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

Happy Hapgood said:

Have really enjoyed your journey Jeremy. Thanks for sharing. The offer still stands to send you a Louisiana License Plate for the wall. No cost to you. Those walls looked kinda bare in your commercial. Maybe some other brethren could send expired ones from their state too. Down here in Louisiana, Arkansas and Texas you see a lot of cool decor in the BBQ joints but not the chains. PM if you want one. Man keep kicking it! :clap2::clap2::clap2:

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Thanks, I may take you up on that.

While I'm here, I guess I'll post al little update. Lots happening here at the pig in the past few weeks. Draft beer is a bit hit, obviously. And by this weekend, I'm actually going to begin offering a smoked beer. I'll post a video soon to show you what I mean. :mrgreen:

And yesterday we bought a full on concession/smoking rig. It's a big trailer with a kitchen and a nearly brand new Southern Pride on the back. We are gearing up for off-site catering and the summer fairs and festivals. We need to make a trip to Ohio to pick it up but I'll be sure to post pics as soon as we get it.

Now that we have all the additional cooler space we're experimenting with some new items. We've got some corned beef working right now for the upcoming holiday, and want to begin doing pastrami. Also working on making our own root beer. And with the draft system I think it would be nice to have a non-alcoholic draft option that's unique.

There's a lot going on and there's never a dull day here that's for sure. Oh, and I did move in to the apartment upstairs, so I now live at work. So far it's been great not having to deal with the commute. Time will tell how long the honeymoon lasts though.

The smoked beer...

And after a 15 hour road trip later, we've got it home...



It's got a nearly brand new SPK500, and inside a full kitchen. Refrigeration, steam table, fryer, hot water, sinks, and all that good stuff. Now it's just time to start booking more events.

bbqdude65 said:

Jeremy, just one question: after the last 7 years, would you do it all again knowing what you know now and what the investment would be?

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Good question. Since this is my second time around, and have learned so much from the past venture, and have put many changes into place to try to make this location even better, it's certainly been a little easier. But it's still by far the most difficult thing I've ever done.

The physical, mental, and financial demands an operation like this requires is beyond what any book or personal advice someone can give you. That's the one thing that would make me question doing it again. It's just simply not easy. There's no way to sugar coat it. But the rewards can make it still worthwhile.

There's something to be said about being a small operation, working solo or with a very small staff, and maybe being open just a few days a week. I think that might be the sweet spot where you can still do what you love without killing yourself and possibly make a decent little living out of it. Now that I'm in the realm of managing 20+ employees, seeing thousands of customers every month, and into the seven-figure revenue scenario, this isn't your backyard BBQ anymore.

Doing this kind of volume while having your finger on the pulse and making sure every piece of food that comes out of your kitchen is damn near perfect, every single day, will put anyone's mental toughness to the test.

Would I do it again? Probably. But I am getting older and I'm already starting to think about what it's going to be like ten years from now. Maintaining this into my 50s? It won't be easy for sure.

bbqdude65 said:

Well, that's why i was asking. Because, i am in my 50's. I had to cash out what retirement I had to start the business that I'm in just to get by after been fired from a promising position. As I look down the road, BBQ is what I really want to do - I just don't know if I want to scale it to the level you went.



Hindsight is always 20/10; 30 years ago, I didn't even think that BBQ would be an option...now that I'm facing my last 10-15 working years I don't want to waste them - I just need to be practical and determine what level I want to do this. I am catering a 150 person wedding in May. That should give me some level of interest.

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Yeah, get some catering like that under your belt and it will quickly help you determine if it's something you'd like to do on a more permanent basis.

I'm kind of the opposite in that regard. Catering is where a lot of the money is, yet it's my least favorite part of this whole business, which is odd when I talk to most people.

Me, I love the restaurant aspect. Creating a unique space and environment for the public to enjoy and all of that. With that comes all sorts of added overhead and headaches that you don't necessarily have with catering, but to me, walking through your packed dining room on a Friday night and just seeing and listening to everybody smiling and laughing and having such a good time enjoying something you've created from scratch is one of the most rewarding things in the world and makes up for those extra headaches.

Remember when they said it would be fun to own your own BBQ restaurant? Remember that chapter in the book about how to deal with a pandemic? Oh yeah, I don't remember that one either...

The past 72 hours have been unscripted to say the least. It's very real, and very serious.

Just got the call. We are required to close to dine-in service throughout the rest of March. It's going to be an interesting few weeks.