MisterChrister
Quintessential Chatty Farker
- Joined
- Apr 28, 2012
- Location
- Wis-con-sin
That's some great looking grub, GO PRIZED PIG!!!
Open a BBQ restaurant, they said. It will be fun, they said
- Thread starter marubozo
- Start date
DUBBAGA
is One Chatty Farker
- Joined
- Jul 31, 2011
- Location
- Beaumont...
marubozo
is one Smokin' Farker
Long day. Well, that's an understatement. I'll try to post an update tomorrow. What a crazy and amazing day.
marubozo
is one Smokin' Farker
Actually, screw it. I'm exhausted, but at the same time so wired I can't sleep.
Inspections went without a hitch. Just a couple minor things to address in the kitchen, but mostly just comments about how clean and efficient it's set up. Mechanical inspector finally came and we smoothed things over, and everything turned out well there too.
Unfortunately, our stock of meat was a bit low because our next delivery isn't until Friday morning. That meant we ran out of brisket for lunch at around 12:30, and brisket didn't last long through dinner either. Brisket was the biggest surprise. This is a ribs and tips area, so I figured those would sell the best. But EVERYONE wanted brisket it seemed like. Those who got it loved it. Those who missed out, well, they got something else and loved that too. :mrgreen:
But not everything was good. Lunch service went quite well, but at around 4pm things started to unravel. Ribs were running a little behind schedule, so the early birds couldn't get ribs yet. Then one of my cooks pulled a brisket while I was out making a deposit and getting change, but he pulled it at 185. Luckily he only served one person before I got back and caught it. But pulling it early then set back the finish time even further, which put us in the weeds pretty bad by 5.
Because of the setback on finishing times, it resulted in opening the smoker WAY too often from about 3-5, and that is what killed us. All that opening and closing of the doors meant nothing was getting cooked. We ended up having chicken halves still at only 145 even after three hours when the lunch chicken only took 90 minutes.
So, I shut it down at around 6:40. Stopped taking orders, tried to get everything out that was on the line, and because of a few mixups had to refund a few customers. Not ideal, and we did still have some meat in the smoker we could sell, I flat out told customers that I wasn't going to serve them something that was only 90%. Most understood, and a few were even thankful that I'm committed to quality.
Some tensions emerged among staff, but that's to be expected with the long hours, chaos, and stress of a day like today. But in our morning meeting we do have a few things to address, especially when it comes to the tickets. But that's a relatively easy fix and something that will improve with practice.
But overall, just talking with customers, watching facebook, and getting feedback from staff about what they were hearing, it was nothing short of praise. Had one brisket sandwich come back because it was "cold" but after making another one, the lady was like OMG this is the best thing ever!
And the now award-winning chili was a huge hit. We decided to start giving out some small 2 oz samples and that helped a lot. People then started coming back to the counter after eating their meal so that they could buy bowls of chili to take home. My wife stopped in after work and she secretly spied on diners while wandering through the dining room and she said she heard one guy sitting alone in the corner practically moaning and talking to himself about how great the chili was. I love it! :mrgreen:
Anyway, I still have a lot of numbers to crunch, but I figure some of you are kind of wondering about the financials, so I can give you some rough numbers I have.
Basically, even though our grand opening was announced just an hour or so before we actually opened, had a winter storm that left some roads impassable, the turnout was way higher than expected. We also had to close down about two hours early and give a few refunds due to running out of food. But that being said, we still did about 100 covers for gross sales of about $1,500. Not bad for a 38 seat restaurant in the middle of nowhere.
To give you an idea, in all of my projections I spent nearly two years putting together, I had my best day of the week only doing 60 covers a day for around $900 in sales. I know today's numbers may not be consistent going forward, but it's very encouraging nonetheless.
Anyway, I'm still in a bit of a state of shock. After waiting for this day for so long, and going through so many setbacks, it still kind of feels like a dream. But, no rest for the weary. 5:30 am is coming soon and it's only going to be bigger and better tomorrow.
Thanks again for all the support. Without having you guys as an outlet, I may have completely lost it or given up entirely.
Inspections went without a hitch. Just a couple minor things to address in the kitchen, but mostly just comments about how clean and efficient it's set up. Mechanical inspector finally came and we smoothed things over, and everything turned out well there too.
Unfortunately, our stock of meat was a bit low because our next delivery isn't until Friday morning. That meant we ran out of brisket for lunch at around 12:30, and brisket didn't last long through dinner either. Brisket was the biggest surprise. This is a ribs and tips area, so I figured those would sell the best. But EVERYONE wanted brisket it seemed like. Those who got it loved it. Those who missed out, well, they got something else and loved that too. :mrgreen:
But not everything was good. Lunch service went quite well, but at around 4pm things started to unravel. Ribs were running a little behind schedule, so the early birds couldn't get ribs yet. Then one of my cooks pulled a brisket while I was out making a deposit and getting change, but he pulled it at 185. Luckily he only served one person before I got back and caught it. But pulling it early then set back the finish time even further, which put us in the weeds pretty bad by 5.
Because of the setback on finishing times, it resulted in opening the smoker WAY too often from about 3-5, and that is what killed us. All that opening and closing of the doors meant nothing was getting cooked. We ended up having chicken halves still at only 145 even after three hours when the lunch chicken only took 90 minutes.
So, I shut it down at around 6:40. Stopped taking orders, tried to get everything out that was on the line, and because of a few mixups had to refund a few customers. Not ideal, and we did still have some meat in the smoker we could sell, I flat out told customers that I wasn't going to serve them something that was only 90%. Most understood, and a few were even thankful that I'm committed to quality.
Some tensions emerged among staff, but that's to be expected with the long hours, chaos, and stress of a day like today. But in our morning meeting we do have a few things to address, especially when it comes to the tickets. But that's a relatively easy fix and something that will improve with practice.
But overall, just talking with customers, watching facebook, and getting feedback from staff about what they were hearing, it was nothing short of praise. Had one brisket sandwich come back because it was "cold" but after making another one, the lady was like OMG this is the best thing ever!
And the now award-winning chili was a huge hit. We decided to start giving out some small 2 oz samples and that helped a lot. People then started coming back to the counter after eating their meal so that they could buy bowls of chili to take home. My wife stopped in after work and she secretly spied on diners while wandering through the dining room and she said she heard one guy sitting alone in the corner practically moaning and talking to himself about how great the chili was. I love it! :mrgreen:
Anyway, I still have a lot of numbers to crunch, but I figure some of you are kind of wondering about the financials, so I can give you some rough numbers I have.
Basically, even though our grand opening was announced just an hour or so before we actually opened, had a winter storm that left some roads impassable, the turnout was way higher than expected. We also had to close down about two hours early and give a few refunds due to running out of food. But that being said, we still did about 100 covers for gross sales of about $1,500. Not bad for a 38 seat restaurant in the middle of nowhere.
To give you an idea, in all of my projections I spent nearly two years putting together, I had my best day of the week only doing 60 covers a day for around $900 in sales. I know today's numbers may not be consistent going forward, but it's very encouraging nonetheless.
Anyway, I'm still in a bit of a state of shock. After waiting for this day for so long, and going through so many setbacks, it still kind of feels like a dream. But, no rest for the weary. 5:30 am is coming soon and it's only going to be bigger and better tomorrow.
Thanks again for all the support. Without having you guys as an outlet, I may have completely lost it or given up entirely.
DUBBAGA
is One Chatty Farker
- Joined
- Jul 31, 2011
- Location
- Beaumont...
Although there were a few hiccups, it sounds like an excellent first day of operations. By this weekend, I'm sure things will be running much smoother.
By the way, food looked great. You should be very proud of all you have accomplished already!
By the way, food looked great. You should be very proud of all you have accomplished already!
jeffjenkins1
Babbling Farker
- Joined
- Mar 1, 2008
- Location
- Akron, OH
This is great news!
Jeff
Jeff
sliding_billy
somebody shut me the fark up.
Thanks for all of the info (the good and the bad) Jeremy!
Guando
Full Fledged Farker
- Joined
- Sep 9, 2013
- Location
- Branford...
Congrats on the opening! Sounds like a crazy but satisfying day. Much more to do but a major hurdle crossed. Congrats again.
Smoking Pill Doc
Knows what a fatty is.
- Joined
- Nov 7, 2013
- Location
- Middleto...
congrats! Glad you finally made it through all the struggles!
ButtBurner
Babbling Farker
- Joined
- Dec 18, 2012
- Location
- Dearborn...
great to hear
they are forecasting whiteout conditions his side of the state today. Hope all will be well
they are forecasting whiteout conditions his side of the state today. Hope all will be well
Harbormaster
somebody shut me the fark up.
Jeremy,
I have read every single post in this thread beginning with the day it was started. I didn't post until now because I didn't want to jinx you.
Maybe I should have posted.
By documenting your trials here you have created a great road map to opening a joint that isn't full of rainbows and unicorns. Outstanding!
As of this morning, my face lit up when I read of your success yesterday. Good for you and your team. It's only going to get better as y'all settle into a routine.
Congratulations, and thanks for the EPIC farking thread!
I have read every single post in this thread beginning with the day it was started. I didn't post until now because I didn't want to jinx you.
Maybe I should have posted.
By documenting your trials here you have created a great road map to opening a joint that isn't full of rainbows and unicorns. Outstanding!
As of this morning, my face lit up when I read of your success yesterday. Good for you and your team. It's only going to get better as y'all settle into a routine.
Congratulations, and thanks for the EPIC farking thread!
crimsonaudio
Knows what a fatty is.
- Joined
- Dec 26, 2013
- Location
- Memphis
Thanks for the update - so glad you're up and running!
kaosfury
Knows what a fatty is.
Whenever someone tells me I should open a restaurant, I point them to this thread and ask if they are sure I could handle the stress (let alone cook as THAT good). Congrats on the successful opening. I'll be coming some time this summer. Just need to figure out when I can make the drive and "accidentally" turn off on the way to Chicago...
Nutz4bbq
Knows what a fatty is.
- Joined
- Jan 16, 2013
- Location
- Tallahas...
Thanks for the opening day rundown, only minor issues from what I read... CONGRATS!! :thumb:
