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Quit my job, time to open up a BBQ Restaurant!

PC Smoker said:
For sure, having the hood system/ansul saves me thousands as does the walk-in coolers and grease trap. Just out of curiosity could I ask what the 2 restaurants you started up cost?
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Both places are different, as my first sat 30 (built 2010) and the current (Built 2018) seats 80. Both were former food places, so some of the bones were there. I had to put in a hood in both and refurbish a second hood in the second place.

Basically hood prices have gone through the roof. I put a 15 foot full ansul system in 2010 and it was 14k. an 8 foot in 2018 was 15k.

Check out your grease trap and make sure it is in good working order, as I wrote that into the second place lease and the landlord had to replace that at a cost of 5k. I also wrote a 2 year warranty into the lease on the HVAC system, cause replacing a condenser is not cheap.

All in around 75k to open the doors. It should not cost that much, but it does. dealing with simple plans and submissions to the city, change orders. New prep tables, smokers and such.

The biggest lesson I learned is used refrigeration is a big gamble at best. Really look at the condition of the walk in and any prep coolers and such you might use. I spent so much time and money fixing used prep table, that it did not save me anythiing by going used. And they always seem to break, just as the health inspector comes in the door.

If the fans and condenser are old or marginal, Now is the time to replace with new fans and condensers, not a year in when you have 5k in food items in them. You can always re tile the bathroom and such later. DON'T MESS WITH CHEAP REFRIGERATION. lol

Hire more people than you think, cause you will want to fire half of them the first day. :becky:

Best of luck
 
Good advice above. I built a restaurant from the ground up and tried to save money on used. In the end it was more expensive for all the reasons he just stated. If you don't already get a good HVAC company lined up. I closed in 2 years, never worked so hard to lose so much money in my life! Not saying you will just that the restaurant biz is a tough one.

Good luck!
 
Definitely not full service, I want to get people in and out as quickly as possible due to dining room limitations. Quick service, order at one end, pick up food at the other end.
Click to expand...
Opening those outside tables makes this so much better.


Can we scrap entirely the idea of Drive-Through?
I may be out of my league, but that is one entirely different business, within your business. Let's do #1 Excellent, then, look into drive through - maybe.
And one UDS can do at least 4 butts per shift. 3 or 4 UDS to add to the arsenal for the WIN!
 
toys4dlr said:
Both places are different, as my first sat 30 (built 2010) and the current (Built 2018) seats 80. Both were former food places, so some of the bones were there. I had to put in a hood in both and refurbish a second hood in the second place.

Basically hood prices have gone through the roof. I put a 15 foot full ansul system in 2010 and it was 14k. an 8 foot in 2018 was 15k.

Check out your grease trap and make sure it is in good working order, as I wrote that into the second place lease and the landlord had to replace that at a cost of 5k. I also wrote a 2 year warranty into the lease on the HVAC system, cause replacing a condenser is not cheap.

All in around 75k to open the doors. It should not cost that much, but it does. dealing with simple plans and submissions to the city, change orders. New prep tables, smokers and such.

The biggest lesson I learned is used refrigeration is a big gamble at best. Really look at the condition of the walk in and any prep coolers and such you might use. I spent so much time and money fixing used prep table, that it did not save me anythiing by going used. And they always seem to break, just as the health inspector comes in the door.

If the fans and condenser are old or marginal, Now is the time to replace with new fans and condensers, not a year in when you have 5k in food items in them. You can always re tile the bathroom and such later. DON'T MESS WITH CHEAP REFRIGERATION. lol

Hire more people than you think, cause you will want to fire half of them the first day. :becky:

Best of luck
Click to expand...

That makes me feel better and really AWESOME advice. I actually budgeted 75k with 25k on hand to be safe. I won't have to worry about the hood systems either. The landlord and I are going back and forth over how long he will guarantee the hood vents/Ansul, walkins, and HVAC.

Reach in coolers I was leaning towards new, but I think you sold me on them completely. Fryer/Stovetop/alto shams I might still go used but new on everything else

How long was you build out period?
 
mchar69 said:
Opening those outside tables makes this so much better.


Can we scrap entirely the idea of Drive-Through?
I may be out of my league, but that is one entirely different business, within your business. Let's do #1 Excellent, then, look into drive through - maybe.
And one UDS can do at least 4 butts per shift. 3 or 4 UDS to add to the arsenal for the WIN!
Click to expand...

DT was not something I was sold on but considering on adding down the road depending on demand. Again, wouldn't be for several months if I did it at all.
 
PC Smoker said:
That makes me feel better and really AWESOME advice. I actually budgeted 75k with 25k on hand to be safe. I won't have to worry about the hood systems either. The landlord and I are going back and forth over how long he will guarantee the hood vents/Ansul, walkins, and HVAC.

Reach in coolers I was leaning towards new, but I think you sold me on them completely. Fryer/Stovetop/alto shams I might still go used but new on everything else

How long was you build out period?
Click to expand...

It was 6 months. It should have been faster, but the city took forever for plans. Then the trades seem to not care about the quality of their work or to show up for work. Throw in changes from the city or a random jack ass inspector that changes stuff because he wants to, not because of code. It is a fun experience. But I have heard of bigger pains in other cities around here.
 
toys4dlr said:
It was 6 months. It should have been faster, but the city took forever for plans. Then the trades seem to not care about the quality of their work or to show up for work. Throw in changes from the city or a random jack ass inspector that changes stuff because he wants to, not because of code. It is a fun experience. But I have heard of bigger pains in other cities around here.
Click to expand...

This was my EXACT experience with opening a BBQ food trailer....holy crap the amount of inspectors who had their own personal opinions on what the the food code SHOULD BE (as it relates to food trucks) was unreal. Every single time I modified my trailer for what they told me to do, I had to make more changes when the next person showed up. As you said the trades workers care very little about the quality of their work as well...frustration beyond all belief! What was supposed to be a 3-4 week build for the trailer turned into over 2 months, and everything was done extremely poorly.
 
I'm excited for you! Appreciate you letting us take the ride with you.
 
PC Smoker said:
I am a unit director (General Manager) with Bojangles
Click to expand...

Well, it's good that you've got management experience and as such now it's YOUR money, you'll be sharp on staff, food quality, and most importantly... the finances.

This is honestly what kept me out of the game. When I looked at all the stuff involved with running a restaurant of any kind I realised I just didn't have the skills apart from BBQ'ing... and that just won't cut it.

So many people get into the business and don't realise its a business. Then there goes the 401K while they try and survive and staff take advantage of them etc.

I'm really looking forward to your success.
 
PC Smoker said:
Haha I actually really like this idea!! How do we make this happen?
Click to expand...


I have 3 different styles of Louisiana plates I could send. One is a LA. Boat Trailer plate. It's just expired plates. I just happened to keep them from vehicles I've sold over the years. Would be cool to have a plate from every state. I will be glad to send them to you when your ready to open.


Some other Brethren may have some too. A good old Texas black and white plate would look good too.
 
PC Smoker said:
That makes me feel better and really AWESOME advice. I actually budgeted 75k with 25k on hand to be safe. I won't have to worry about the hood systems either. The landlord and I are going back and forth over how long he will guarantee the hood vents/Ansul, walkins, and HVAC.

Reach in coolers I was leaning towards new, but I think you sold me on them completely. Fryer/Stovetop/alto shams I might still go used but new on everything else

How long was you build out period?
Click to expand...


I'm a 40 year long (now retired) HVAC and Building Control guy. Let me know if I can help with any Heating, Venting (like hood fans) or A/C questions you may have. If I don't have the answer, I know folks who do.

Just want to see your Business take off. :thumb:
 
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