It's been a month, so I guess I'll pop in for a brief update.
Things are good. Saturday was a record day and it's only March. Sold out by 6. Granted, could have used the second smoker to squeeze out a little more meat, but it was busier than the busiest days last summer. It's awesome, but seeing this now has me worried about this summer. It's going to be madness.
It's getting so busy I hired some part-time weekend help this week just to try to keep up. And as soon as school is out I've got two college kids coming back. It still blows my mind that I'm going on my third year and still have virtually the same staff since I opened the doors. I'm so grateful for that and I think that has a lot to do with the ability to maintain consistency over the past few years. We're not constantly shuffling cooks around, having to train new people, re-learn procedures and recipes, etc. If I can say one thing, having heard all of the stories about employee turnover in this industry, I have to attribute much of my success to finding, and more importantly keeping, the right people. It's made all the difference in the world.
As to the issues about stepping away and taking a break, I've been addressing that slowly. I've now got four people with keys and are capable of opening and closing the restaurant without me. Other than two days a week, I can relax a bit knowing the place is in good hands every other day and I can step away if I need to. And I've been trying to a little bit more, giving myself at least about two full days away from the restaurant. Granted, stuff comes up sometimes, but having a solid day or two for sure away helps a lot.
The catering aspect is unreal though. Things are booking up so fast. It's already getting to the point where I'm turning people away because dates are booked up well into october. I've had to turn down a few 250 person events this week. It bums me out, but I guess it's a good problem to have. Ideally, I need a secondary commissary kitchen and dedicated smoker just to take care of the catering side.
I'm kind of thinking that would be the best option for expansion. Rather than worry about opening a second restaurant, or move into a larger space, find a space to lease for dirt cheap and just build out a kitchen and get a smoker in there to completely furnish the catering side of the business so the restaurant can focus solely on serving people that come through the doors. If the overhead is low enough it wouldn't be a big deal if there are some weeks where catering orders are light and it doesn't get used much. And it could simply be staffed as needed based on order volume, unlike a restaurant location.
I still have to noodle with the idea a bit and maybe find a little funding, but that's the direction I'm learning toward at the moment. Having that secondary kitchen would also provide the opportunity to get into packaging sauces, rubs, pickles, etc. for retail, which is something that's always been in the back of my mind.
So, that's kind of where I stand right now. Just gearing up for an amazing six months or so the way things are going. Time just flies so dang fast. So many ideas, so little time. Thanks for your continued support. None of this would have been possible without this site and the numerous helpful members here. I can't thank everyone enough.
