California International Airshow - Salinas

We vended at the California International Airshow in Salinas this weekend for the third year in a row. Was a crazy, busy, but very fun weekend. But we got there a bit late. Imagine our surprise when we were all loaded and ready to go when all of a sudden we realized there was a problem with one of the trailer tires. Looks to me like someone must have hit a curb!



But once we got there we got set up and hit the ground running. And we got the flags up on the trailer and I just had to have our favorite hockey team flag flying since the new season opens very soon. We sold tri-tip sandwiches with grilled onions and bell peppers, spare ribs, pesto chicken sandwiches with swiss cheese and a combo that included a sandwich and ribs. We also included potato salad on all plates we served. Ohhh, and we also sold tri-tip breakfast burritos early in the day.



The numbers were down from last year. The Blue Angels were there last year and they had the Airforce Thunderbirds flying this year. Plus, the fog rolled in on Sunday afternoon so the Thunderbirds did not get to fly. But we still did okay. Best of all the organizers invited us back for next year before we had even started packing up. They like us so much they set us up next to the "Budweiser Hangar" at the front near the grandstands and entrance to the box seats. Nice!

I do have to say we could not do events like this without our fantastic crew who work their bums off for us at every event. I love my crew!

I don't have total numbers yet. We usually count all of the tickets every evening, but an exhausted Steve started to count them last night and decided it was bed time instead.

It's been a long, busy summer and this was our last big event of the season. I am going to the office to get some rest today. Thank goodness I get to sleep in next weekend!

Thanks BBS, the trailer is big and heavy and not easy to maneuver, but once we are in place it can be quite a show piece. As you can see we have a large fold out awning with screened room on our serving side. Works out great!

I highly recommend you get a spare tire. We had a blow out on a busy freeway a couple months ago. And now this problem with the bubble. I am certain that tire would have blown if we had gotten on the road. Also, speaking from experience, make sure your jack and all of that equipment work properly. When the tire blew on the freeway we had some jack problems because that jack hadn't been used in ages.

Also, a funny thing happened with the health inspectors. Two of them showed up on Saturday morning. We have dealt with both of them at a few events in Monterey County. They walked in and said hello, looked around for about 20 seconds and said "Oh you guys are always good" and turned to leave. They seemed almost annoyed when I asked them to wait cuz I had a question about my new test strips for the bleach in the sanitizing tub. It's nice when you have a good rep with the inspectors and they just barely give you the once over. BUT, that does not stop us from using good health and food safety practices. The local Fireman who came by to inspect was almost as quick.

I can't believe that tire didn't blow. I used to do events with a mobile restaurant for Hardee's. The rig we had always had problems with tires. Great looking set up and event!

Forney said:

I can't believe that tire didn't blow. I used to do events with a mobile restaurant for Hardee's. The rig we had always had problems with tires. Great looking set up and event!

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Thank! This is one of our very favorite events of the season. I love watching the airshow from our bbq rig!

The tire did blow about 2a.m. on Sunday morning, as it sat out in the driveway. Sounded like gunfire! We have had pretty good luck with our tires until about August. We had a tire ******* on a busy freeway. But, we've had the rig for about 3 years now and the tires were almost new when we bought it. I have a feeling it's time to keep a very close eye on the tires!

Edit: Why does it put in asterisks when all I typed was " b l o w o u t " when describing what happened to the tire?

Bigmista said:

Really nice setup Marsha! Ity's nice to have some footsteps to follow in. Keep doing what you are doing and keep sharing!! Wait till I send MrsMista this link!

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It is a lot of hard work, and some very long days, but it is also lots of fun. Especially when people tell you how good the food tastes... and then you get to make a nice deposit at the bank!

MrsMista said:

Nice job. I like your set up a lot and crowds in line for your food is always a good thing.

I'm not going to be as bad as my husband thinks but I just want to know how to you determine how much of each meat for a particular crowd? I know you run out of some things. Is it a matter of limiting your menu or just have extra on hand?

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Hi There!

It took us a while to catch on to correctly estimate how much meat and other product to order. This is our third summer season and we do estimate a lot better than we did the first year, but we still don't always get it right. So, you have to either have a freezer for leftovers, or someone like me who can run out at the end of a busy first day and stock up on more product. And then late on the last day of an event I start to get creative with the menu if we are running low on certain items. For example, at an art & wine festival a couple weeks ago we ran out of hoagie rolls, but had tortillas, so I changed to selling "Tri-tip wraps." After we ran out of tortillas I changed the menu to us selling half a rack of ribs and half a tri-tip as a take home "Family pack." Then we ran out of ribs and I changed it to where people could buy a whole tri-tip to take home for dinner. I normally use a printed menu sign that I post on our booth, but also take along a white board that can be changed when things start to run out. That's when you take down the printed menu. I used to panic when things would run out, now I have learned to just be flexible and get creative... it sure saves my sanity!

Let me go look up another thread where someone mentioned expecting to feed 1% - 2% of the average number of people who attend events such as festivals, etc.
Check this out: http://www.bbq-brethren.com/forum/showthread.php?t=49195

CONGRATS!!!! Sounds like you all had a wonderful time!! Nice job of improvising.. I must keep that in mind!! Nig rig by the way!

Qcrue2U said:

CONGRATS!!!! Sounds like you all had a wonderful time!! Nice job of improvising.. I must keep that in mind!! Nig rig by the way!

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Thanks! I hope you do well at your event. We weren't nearly as busy as we were at the same event last year. For some reason they always get the biggest crowds when the Navy Blue Angels are at the airshow.

TOPS BBQ said:

Nice job Marsha! I got to see some of the planes on Saturday that flew over Monterey. It was definitely foggy Sunday & Monday.

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Thank you! Hope you enjoyed Monterey. Did you try any of the restaurants I mentioned?

Brian in So Cal said:

Marsha, Never had been to you site before. Very cool. Are you going to q-fest north? I hope so. I will be there.

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Yes, we will be at Q-Fest North. Looking forward to meeting you!