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

marubozo · May 20, 2013

DJK said:
Did you ever consider starting smaller with a food truck? If so, what weighed against this option? Just curious, really.

Also, I join everyone else in wishing you the best.

I did. That was my first plan of attack, but that got shot down quickly. In this area the only city that could support a truck full time would be the immediate South Bend, IN area. Only problem is they don't allow food trucks. So, getting outside of that area there's very little other than a lot of rural and small towns with just a few thousand people.

Just across the border here in Michigan where they are allowed, there's nothing to support a full time truck business, but there's one or two people who set up from time to time on weekends in the summer, but that's about it.

After thinking about it I actually preferred a physical location because investing in real estate is another thing I deal in, so aside from the business itself I know it may also turn out to be a reasonable investment given where we are in the current real estate market. Not counting on it by any means, but at least having some equity into it in the event things turn south means less of a financial hit if I have to get out. And if things go at least well enough to keep the doors open, then having the the 5 year note paid off would not only be great for cash flow, but hopefully by then some improvement in real estate could make for a bigger payday down the road.

oifmarine2003 · May 20, 2013

Good luck. Owning your own business is a lot of work but is the only way to go!

kaosfury · May 20, 2013

Keep us up to date on this. I'm only a couple hours out, and can get the family to do a road trip for good grub.

On the fries thing, I'd say nix it. Fryers are more trouble than they're worth. Mashed potatoes are easier, and fit better with good Q IMO.

SmokinAussie · May 21, 2013

marubozo said:
I did. That was my first plan of attack, but that got shot down quickly. In this area the only city that could support a truck full time would be the immediate South Bend, IN area. Only problem is they don't allow food trucks. So, getting outside of that area there's very little other than a lot of rural and small towns with just a few thousand people.

Just across the border here in Michigan where they are allowed, there's nothing to support a full time truck business, but there's one or two people who set up from time to time on weekends in the summer, but that's about it.

After thinking about it I actually preferred a physical location because investing in real estate is another thing I deal in, so aside from the business itself I know it may also turn out to be a reasonable investment given where we are in the current real estate market. Not counting on it by any means, but at least having some equity into it in the event things turn south means less of a financial hit if I have to get out. And if things go at least well enough to keep the doors open, then having the the 5 year note paid off would not only be great for cash flow, but hopefully by then some improvement in real estate could make for a bigger payday down the road.

That sounds pretty sensible to me. You are going IN with an EXIT strategy all worked out. I wish I'd been smart enought to do that in my business 10 years ago.

Cheers!

Bill

ColdFyre · May 21, 2013

best wishes to you!

Jaskew82 · May 21, 2013

Best of luck. I hope it is a huge success for you!

kaosfury · May 22, 2013

If you are looking for a smoker, there is a Southern Pride at auction right now.

http://assetsnowauctions.com/cgi-bin/mnlist.cgi?monger12/1

It's in Ferndale. 6 days left. Be aware of the $300 they are going to add to your bid.

Dyce51 · May 22, 2013

Congrats on your new adventure!!! Looks like your building has all the needed basics!!!! Good Luck to ya!!!!

I wish I had the capitol to open a BBQ Joint!! I'm starting with a mobile "BBQ Shack" and hoping to upgrade to a "Joint" in the future!

Daddy-O · May 22, 2013

I'll be over for sure when you open!

Good luck.

rookiedad · May 22, 2013

congratulations on the new place! grab up a video camera and start documenting the progress and putting it on youtube like your own reality show. bbq is real hot as entertainment these days and you might get picked up for your own show on television.

tnjimbob · May 22, 2013

Congrats on the new 'que restaurant. So far, your plans sound reasonable and you have a good handle on the front end work yet to do.

I have been in the same boat you have been in - too many people saying I need to open a restaurant because they love my cooking. My constant reply is, "Besides the fact that I'm basically broke and scared to death, I'd open a restaurant tomorrow." My real fear is that cooking BBQ every day might lead to me hating it instead of having the passion and enjoyment I get now from competition cooking and a few catering gigs here and there.

Best of luck with your new restaurant, and I also vote for flying pigs. :-D

DaGoomba · May 22, 2013

Congrats and I look forward to hearing more on the progress!

landarc · May 22, 2013

Actually, if you're already broke. You're almost there for owning a restaurant.

Cack · May 22, 2013

Meeeeeeeeechigan is a little far for me to drive, but wish you the best of luck, and have already suscribed to the thread to keep an eye on your updates.

I've been Quing for a few years, and only doing some small "sells" here and there the last year or so, but I've already gotten the "you should open a restuarant" comments.

Again, all the luck

LT72884 · May 22, 2013

from the photos listed, the inside looks good to me. wife says it looks super cute, ok, really i said that but i dont wanna say the word cute. hahaha. anyway, really the inside does look nice and i would love to have a BBQ place like that here. I like comfy sit down places.

Congrats on accomplishing what you have. Change the name for sure. Pig Spit is a cool name. haha.

keep us updated. I have a friend who opened a Cafe but he also has smokers. He serves the regular breakfast, lunch and dinner items that you would find at a standard cafe and also serves up BBQ as well. It is called Moon Dogs Cafe

http://www.moondogscafeandbbq.com/ordereze/1000/Page.aspx

He gets great business because people feel they have options if they dont feel like bbq that day.

Wampus · May 22, 2013

Awesome. It's been a personal dream of mine to open a Q joint as well.

Best of luck man.
Looking forward to the updates!

marubozo · May 22, 2013

Spent the day getting measurements of the entire place so I could put together an official floor plan. For planning reasons, and since the health department needs one. Anyway, here's a crude mockup. Best I could do with a free website, but not too shabby. Some of the objects may be slightly off scale, but it's pretty close.

I didn't include the walk-ins or the breezeway entrance, though.

Pyle's BBQ · May 22, 2013

Wow, you have more detail than I had all through my process. I drew mine on graph paper and turned it in. Of course they rejected the first one. I sent notes with details and they approve the second one.

It does look great! The only thing they might make you change or add is a hand wash sink in the front cooking area.

Good luck!

ChetPunisher · May 22, 2013

Well, I will be making a drive south for some BBQ soon. The only thing I see that might be a problem is you have to squeeze by the counter on your way to the tables. You will be paying for bills and dealing with money all the time and so someone will be standing there a lot. Might want to have another door to access the kitchen/prep area for food to come out from.

marubozo · May 22, 2013

Pyle's BBQ said:
Wow, you have more detail than I had all through my process. I drew mine on graph paper and turned it in. Of course they rejected the first one. I sent notes with details and they approve the second one.

It does look great! The only thing they might make you change or add is a hand wash sink in the front cooking area.

Yeah, this level of detail wasn't needed, but I figured what the heck since I can't get my contractor there until next week.

And you're right about a hand sink in the front cooking area. Actually, there is one there currently and I just forgot to add it. I will need to update that.

ChetPunisher said:
Well, I will be making a drive south for some BBQ soon. The only thing I see that might be a problem is you have to squeeze by the counter on your way to the tables. You will be paying for bills and dealing with money all the time and so someone will be standing there a lot. Might want to have another door to access the kitchen/prep area for food to come out from.

Well, for one, the tables/chairs are not quite to scale and given the cheapness of the program there were no other options. So the space isn't quite that tight.

Also, there will be no table service and food will be served from the window at the far right end of the counter. So, there will hopefully be nobody working behind the counter or in the kitchen constantly walking from back to front of house.

But I do see the potential bottleneck if there's a line of customers and being so close to that table. After looking at it and seeing all the unused front counter space, I bet I could cut that counter in half and be just fine, and it would ease any possible congestion by that one table.

Great suggestion, thanks!

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