I would love to open a BBQ restaurant but..

[rbsnwngs]

i started in my driveway and built it up to where i am in a store front now and it took all the money i had in the world to find out that my partner was an a**hole. i am now fighting to keep this thing alive if you do deside to do this you better understand that it will take every bit of energy and time you have to make it work. 85% of restaurants fail within 6 months of opening and after that 63% fail within 1 year. I dont want to dicourage anybody from doing what they love but think long and hard about this before you jump in.
if you need anythig please call or e-mail me at any time.

 

[chinesebob]

The vending and catering thing is the way to go. Start out that way get some info in case people want you to do catering. Might want to check with your friend the bar owner to make sure he's ok with you catering or what kind of competition you might make. Shoot he might even offer more help if he knows you're serious.

You may not have to have a cart. When I set up for festivals I have to have a roof over my head(tent) a 3 sink setup (3 deep tubs worked for the beginning), a way to store the cold and a way to store the hot. I got 2x 5 day cold coolers and they held the temp well enough.

PM me and I can give you some more ideas that have helped me in 6 months to go from nothing to thinking about how soon can I.....

For cooking more meat - I'll put together a more detailed design of my transformer uds design. Shoot I'll even make it in the next couple of weeks to let you know how it cooks.

 

[grillfella]

I am also doing the same thing, I have an investor for a BBQ lunch spot in Whittier ca area. Taco trucks and taco stands all over the place. Good luck

 

[swamprb]

Call Gordon Ramsey! The Brits need Q!!

 

[Bigdog]

i started in my driveway and built it up to where i am in a store front now and it took all the money i had in the world to find out that my partner was an a**hole. i am now fighting to keep this thing alive if you do deside to do this you better understand that it will take every bit of energy and time you have to make it work. 85% of restaurants fail within 6 months of opening and after that 63% fail within 1 year. I dont want to dicourage anybody from doing what they love but think long and hard about this before you jump in.
if you need anythig please call or e-mail me at any time.

Listen to this man. He knows what he is talking about. Owning your own business takes one hell of a lot of money and all of your time. I know, I had my own for 7 years but not in the food business. Food is the toughest to do and has the highest failure rate. You need to be totally committed to this and be ready to work like a dog.

 

[Rick's Tropical Delight]

I don't want to pee on your fire, but 90% of those folks were out of business within a year. Good restaurants just don't happen, they takes lots of planning and double the money you think they would.

maybe so, but i was trying to remain positive and encourage the man.

for me as an engineer, it is very hard to remain positive since my entire life is figuring out how many ways something will fail. being negative all the time is not good for your health or the people around you.

go for it dr!

 

[CarbonToe]

Browser, Carbon what do the two of you think about the idea. You both see the target patrons and know what I'm up against regarding the market area and town center customers.

The problem you are going to have is that in the UK we associate BBQ with grilling, so poeple will assume that you are selling burgers, sausages, chicken 1/4's etc etc and will expect that molassus tasting sauce, moving people away from that will be an uphill battle. Maybe sell it as Traditional (or Real) American Slow Smoked BBQ.

My "sort of" (I'm not married!) brother in law is a head chef of a pub in Cornwall and in summer they open up the beer gardens and have grill style BBQ lunches he has offered me a slot or two with the smoker to see if it's a viable venture.

I have said I'd pop down with the WSM and cook the staff up a meal, most likely pulled pork & slaw sarnies and if they like it and more importantly think they can sell it as a concept i'd pass on what limited knowledge I have by cooking for them for a few days

You could always cook up a brisket, a bunch of ribs or a pork shoulder and just give it away in your pub (landlord allowing) and ask people to be honest...ie woulld you pay £XX for a plate with this this and that on it or £XX for a bun with pork and slaw? If they say no or a large % say no you've only invested £60 and you'd have your answer.

If that works then move up to smoking and vac sealing and then supply the pub with "boil in the bag Q" which isnt going to be as good as fresh, but its a compromise. If that then starts to sell fast then move to a smoker on site and seek employment as the BBQ cook!!

You'd have to get your home kitchen signed off or produce the food onsite.

The trailer in my avatar was $30,000 - complete. Health compliant, fridge, etc. Much

So £30,000 ($60,000) over here then!! :icon_smil

Call Gordon Ramsey! The Brits need Q!!

God no!! It would end up being French!!!

 

[Bill-Chicago]

And park your trailer right outside a US military base.

You'll make enough to cover the bills while your improving the locals taste for "non grilled" barbecue (reference to CT's post on what is BBQ in the UK)

 

[Browser]

Oohh-kaaay, the UK perspective.
Town centres, Friday/Saturday night. Everyone who is out has had a skinful and would probably eat a scabby rat steak in you served it to them in a bun with sauce and onions.
The rest of the time? There seem to be an awful lot of Burger Kings closing in the UK. I'm not sure why, but one reason may be that I'm afraid my fellow Brits vote with their wallets and McDonalds is cheaper than Burger King, despite (in my humble opinion) BK tasting better.
Couple that with what CarbonToe said, that in the UK 'barbecue' means flame/char-grilled sausages, burgers, chicken & maybe steak and you'll have to convince a lot of people that Texas-style barbecue is any different. The worst thing would be small-minded idiots saying "bloody Yank, coming here and teling us how wonderful his food is!". I am not trying to be a doom-and-gloom merchant, but that is what my fellow countrymen can be like, stubborn, pig-headed and suspicious of anything new not backed up by and umpty-thousand-pound advertising campaign.
All that having been said, it could work very well. Start small, say doing the odd bit for your local pub/village event. Pulled pork or brisket sarnies ought to go down well, as would beer can chicken and spare/babyback ribs.
Maybe the van/trailer idea would work as well, especially if you could get yourself to some outside events, such as motor races, concerts, shows etc. If you could get your name and product known that way, who knows?
Sorry if I seem a bit 'my glass is 51% empty', I'm just trying to be honest. If you opened a BBQ restaturant near me I'd be in for takeaway every so often and I'd try and convince friends to try it.:-D

 

[Divemaster]

Sorry if I seem a bit 'my glass is 51% empty', I'm just trying to be honest.

It's not 51% empty, just the wrong glass...

I agree that the best idea may be to start with the local pub and then spread from there... I've been going to a local eatery for a while.. a couple of weeks ago, I brought up fatty's and dropped one off and showed them how to cook it... They are now thinking of offering it for breakfast... They in turn talked with a friend that owns a local bakery that was thinking of offering sandwiches and tossed out my name as a possible supplier of PP & Brisket..

I guess I think that starting small and building up would be best...

 

[jbrink01]

Start small, THINK POSITIVE, and keep forging ahead. I was told when I started that the local meat market catered BBQ, and there was no room for me, what with the other caterers. Well, last year we cooked in the neighborhood of 16000 pounds of meat. Last year being our second full year in business. And even though some on this forum think my pricing low, I am higher than my local competitors and profitable.

My business progression was literally like this;
Hey I got an idea. Cooked some butts on my brinkmann and took it to a buddy's convenience store - gave it away just to get feedback. Next week borrowed 2 more brinkmann's and sold $600 in BBQ. 2 weeks later bought a $6,000 Horizon that holds 32 butts. Cooked on it for 1.5 years, saving the $30,000 for my new trailer. Bought the new trailer in March of 2007 and an '05 GMC2500HD. Owe nothing on it and am looking at another profitable year in '08, good lord willing.

Bear in mind - I had 2 Saturday's last year between March and November when I didn't cook. I am not bragging, and some of you may thinkst me nuts for working at it so hard, but if you love to do it, it's not that hard. I'm just blessed enough to make money at it for now, knowing it all can change in an instant.

 

[Dr_KY]

The worst thing would be small-minded idiots saying "bloody Yank, coming here and telling us how wonderful his food is!". I am not trying to be a doom-and-gloom merchant, but that is what my fellow countrymen can be like, stubborn, pig-headed and suspicious of anything new not backed up by and empty-thousand-pound advertising campaign.

I know that song all to well. It's not just with food but sports, cars and anything that appears to have a flag with fifty stars on it. If I'm honest with all of you and myself I have to say I'm not bothered by it in regards to my mission.

An idea was mentioned from the wife and two friends all at separate times about starting out in the summer months doing some of the horse shows. In our area they are not huge events but a few hundred people attend and most often the food choice is a dinner roll with a slice of suckling pig and a dab of apple sauce for the price of 3 or 4 pounds! or a a selection of treats from a parked ice cream van. I see a huge opening here without much competition and it keeps with the theme of the outdoors IE horses, BBQ ,outdoor cooking, country folk.

No real resources needed as some of you mentioned when starting out on this street.

 

[Divemaster]

It sounds like you have the drive... Now get started... Get another brisket or a couple of butts on that UDS and haul a$$ over to the pub!

 

[Dr_KY]

I plan on doing exactly that making one butt and creating pulled pork sandwiches this weekend to hand out over there. The pub is only some fifteen yards from my front door and the butcher shop is in between us.
I'll be searching the forums for pulled pork techniques/ recipes in the morning and ordering the butts after work.

 

[jbrink01]

No real resources needed as some of you mentioned when starting out on this street.

Just an EZ-Up and a couple tables and coolers.

 

[The_Kapn]

I plan on doing exactly that making one butt and creating pulled pork sandwiches this weekend to hand out over there. The pub is only some fifteen yards from my front door and the butcher shop is in between us.
I'll be searching the forums for pulled pork techniques/ recipes in the morning and ordering the butts after work.

WOW:
House--butcher shop--Pub all side by side! :lol:
Sounds like Nirvana to me.

I admire your drive and desire and wish you the best.
I do not have a clue about the market, health regulations, and all of that over there.
So all I can do is "root" for you from afar.

Good luck and keep us posted.

TIM

 

[txschutte]

Good luck with the venture. The absolute worst that can happen is you accumulate more BBQ gadgets and have to eat the inventory.

 

[Dr_KY]

Just an EZ-Up and a couple tables and coolers.

Bingo!! Wont hurt to have a drum smoking away fillin the air with American blue either. :mrgreen: (See i'm marketing already.lol )

I read and take on board every reply in this thread so just let me say thanks and keep it flowing.

 

[jbrink01]

Charcoal and applewood with rib grease makes a phenomenal aroma!

 

[Divemaster]

Charcoal and applewood with rib grease makes a phenomenal aroma!

"Any wood is good to smoke with, as long as it's cherry"
KCQuer
(I really wish I had gotten the chance know him.)