to make them happy. Keep doing what you are doing. Serving great food and providing great service to your guests. The people that drive by because the line is too long will either never go to your restaurant, or will make it a point to go earlier so they don't have to stand in line.

Having a buzz of you have to get there early to get parking/table/food is a good problem to have (provided you are running at full capacity) It makes guest realize they have to get there to enjoy something that is in high demand and will be the talk of the town.

Memphis Que said:

I'm just not buying the argument that it is good business for a new restaurant to turn away customers because they run out of food and don't have enough parking spaces. Maybe it's a Texas thing, but none of the many BBQ joints here in Memphis operate like that.

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99% of the ones in TX don't operate like that either. But then again most of them are just average, just like in Memphis. Just about any place would kill to do the business Franklin's does and still run out daily.

I wouldn't call it "bad business". It's certainly not as efficient as it could be, but it's a way to make money hand over fist.

Heck, there are plenty of people in TX who don't like Franklin's and refuse to go there because of the line. And they're happy to grump out loud to anybody who will listen. It hasn't stopped people from lining up every day though.

If you can sustain that model for years, it's a workable business model.

Do you have room for a take-out trailer in your parking lot?

Franklins Original Trailer...

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Man, what a read! I think we all felt your frustrations as well as your pride throughout this ride thus far. Congrats on all your success and best of luck for its continuation into the horizon.

I have a question that's perhaps been asked, but do you have plans to include another smoker? Not only to help with the food shortage, but to allow you to cook different meats at the best temps using the best wood (one for chicken cooking above 300 and one for pork and beef cooking below).

this has to be an historic thread!! Now there are 2(two) bbq places i wanna visit in Michigan---maybe gotta cross the lake soon!!

Been almost a week since Marubozo's last update. I need a fix! :-D

Memphis Que said:

Been almost a week since Marubozo's last update. I need a fix! :-D

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He has checked in.
"Last Activity: Yesterday 02:38 PM"

inquiring minds want to know!

WHAT? Nothing broke this week??? GOOD.

I made your pickles yesterday - gonna have a few tonite - can't wait!
I asked before about having picnic tables outside when (if )
it gets warmer - any room for something like that?
Around here people have CocaCola Umbrellas or Heineken, etc., through a hole in their tables - surely they are free from vendors.

one of the area BBQ restaurants suddenly closed today without warning or explanation.

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I have a gooooood idea why he closed..............

my food guy today

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they WERE his account as well.

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- (fixt)
I was wondering about the vendors -
Sysco - Presidential are big here, plus small guys.
How now do you source your food?
Quality is a big deal with me.