Open a BBQ restaurant, they said. It will be fun, they said - Page 181

food4thot · 05-31-2015, 07:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dwysywd

It's my first post, but couldn't resist the urge to say "Go Ducks!!"

Be prepared to lose!

Hoosier13 · 05-31-2015, 08:36 PM

Sweet...exciting and scary all at the same time. Best of luck to you!

mchar69 · 05-31-2015, 09:15 PM

I bet there are many on BBQ Forum WHO - - -

#1. Found the FOrum via Marubozo's thread ( Raise your hands )

and /or

2. Have READ EVERY SINGLE POST ON THIS THREAD!

I have, and I am raising my hand - Thank you, Marubozo!

BreakingBBQ · 06-01-2015, 12:06 PM

I'm in #2 category. It is one of the few threads I follow.

marubozo · 06-01-2015, 02:32 PM

A remote temp alarm or something is on my list. Certainly don't want anything like that to happen again. It sucked.

And one of my cooks is a big Ducks fan. Hate the ducks! It's on this fall!

One thing I was not prepared for in all of this was the pace. What I mean by that is BBQ by its very nature is pretty slow and relaxed. It's a casual pace of cooking. And early in the morning and winding down at night, that holds true. But come lunch and dinner service, holy crap. It's unreal.

This Saturday it felt especially brutal, so I sat down and ran some reports to see just how many people we fed. We always can track tickets throughout the day, but that doesn't say much for actual meals served since there can be anywhere from one to sometimes ten orders per ticket.

So by 7pm on Saturday, we had hit the 500 person mark. That still blows my mind, but physically, it felt like every bit of it. Five people manning the line and orders being plated or boxed up in sometimes 30 seconds or less. Even then, it didn't feel fast enough.

When I'm not working the meat station I usually sort of expedite from the middle. My left ear is trying to listen to what the customer is ordering long before the ticket even prints so I can get a jump on throwing buns down on the grill, putting together to-go boxes and sauces, etc. Then when tickets do come up I'm making sure the two people on the cold station got the right sides, tell the meat station what goes where, and then do final plating/boxing before putting it in the window for service. All the while, my right ear is in-tune with the dining room through the pick-up window listening for things like "coke is out" or "trash is full" or noticing when a table leaves so I can get someone out there to clean it immediately.

Never in a million years did I expect it to be so fast paced. Two hours of that go by in the blink of an eye and you don't even realize that you are soaked with sweat while doing those million things at once in a 100 degree kitchen.

Not going to lie, it's a bit of a rush as long as things go fairly well. But when the adrenaline wears off, the pain sets in. 10 hours on your feet start to feel real. Those 50 pound trays of pork butt and brisket you were tossing around like toys become apparent in your back. The burns you got on your hands and arms in the middle of it all seem to appear out of nowhere. And then you realize it feels like the Amazon rainforest in the kitchen and all you want to do is go sit in the walk-in cooler.

So there you have it, just another little insight into the little known aspects of the business. I didn't expect it, but you don't have much of a choice other than to roll your sleeves up and learn by doing. Granted, there are a lot of times when the restaurant isn't that busy and it does roll at the casual BBQ pace. But on those busy times, it's a totally different animal.

dadsr4 · 06-01-2015, 04:02 PM

"10 hours on your feet start to feel real."
Get some good, well fitting shoes. They provide the foundation for the rest of your body. Lifting heavy objects starts with your toes. A lot of people think that good shoes are heavy but pain makes everything harder.

dwysywd · 06-01-2015, 08:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by food4thot

Be prepared to lose!

I bet you're just itch'n for revenge!! Possible this go around!!

dwysywd · 06-01-2015, 08:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by marubozo

And one of my cooks is a big Ducks fan. Hate the ducks! It's on this fall!

It is on!!!!

Triple T BBQ · 06-02-2015, 10:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by marubozo

Speaking of brethren, I got a chance to meet Triple T BBQ all the way from Minnesota yesterday. What great people. It was great getting to share some stories and talk shop.

Jeremy it was a pleasure to meet you and the team. We were in Chicago for the NRA show for the weekend. After trying out a couple of the so called top ten bbq places in Chicago, I looked at the better half and said I am calling Jeremy to see if he is sold out. It's an 67 mile trip from where we were at in chi-town. She just shrugged her shoulders as she already knew what I was going to do. We have driven from Rochester, Mn to Des Moines, IA just for a bbq pit before. Besides we're originally from Texas. So off we went.

What I forgot was that we were going to cross a timezone. Instead of hitting the door about 6:30pm, we hit @7:30pm right before they were due to close. I was heartbroken when I heard they had sold out of ribs but not surprised when we finally arrived. Jeremy must have thought we had changed our minds when we didn't show up on time. Had called him from the road too. All my fault too.

What happened next was just another reason Jeremy and his team are such a class act. Not only would he not let us pay but he dug around in the pit and the warmer and pulled out some of the best brisket and pulled pork, pickles, Mac and cheese and cornbread I have ever had. The brisket was incredible and I literally rubbed my fingers on the paper and with cornbread to get every drop of brisket juice folks. Damn good!!!

Then after handling a record day with a 150 extra meals for a catering job, he comes out and visits with us and then did a tour of the layout and pits. He a true class act and we got away with stuffing some twenties in the tip jar for the crew. What a great group of people. I know you were tired that night but you are living my dream my friend. If you are ever in MN let me know. I owe you a killer meal and it will be hard to come close to what I ate with the better half.

All the best from,

Triple T BBQ,
Paul and Julie

aleaddict · 06-03-2015, 12:25 AM

maru --

First post outside of Cattle Call. That said, I am sorry for your temporary loss over Memorial Day. Your passion speaks volumes so I'm sure you'll recover with minimal damage.

Last year the freezer in my garage went out. Actually, it was the circuit breaker. A cheap, audible failed circuit alarm probably would have saved my bacon. As it was I lost half an elk, 12 pheasants, various sea creatures (mostly yellowtail) and other choice pieces of wild goodness. I worked hard for that meat and it was gone in a day. It was a heartbreaker, as was your cluster with the SP.

The only good news to my story is that I had 4 chukar survive inside the kitchen freezer. I can't tell you how hard I hunted for those birds. It doesn't make up for the lost elk meat but its sumpt'n... Hope you have better luck in the future!

-- Brian/ale

Floridian · 06-04-2015, 07:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dwysywd

I bet you're just itch'n for revenge!! Possible this go around!!

As a Buckeye fan, I enjoy the fact that tOSU is 9-0 all time against the Ducks. I think they played this year too

Sparty - tOSU should be a great game this year

food4thot · 06-05-2015, 12:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Floridian

As a Buckeye fan, I enjoy the fact that tOSU is 9-0 all time against the Ducks. I think they played this year too

Sparty - tOSU should be a great game this year

Possibly college game of the season. Screw the SEC! Screw UM and crazy Jim, too!

btw...many of us ole alums use to despise the name "Sparty". But, it has grown on us as a term of affection used by those now aware of what Mark Dantonio has done with the program

marubozo · 06-23-2015, 03:30 PM

I know people love their burnt ends, but last weekend it got serious. Had a customer come in just absolutely irate that he couldn't reserve them over the phone when we've been doing burnt ends as a first come first served basis for nearly a year now. So when he came in (after calling my cashiers on the phone inappropriate things) he made a huge scene, was calling my staff every name in the book, etc. Got so bad some of the customers who saw it all were going to call the cops.

It's just farking food, people! Damn.

Father's day was insane. I knew it would be busy, but I didn't know everybody was going to come in at exactly the same time. We literally sold our entire day's worth of food in about 90 minutes. At noon there were instantly about 40 cars outside, most having to park down the street because we only have 20 parking spaces. And for that hour and a half we were just slinging BBQ as fast as humanly possible.

In other news, just putting the finishing touches on getting set up for two big fairs to sell at later this summer, and I'm trying to put together an event for early August when the massive US 12 garage sale hits. Thinking about putting up a big tent outside, get a live blues band, and working with a radio station about having them come do a live remote broadcast.

So much to do and so little time.

Bperkins01 · 06-23-2015, 03:37 PM

Everyone should be so lucky as to have a customer (even an inappropriate one) want their product THAT BAD!

Congrats to you!

PatAttack · 06-23-2015, 03:40 PM

I would have immediately told that person to leave the premises and had a no trespass put on that farker!

Keep up the good work, Jeremy!

06-01-2015, 12:06 PM	#2704
BreakingBBQ Got Wood. Join Date: 06-26-14 Location: Staten Island, NY	I'm in #2 category. It is one of the few threads I follow. __________________ Webber Summit S-620 LP/Weber One Touch Gold 22.5"/Pit Barrel Cooker/Texas Pit Crafters PM 100

06-01-2015, 02:32 PM	#2705
marubozo is one Smokin' Farker Join Date: 06-25-11 Location: Mishawaka, IN Name/Nickname : Jeremy	A remote temp alarm or something is on my list. Certainly don't want anything like that to happen again. It sucked. And one of my cooks is a big Ducks fan. Hate the ducks! It's on this fall! One thing I was not prepared for in all of this was the pace. What I mean by that is BBQ by its very nature is pretty slow and relaxed. It's a casual pace of cooking. And early in the morning and winding down at night, that holds true. But come lunch and dinner service, holy crap. It's unreal. This Saturday it felt especially brutal, so I sat down and ran some reports to see just how many people we fed. We always can track tickets throughout the day, but that doesn't say much for actual meals served since there can be anywhere from one to sometimes ten orders per ticket. So by 7pm on Saturday, we had hit the 500 person mark. That still blows my mind, but physically, it felt like every bit of it. Five people manning the line and orders being plated or boxed up in sometimes 30 seconds or less. Even then, it didn't feel fast enough. When I'm not working the meat station I usually sort of expedite from the middle. My left ear is trying to listen to what the customer is ordering long before the ticket even prints so I can get a jump on throwing buns down on the grill, putting together to-go boxes and sauces, etc. Then when tickets do come up I'm making sure the two people on the cold station got the right sides, tell the meat station what goes where, and then do final plating/boxing before putting it in the window for service. All the while, my right ear is in-tune with the dining room through the pick-up window listening for things like "coke is out" or "trash is full" or noticing when a table leaves so I can get someone out there to clean it immediately. Never in a million years did I expect it to be so fast paced. Two hours of that go by in the blink of an eye and you don't even realize that you are soaked with sweat while doing those million things at once in a 100 degree kitchen. Not going to lie, it's a bit of a rush as long as things go fairly well. But when the adrenaline wears off, the pain sets in. 10 hours on your feet start to feel real. Those 50 pound trays of pork butt and brisket you were tossing around like toys become apparent in your back. The burns you got on your hands and arms in the middle of it all seem to appear out of nowhere. And then you realize it feels like the Amazon rainforest in the kitchen and all you want to do is go sit in the walk-in cooler. So there you have it, just another little insight into the little known aspects of the business. I didn't expect it, but you don't have much of a choice other than to roll your sleeves up and learn by doing. Granted, there are a lot of times when the restaurant isn't that busy and it does roll at the casual BBQ pace. But on those busy times, it's a totally different animal.
	1 members found this post helpful.

06-01-2015, 04:02 PM	#2706
dadsr4 somebody shut me the fark up. Join Date: 02-08-10 Location: Howell, MI	"10 hours on your feet start to feel real." Get some good, well fitting shoes. They provide the foundation for the rest of your body. Lifting heavy objects starts with your toes. A lot of people think that good shoes are heavy but pain makes everything harder. __________________ Two Weber daisy wheel kettles A: 1979 P: 1993, and an unused ECB

06-23-2015, 03:37 PM	#2714
Bperkins01 Full Fledged Farker Join Date: 09-07-13 Location: Mass	Everyone should be so lucky as to have a customer (even an inappropriate one) want their product THAT BAD! Congrats to you! __________________ Humphrey's Down East Beast / Weber Kettle Grill / Weber Genesis / CyberQ Wifi

06-23-2015, 03:40 PM	#2715
PatAttack somebody shut me the fark up. Join Date: 07-19-11 Location: In the Marsh	I would have immediately told that person to leave the premises and had a no trespass put on that farker! Keep up the good work, Jeremy! __________________ "You have never lived until you have almost died". "For those who fight for it, life has a flavor the protected will never know".-Unknown Vietnam Soldier 22" WSM 22" Weber Gold Weber Smoky Joe Weber Gasser Rec-Tec 590

05-31-2015, 08:36 PM	#2702
Hoosier13 Is lookin for wood to cook with. Join Date: 04-26-15 Location: Fort Wayne, Indiana	Sweet...exciting and scary all at the same time. Best of luck to you!

05-31-2015, 09:15 PM	#2703
mchar69 Quintessential Chatty Farker Join Date: 02-22-14 Location: Kensington, MD	I bet there are many on BBQ Forum WHO - - - #1. Found the FOrum via Marubozo's thread ( Raise your hands ) and /or 2. Have READ EVERY SINGLE POST ON THIS THREAD! I have, and I am raising my hand - Thank you, Marubozo!

06-03-2015, 12:25 AM	#2710
aleaddict Found some matches. Join Date: 05-31-15 Location: Long Beach, CA	maru -- First post outside of Cattle Call. That said, I am sorry for your temporary loss over Memorial Day. Your passion speaks volumes so I'm sure you'll recover with minimal damage. Last year the freezer in my garage went out. Actually, it was the circuit breaker. A cheap, audible failed circuit alarm probably would have saved my bacon. As it was I lost half an elk, 12 pheasants, various sea creatures (mostly yellowtail) and other choice pieces of wild goodness. I worked hard for that meat and it was gone in a day. It was a heartbreaker, as was your cluster with the SP. The only good news to my story is that I had 4 chukar survive inside the kitchen freezer. I can't tell you how hard I hunted for those birds. It doesn't make up for the lost elk meat but its sumpt'n... Hope you have better luck in the future! -- Brian/ale

06-23-2015, 03:30 PM	#2713
marubozo is one Smokin' Farker Join Date: 06-25-11 Location: Mishawaka, IN Name/Nickname : Jeremy	I know people love their burnt ends, but last weekend it got serious. Had a customer come in just absolutely irate that he couldn't reserve them over the phone when we've been doing burnt ends as a first come first served basis for nearly a year now. So when he came in (after calling my cashiers on the phone inappropriate things) he made a huge scene, was calling my staff every name in the book, etc. Got so bad some of the customers who saw it all were going to call the cops. It's just farking food, people! Damn. Father's day was insane. I knew it would be busy, but I didn't know everybody was going to come in at exactly the same time. We literally sold our entire day's worth of food in about 90 minutes. At noon there were instantly about 40 cars outside, most having to park down the street because we only have 20 parking spaces. And for that hour and a half we were just slinging BBQ as fast as humanly possible. In other news, just putting the finishing touches on getting set up for two big fairs to sell at later this summer, and I'm trying to put together an event for early August when the massive US 12 garage sale hits. Thinking about putting up a big tent outside, get a live blues band, and working with a radio station about having them come do a live remote broadcast. So much to do and so little time.