this is awesome news. hopefully we can get a few pics of the new prized pig?!
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Open a BBQ restaurant, they said. It will be fun, they said
- Thread starter marubozo
- Start date
this is awesome news. hopefully we can get a few pics of the new prized pig?!
BigDaveBBQ
Knows what a fatty is.
Wow.......... I was referred to this thread from another member after he commented on a post I made. I started reading at 9PM last night, made it to page 117 before I passed out @ 12:51 with my phone in my hand. Woke up at 5:45 AM and just finished about 30 minutes ago. I needed to take some time to get through the roller coaster of emotion. All I have to say is I echo everyone else "YOU NEED TO WRITE A BOOK". You mentioned that you were a writer prior to the original prized pig, well sounds like you got a nice chunk of change sitting on the back burner should you find the time to make it happen.
From the front -end issues that arose from buying the building, dealing with contractors, city, health department, mechanics, and contractors. You have experienced a lifetime of events in 2 years, from the tragic death in your restaurant to a divorce I bet you never thought would happen the day you stood at the altar. The stress you endured I am surprised all you ever had health wise was to be put on blood pressure medicine.
Being the industry for 15 years an opening over a dozen restaurants I know the physical and emotional demand first hand. The road blocks, and the long hours’ day in and day out. Each time I clicked next and awaited an update post I kept looking for a "relationship" or date night, vacation note included. Only because again, I know it all too familiar. People end up marrying their restaurant. The family and significant other see the success and wonder why you do not just pass the keys off and collect a check. It sounds like you have the same bones as me, I have way more attention to detail than others. No matter how much I train and teach the next person, it is not perfect. Sounds like we share that like minded programming that cannot be shut off. So when your update came regarding your marriage, I knew it was coming. I hope you have found solitude in it all and are at peace with that portion of your life.
If you have not been able to realize from the amount of support the last 6 years, you found your calling. You have a skill that most cannot repeat. You are part of the culinary 1%. The 1% of people that start up a restaurant to follow their dreams and have a line out the door and nearly sell out every day and have to turn away business. It is so rare I cannot even begin to explain, but I am sure after your time traveling and socializing, it is not the first time you are hearing that. It is great to see people find the value in the knowledge that you attained. No matter how rocky of a road that you had to take in order to get to where you are now, you have the key to help people succeed.
This has helped me a lot to see the journey and follow along.
I wish you nothing but new success and thank you for taking the time to post updates through your trails and tribulations. Even when times were at a low you came here and made a post.
Can't wait to read the paperback :biggrin1::becky:
From the front -end issues that arose from buying the building, dealing with contractors, city, health department, mechanics, and contractors. You have experienced a lifetime of events in 2 years, from the tragic death in your restaurant to a divorce I bet you never thought would happen the day you stood at the altar. The stress you endured I am surprised all you ever had health wise was to be put on blood pressure medicine.
Being the industry for 15 years an opening over a dozen restaurants I know the physical and emotional demand first hand. The road blocks, and the long hours’ day in and day out. Each time I clicked next and awaited an update post I kept looking for a "relationship" or date night, vacation note included. Only because again, I know it all too familiar. People end up marrying their restaurant. The family and significant other see the success and wonder why you do not just pass the keys off and collect a check. It sounds like you have the same bones as me, I have way more attention to detail than others. No matter how much I train and teach the next person, it is not perfect. Sounds like we share that like minded programming that cannot be shut off. So when your update came regarding your marriage, I knew it was coming. I hope you have found solitude in it all and are at peace with that portion of your life.
If you have not been able to realize from the amount of support the last 6 years, you found your calling. You have a skill that most cannot repeat. You are part of the culinary 1%. The 1% of people that start up a restaurant to follow their dreams and have a line out the door and nearly sell out every day and have to turn away business. It is so rare I cannot even begin to explain, but I am sure after your time traveling and socializing, it is not the first time you are hearing that. It is great to see people find the value in the knowledge that you attained. No matter how rocky of a road that you had to take in order to get to where you are now, you have the key to help people succeed.
This has helped me a lot to see the journey and follow along.
I wish you nothing but new success and thank you for taking the time to post updates through your trails and tribulations. Even when times were at a low you came here and made a post.
Can't wait to read the paperback :biggrin1::becky:
marubozo
is one Smokin' Farker
I must be crazy attempting to do this once again. We're getting close to opening the doors, but as before, things never go as smoothly as you'd like. We got set back a few weeks because of some issues that arose during renovation.
For example, the walk-in cooler in the basement. It was in rough condition and was in a horrible location. So we wanted to tear it down, fix and clean up, and put it where it should be located. Well wouldn't you know a building this old doesn't have level floors, so we had to pour concrete to make a base for the cooler.
We had subcontracted some work out for kitchen tile and one day the guy just stops showing up. Figures. And trying to find someone else on such short notice certainly wasn't the easiest.
All sorts of little issues from equipment not fitting properly to technology troubles with the networking hardware that was left in here. Oh, and the liquor license. What an ordeal that process is. So it looks like we will be opening sans beer initially, but hopefully will have that ready to go in about a month.
But the smoker and kitchen range was delivered today, some of the final pieces of the puzzle going into place. Still a few things yet to buy and setup for the kitchen, but it's getting close.
Check out facebook for pictures of the updates. We've got dining room furniture on order and once that gets put in it will actually look like a restaurant in here.
Everybody keeps asking when we will open, but its hard to put an exact date just yet. We're really hoping sometime during the week following the labor day weekend, but until a few more items and staff are in place it could be just a tad longer. But things are so close, and it's going extremely well, headaches aside.
For example, the walk-in cooler in the basement. It was in rough condition and was in a horrible location. So we wanted to tear it down, fix and clean up, and put it where it should be located. Well wouldn't you know a building this old doesn't have level floors, so we had to pour concrete to make a base for the cooler.
We had subcontracted some work out for kitchen tile and one day the guy just stops showing up. Figures. And trying to find someone else on such short notice certainly wasn't the easiest.
All sorts of little issues from equipment not fitting properly to technology troubles with the networking hardware that was left in here. Oh, and the liquor license. What an ordeal that process is. So it looks like we will be opening sans beer initially, but hopefully will have that ready to go in about a month.
But the smoker and kitchen range was delivered today, some of the final pieces of the puzzle going into place. Still a few things yet to buy and setup for the kitchen, but it's getting close.
Check out facebook for pictures of the updates. We've got dining room furniture on order and once that gets put in it will actually look like a restaurant in here.
Everybody keeps asking when we will open, but its hard to put an exact date just yet. We're really hoping sometime during the week following the labor day weekend, but until a few more items and staff are in place it could be just a tad longer. But things are so close, and it's going extremely well, headaches aside.
Taylormade
Full Fledged Farker
Good stuff man, thanks for the update!
BreakingBBQ
Is lookin for wood to cook with.
Jeremy, it's great to see you back in the game. Just, please, as someone who has been reading your journey from pretty early, that you make sure to take care of yourself physically and mentally.
While most of us have never met you we feel like we know you better than some family members and would hate to see a repeat that you couldn't recover from.
While most of us have never met you we feel like we know you better than some family members and would hate to see a repeat that you couldn't recover from.
jacobp
Knows what a fatty is.
I'm sure Jeremy is absolutely swamped and busy, but The Prized Pig is opening up today at 5:00. I can't make it today but my daughter and I will be there tomorrow for sure.
marubozo
is one Smokin' Farker
Here's a one week in update...
Holy ****. Talk about insane. This is by far the hardest thing I've ever done in my life. It makes Prized Pig 1 seem easy. The things that have happened in the past week to get to this point are like a soap opera.
We opened on opening day without an even functional smoker. We had a team of people working on the smoker until 2pm, just in time to fire it up and have ribs and tips and chicken and stuff ready to go by doors open at 5. So much pressure. And on the same day we had kitchen floods, broken dishwasher, one of the coolers went down, you name it.
To top things off, at 4:55 with a line down the block waiting to come in, I'm gathering with my staff one last time to go over the POS and taking orders. Guess what? Our credit card processor goes down. Yep. Your worst nightmare. And when the clock struck 5:00, our plan to have a host seat tables one at a time and set the pace for the night, everybody stormed in and just sat down everywhere and a huge line formed throughout the dining room for carry out. We went from zero to about 85 people in the building instantly, all without a working point of sale system.
It was awful. I mean, to me it was awful. I'm sure most customers were excited and had a relatively good time, but from an operations standpoint it was pandemonium. Then tickets weren't printing to the kitchen. Suddenly we have 1-2 hour wait times for food that is essentially already cooked and just needs to be plated. I don't know how we survived.
We are a week in now and things have gotten much better, but it's still chaos. There's just so many customers and they don't stop coming. From 10:45 in the morning until about 5 or 6 when we sell out it's almost constantly packed and almost always a line.
The smoker is big enough but now it's a matter of not having enough space to store the food we cook. We need at least double the CVAP cabinets we have now if we want to stay open past 5 on a busy day. So we just ordered two more. We already have two kitchens and it doesn't seem big enough. I don't know what's going to happen.
It's so amazing to see this kind of reaction quite a few years later, but it's stressing me out that things aren't going so smoothly in the front of house and people aren't getting quite the service they need all the time. So we're working on it. Oh, did I mention staff is the hardest part of everything? Almost every day dishwashers just stop showing up to work. Servers don't show up. Cooks don't show up. I've already fired about 4 people and our staff now is up to almost 20.
It's just insane, that's all I can really say to describe it. Never in a million years would I have imagined that hundreds of people would line up every day to eat my BBQ. It's just wild.
But I'm exhausted. I've had a few 18 and even 20 hour days in the past few weeks. I've hardly slept. I haven't eaten. It's starting to get to me to be sure. Monday we're closed so I hope to recover and get ready to go at it again next week. Just have to survive this weekend first...
Holy ****. Talk about insane. This is by far the hardest thing I've ever done in my life. It makes Prized Pig 1 seem easy. The things that have happened in the past week to get to this point are like a soap opera.
We opened on opening day without an even functional smoker. We had a team of people working on the smoker until 2pm, just in time to fire it up and have ribs and tips and chicken and stuff ready to go by doors open at 5. So much pressure. And on the same day we had kitchen floods, broken dishwasher, one of the coolers went down, you name it.
To top things off, at 4:55 with a line down the block waiting to come in, I'm gathering with my staff one last time to go over the POS and taking orders. Guess what? Our credit card processor goes down. Yep. Your worst nightmare. And when the clock struck 5:00, our plan to have a host seat tables one at a time and set the pace for the night, everybody stormed in and just sat down everywhere and a huge line formed throughout the dining room for carry out. We went from zero to about 85 people in the building instantly, all without a working point of sale system.
It was awful. I mean, to me it was awful. I'm sure most customers were excited and had a relatively good time, but from an operations standpoint it was pandemonium. Then tickets weren't printing to the kitchen. Suddenly we have 1-2 hour wait times for food that is essentially already cooked and just needs to be plated. I don't know how we survived.
We are a week in now and things have gotten much better, but it's still chaos. There's just so many customers and they don't stop coming. From 10:45 in the morning until about 5 or 6 when we sell out it's almost constantly packed and almost always a line.
The smoker is big enough but now it's a matter of not having enough space to store the food we cook. We need at least double the CVAP cabinets we have now if we want to stay open past 5 on a busy day. So we just ordered two more. We already have two kitchens and it doesn't seem big enough. I don't know what's going to happen.
It's so amazing to see this kind of reaction quite a few years later, but it's stressing me out that things aren't going so smoothly in the front of house and people aren't getting quite the service they need all the time. So we're working on it. Oh, did I mention staff is the hardest part of everything? Almost every day dishwashers just stop showing up to work. Servers don't show up. Cooks don't show up. I've already fired about 4 people and our staff now is up to almost 20.
It's just insane, that's all I can really say to describe it. Never in a million years would I have imagined that hundreds of people would line up every day to eat my BBQ. It's just wild.
But I'm exhausted. I've had a few 18 and even 20 hour days in the past few weeks. I've hardly slept. I haven't eaten. It's starting to get to me to be sure. Monday we're closed so I hope to recover and get ready to go at it again next week. Just have to survive this weekend first...
Rusty Kettle
Babbling Farker
Congratulations.
One heck of a crazy ride you have had.
Since you have a heck of alot of experience. What do you think someone considering doing this some day should know? Also, whats your best piece of advice for anyone considering this?
One heck of a crazy ride you have had.
Since you have a heck of alot of experience. What do you think someone considering doing this some day should know? Also, whats your best piece of advice for anyone considering this?
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I can feel it.
While I don't own a restaurant, I have cooked in a few high demand, fast paced kitchens.
It's a brutal war zone on a good day and an absolute nightmare when things go bad........which seems to be the norm.
You just soldier through and try to make it happen.
Hang in there, marubozo!
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AussieMatt
Babbling Farker
I've been following you on the book of faces and am excited for you.
marubozo
is one Smokin' Farker
I can sum things up pretty easily. You have to be all in and be prepared to sacrifice everything.
Anybody can learn the business as they go, but what you can't train for or learn from a book is the fact that there's no possible way it can be half-assed. At least not if you want to be successful. It becomes your life. You think you live and breathe BBQ now? Not even close.
It consumes you. Every waking moment is about the business. You end up dreaming all night about the business. You sacrifice free time. Friends. Family.
So anybody considering this needs to seriously consider how it will change their life. Possibly for the better, clearly, but you will also give up so much.
å
And to add to the drama of our opening week, I was involved in a car accident this morning on my way rushing back with product before we opened. i'm mostly ok. The car isn't. But there's no time to lick the wounds, I rushed right back here and just finished our busiest day so far. Now it's time to gear up for morning and do it all over again...
jkief
is one Smokin' Farker
Man...That’s amazing. I always thought about doing something like that when I retire from the Army.
Rusty Kettle
Babbling Farker
Thank you for taking the time to answer my questions.
Sorry about your car. Glad to hear you are ok.
Good luck with your new restaurant.
bryonlr
is one Smokin' Farker
Congrats on what sounds like a very successful business. You can have the best equipment, the best recipes, quality ingredients, but your employees will determine how long your success will continue. Just show them you appreciate them, reward their loyalty, and in time, the long day's, and sleepless night's will be a thing of the past. Good luck
Neil
Quintessential Chatty Farker
Thanks for the update Jeremy. Marci and I will be down after things settle down some.
jacobp
Knows what a fatty is.
Jeremy, I'll say that my 2 1/2 year old daughter were in recently and the food is amazing as always.
Place was jumping, also crammed with people coming in to place takeout orders. So much so that I almost came on here and suggested doing dine in only or limiting takeout until things calm down a bit. But I get you want to serve everyone you can.
In all likelihood, she and I will be back in on Saturday. If its not crazy i'll try to stay hello. Congrats on the success, hopefully it will evolve into a more manageable flow for you soon.
Place was jumping, also crammed with people coming in to place takeout orders. So much so that I almost came on here and suggested doing dine in only or limiting takeout until things calm down a bit. But I get you want to serve everyone you can.
In all likelihood, she and I will be back in on Saturday. If its not crazy i'll try to stay hello. Congrats on the success, hopefully it will evolve into a more manageable flow for you soon.
marubozo
is one Smokin' Farker
Thanks! I'll see you soon I'm sure.
Yeah takeout is about 50% of business right now and trying to streamline that along with the dining room has been a challenge for sure. But this week we hired a new FOH manager and have someone dedicated to handling all the carry outs, so things are already running a lot smoother. Still busy as hell, but at least smooth and busy.
crpngdth2001
Knows what a fatty is.
Mikhail
Babbling Farker
If I was there I'd come and help you out. I'm slow but dependable!
marubozo
is one Smokin' Farker
I've got our first secret menu item :mrgreen:
