Open for business

As some of you may have read in this months national bbq news, Red Todd and I, along with my wife Kristal, took our catering/vending business to the next level and opened a small restaurant. We opened on October this year, we was able to do everything completely out of pocket, the building we leased only had a 3 bay sink in it, everything else we furnished. We do not have an exhaust hood or ansul system, so we do not do any frying or grilling inside. All of our bbq is down outside on either our 6' southern yankee or one of our meadow creek Pig roasters. We purchased allot of equipment off of craigslist, and from a few auctions. Our whole restaurant in right at 1,000 sq. ft. We only have seating for 15, but everything is geared for take out. So far we are holding our own, lots of new customers everyday, and lots of repeat customers. We still continue to cater and vend, but that usually slows down this time of year, althou catering has picked up since we opened. It was a heck of a journey, all our catering jobs this past year went into getting the restaurant open. Our business will defiantely show a loss this year, but next year looks to be a great year, with several large events lined up to vend at, lots of catering booked already. BBQ ain't easy, but it sure beats doing something you don't enjoy. It feels really good thou to have been able to do this out of pocket, the business paid for everything. I've learned allot about bbq, and the business of bbq from right here, and I thank the brethren for sharing all that they have learned. I also learned about from taking the business of bbq class put on by Mike and Amy Mills of 17th st. bar and grill. Highly recommend that for anyone considering getting in the business. I wish anyone who want to follow their passion into a business all the luck in the world, its not easy. We still have a long road ahead of us. but we'll keep moving forward.

here are a few randow pictures, I have more somewhere.

thanks everyone for the kind words, we are really proud of what we've been able to accomplish so far. its certainly not something I recommend someone to just jump into, it takes allot of time and committment, for us, certain circumstances took us on this path, with my wife losing her job almost 2 yrs ago, then losing my job this past march, we kept pushing the catering and concession side of things which brought in the income to open the restaurant, and the local support has been outstanding, with another bbq place a mile down the road, its been overwhelming (other place has a bad reputation) with the holidays, we've had drop off caterings almost every day, gift cards going out like crazy. Our retail bottles of our bbq sauce and rubs are all but gone already, its been a blast, I'll do my best to keep ya all updated. Have a great Holiday season everyone.;