toddrhodes
Knows what a fatty is.
I've been to your place a few times, great food at good prices and yes the pickles are amazing. I love the cornbread as well. Hopefully we can stop by again soon!
Open a BBQ restaurant, they said. It will be fun, they said
- Thread starter marubozo
- Start date
dkelly75
Knows what a fatty is.
When is the expansion/move coming...hahaha
Soonerman71
Knows what a fatty is.
THoey1963
somebody shut me the fark up.
I made a batch of spears up yesterday. Was running low and this will give them time to be spicy from the Habanero I put in the jars...
toddrhodes
Knows what a fatty is.
If that time is ever upon us, I pray for an expansion into the Granger/Elkhart area, so it will be closer to work
dadsr4
somebody shut me the fark up.
You can't have him, he's ours!If that time is ever upon us, I pray for an expansion into the Granger/Elkhart area, so it will be closer to work
marubozo
is one Smokin' Farker
Good to see another brethren stop in today.
Lots going on at The Pig. Did a complete kitchen redesign in the back. Moving everything around is helping to maximize what little space we do have. Talking with Coke and there is a new countertop sized Freestyle fountain machine coming out in June, so we'll be installing that as soon as we can. It will do something like 68 flavors. Figure that will help generate more beverage sales to help combat the no beer thing.
Of course, things never go without snags. Had sewage problems last week which meant having to lose half a day over the weekend, and then resort to carry-out only for a few days. That did hamper sales a bit. Not to mention another damn plumbing bill.
Had another health inspection and passed with flying colors, which is fantastic. Staff isn't cutting any corners and we're keeping one of the cleanest kitchens around.
Going to be on the radio next week talking BBQ. That should be fun and maybe hit a new audience.
Dark Horse Brewing, the people who had a show on History channel, are having a BBQ competition next month and we're going to be doing that. Be the first competition I've done since opening the restaurant. Should be a good time.
Food costs are killer though. Well, mostly beef prices, but most things have gone up quite a bit over the past year. I just did a menu refresh to make some pricing changes, but that was probably about three months late. Going to take a while to recover what was lost with the lower menu prices over the winter. On the bright side, pork keeps coming down. Last week my butts were 95 cents a pound. Haven't seen those prices in years. That helps, but most people want brisket now, which is basically hitting $4/lb.
Trying to offset that a bit by expanding our sides. I've introduced a fresh side salad and green bean salad, as well as red beans and rice. Cost on those is running half of what most other sides are, so the more we can sell of those instead of the more costly sides, the better. Plus as the weather warms up more people are looking for lighter sides.
Main problem now is meeting weekend demand. Friday and Saturday I'm cooking as many briskets and butts as physically possible and still selling out sometimes before 6. The only way to improve on that would be to fire up Shirley and hire someone to run that pit all night. That's a can of worms I'm not ready to open yet.
And just a fun fact to finish, but looking at the data, we fed nearly 900 people in the 4.5 days open last week. That's a lot of Q for a tiny 34 seat restaurant. :shocked:
Lots going on at The Pig. Did a complete kitchen redesign in the back. Moving everything around is helping to maximize what little space we do have. Talking with Coke and there is a new countertop sized Freestyle fountain machine coming out in June, so we'll be installing that as soon as we can. It will do something like 68 flavors. Figure that will help generate more beverage sales to help combat the no beer thing.
Of course, things never go without snags. Had sewage problems last week which meant having to lose half a day over the weekend, and then resort to carry-out only for a few days. That did hamper sales a bit. Not to mention another damn plumbing bill.
Had another health inspection and passed with flying colors, which is fantastic. Staff isn't cutting any corners and we're keeping one of the cleanest kitchens around.
Going to be on the radio next week talking BBQ. That should be fun and maybe hit a new audience.
Dark Horse Brewing, the people who had a show on History channel, are having a BBQ competition next month and we're going to be doing that. Be the first competition I've done since opening the restaurant. Should be a good time.
Food costs are killer though. Well, mostly beef prices, but most things have gone up quite a bit over the past year. I just did a menu refresh to make some pricing changes, but that was probably about three months late. Going to take a while to recover what was lost with the lower menu prices over the winter. On the bright side, pork keeps coming down. Last week my butts were 95 cents a pound. Haven't seen those prices in years. That helps, but most people want brisket now, which is basically hitting $4/lb.
Trying to offset that a bit by expanding our sides. I've introduced a fresh side salad and green bean salad, as well as red beans and rice. Cost on those is running half of what most other sides are, so the more we can sell of those instead of the more costly sides, the better. Plus as the weather warms up more people are looking for lighter sides.
Main problem now is meeting weekend demand. Friday and Saturday I'm cooking as many briskets and butts as physically possible and still selling out sometimes before 6. The only way to improve on that would be to fire up Shirley and hire someone to run that pit all night. That's a can of worms I'm not ready to open yet.
And just a fun fact to finish, but looking at the data, we fed nearly 900 people in the 4.5 days open last week. That's a lot of Q for a tiny 34 seat restaurant. :shocked:
centexsmoker
Full Fledged Farker
glad to see it's turned out so well. Didn't see that this was started in 2013.
centexsmoker
Full Fledged Farker
wow! 200 covers a day average is awesome! Congrats
RevZiLLa
is One Chatty Farker
Nice to hear and learn from you
Bperkins01
Full Fledged Farker
Thanks for the update! I tell people your story all the time.. Great success from hard work.
Blanton
is Blowin Smoke!
Was great to meet you yesterday. I had fully intended to take pictures and post a review. Problem is, once I got my tray of food, I couldn't wait to dig in and got no pictures. Loved everything. Couldn't finish the cornbread and should have taken it with me. Will be back in 5 weeks when I pick up my trailer nearby. Hope you have XL shirts by then as I will wear it with pride
bbqmike_ny
Knows what a fatty is.
My wife just can't understand why we need to have a family vacation to Michigan this summer!
SlowSmoked
Full Fledged Farker
those freestyle fountain machines are horrible. We have them in several local restaurants... they suck and don't work very well.
defence18
Knows what a fatty is.
The wife and like them. She enjoys vanilla coke for some ungodly reason, so they make her happy. I'm happy by association. Honestly I've never had a problem with one. I have a lot of problems with the people that are confused as hell and don't have a clue how to work it. They keep pressing the wrong buttons, taking about 14 minutes to obtain a 12oz diet coke.
jimithing78
Full Fledged Farker
They have them at the Fuddruckers down here and I have to agree. The coke always tastes like an orange or cherry drink was mixed in. No idea if the countertop unit will be any better but I actually avoid buying fountain cokes at Fuddruckers now because of this.
Rob's BBQ
Wandering around with a bag of matchlight, looking for a match.
Brethren, I had the pleasure of traveling 3 hours with the family this past weekend to visit The Prized Pig and pick the brain of the owner. I'm happy to report, FIRST CLASS all the way and GREAT FOOD!!!
We enjoyed Rib Tips, Pulled Pork, Sausage, and of course Brisket with a sample of ALL the sides they offer, OUTSTANDING!!!
The staff was friendly and the service was quick! People were coming in waves the entire time we were there!
In spite of that, the owner (not sure if it's ok to use his real name) sat down with us and patiently answered all our questions, shared additional stories (behind the scenes), and gave us a tour of the entire operation (smokers, kitchen, etc.) Really generous with his time, insights, and experience!
If you have an opportunity to visit The Prized Pig, please support this brethren brother and his restaurant. He is truly a great guy and worthy of our support!
We enjoyed Rib Tips, Pulled Pork, Sausage, and of course Brisket with a sample of ALL the sides they offer, OUTSTANDING!!!
The staff was friendly and the service was quick! People were coming in waves the entire time we were there!
In spite of that, the owner (not sure if it's ok to use his real name) sat down with us and patiently answered all our questions, shared additional stories (behind the scenes), and gave us a tour of the entire operation (smokers, kitchen, etc.) Really generous with his time, insights, and experience!
If you have an opportunity to visit The Prized Pig, please support this brethren brother and his restaurant. He is truly a great guy and worthy of our support!
marubozo
is one Smokin' Farker
It was great to meet you and your family last weekend, Rob. After spending time with you guys I know you've got what it takes to create a successful restaurant. I hope I was able to help as you embark on your journey.
Today was a bit of an eye opener. We sold out in record time. Smoker was at maximum capacity all night and all day and I was completely sold out before 5pm. While amazing, it feels awful to put the sold out sign up even before the prime Saturday evening dinner rush. If this is happening on a 30 degree day in March, what on earth is going to happen when school is out and all the vacationers show up this summer?
I've literally hit the physical capacity of this location. I've got all these off-site events lining up, weddings to cater, but how on earth can it be done? Can't even keep enough food in house to make it past 5 in the restaurant so trying to cook enough for another 100-200 off-site on the same day? There is no way.
It's just stressing me the fark out. Margins are razor thin and since I've essentially hit the cap of what can be sold in a day, there's no good way to make more money. I need to sell more food (without increasing labor and fixed costs) to make money but my hands are tied.
Don't get me wrong, it's a great problem to have, but it's still a problem. And there's no easy solution.
Of course, I don't mind working fewer hours. That's a bonus.
Today was a bit of an eye opener. We sold out in record time. Smoker was at maximum capacity all night and all day and I was completely sold out before 5pm. While amazing, it feels awful to put the sold out sign up even before the prime Saturday evening dinner rush. If this is happening on a 30 degree day in March, what on earth is going to happen when school is out and all the vacationers show up this summer?
I've literally hit the physical capacity of this location. I've got all these off-site events lining up, weddings to cater, but how on earth can it be done? Can't even keep enough food in house to make it past 5 in the restaurant so trying to cook enough for another 100-200 off-site on the same day? There is no way.
It's just stressing me the fark out. Margins are razor thin and since I've essentially hit the cap of what can be sold in a day, there's no good way to make more money. I need to sell more food (without increasing labor and fixed costs) to make money but my hands are tied.
Don't get me wrong, it's a great problem to have, but it's still a problem. And there's no easy solution.
Of course, I don't mind working fewer hours. That's a bonus.
