Starting A BBQ/Beer Garden Restaurant

[Beach_Glass_Lounge]

My brother owns a wildly successful BBQ restaurant. He started with a lot of restaurant experience and a great backyard cook. Now he is a pitmaster. The thing is he works 110 hours a week at least. Crazy hours to get the meat on. The pit needs a constant flame, even holidays so he is the one to do it. I guess my advice is just to read that again and see if it appeals to you. If so, I wish you nothing but success. My brother seems to love it so it can be done. Follow your dreams.

If guys can win contests with pellet smokers then I think a restaurant can get off the ground with them too.. That eliminates the nuance of the flame.. Unfortunately my approach won’t be nearly as romantic.. It’s more of a business strategy.. Delegation of ALL work is the goal so as to obtain scale. Yes I know how this comes across but that is the position I’m in. Thanks 1,000,000 for the note!

 

[TheRealKeppie]

Talk me out of it or if you’re more helpful, send me pointers haha.. I live in a tourist area on the shores of Lake Erie near the Lake Erie Islands. In the summer months (and fall) the area is very very busy. My partner and I already own a very well established retail store and art studio along with 7 acres that are commercially zoned. We are building a barbecue/beer garden/bourbon bar restaurant on one of the commercial lots. I am a BBQ enthusiast but am NOT a professional. We basically have 16 months to build out and master our menu at which point we will build out our team.

I have a LOT of fears and concerns but if this community could point me to some of the larger ones, I would appreciate it. Not going in blind here.. I’m a director at a large financial institution, I know the area and have sized the opportunity based on other firms that are similar in size. My concerns lie primarily in the operational aspects of putting out really good barbecue and charcuterie….

I live in Kansas City. I am in the heart of BBQ options. My nextdoor neighbor owns a BBQ restaurant. I'm also friends with a couple that owns a Dickey's BBQ restaurant. The restaurant business is tough. The BBQ restaurant business is even tougher. Both would tell you to rethink this, especially if you're not running the restaurant.

Of the hundreds of things you have to consider, you have to appreciate that you will need barbecue ready to be served at 11:00 AM when you open your doors to 11:00 PM when your kitchen closes. It takes serious chops to understand how to make that possible and to master it so the quality of the food is consistent throughout the day. This isn't something you can easily delegate to a random employee or two or three.
The margins on BBQ meat are very tight with little room for error. BBQ needs to be consumed or it's gone. An uncooked hamburger patty or chicken can wait or even steak can sit there and wait to be cooked. Not BBQ, you're cooking it no matter what. If it doesn't get eaten it's getting tossed.
Of all the women I've been friends with, dated, and now with my wife, you know what I've never heard any of them ever say? "Hey, let's go to that BBQ restaurant." My wife hated BBQ until I started making it and forced it upon her. Every YouTube video or recipe always has a comment, my wife didn't like BBQ until she had mine. My kids hated BBQ until they had mine. Etc. Etc. I've never seen such a comment on a burger, chicken, or sandwich recipe. Whatever you do, don't but "BBQ" in the name. Or "Grill." I don't know why people but grill in the name of their restaurant or bar.

As much as we all love BBQ, there's a reason there are so few BBQ restaurants. They are tough to run, tough margins, and the average person would rather have a burger, sandwich, or chicken. All of which can be done very well by novice kitchen help. Good BBQ simply cannot.

Charcuterie is a good idea. I'd think we'll done sandwiches, salads, elevated appetizers would all work well. Simple menu. Simple fresh ingredients.

I'd also look into a beer and/or wine wall. Google "beer wall" and look into Pourmybeer and ipourit. We were considering it for my neighbor's restaurant but his bar build out took up too much space.

Finally, no college girl would order a Rosé, they'd ask for a white claw or beer. I get your point, though.

 

[MrChuckles]

I retired at the VP level of a large company. One of my area of responsibilities was the company restaurant (cafeteria was considered a dirty word for some reason, but that is what it really was.) Our building housed around 2,400 employees, so my customer count was fairly predictable, but still varied enough to cause run-outs and leftovers. We strove for a predictable supply and demand balance and quickly learned that creative use of left-overs was key. When our food costs got above 30% we were in trouble. With a barbecue menu this will be tough because of the long lead time to prepare food, and a rather limited use for leftovers. As the other poster said, nachos, chili, loaded potatoes, etc., will help. The key is have a plan to use it all somehow if you cook too much.

We found the employees to be far more price sensitive than anticipated. It took some tuning to see where price increases could be tolerated without effecting demand too much. If I were considering your venture, I'd visit your future competition to capture their pricing and portion sizes. If they've been in business very long they must have surely figured out the sweet spot for item pricing. And, if you sit at their place drinking beer so they don't toss you out, you can watch what customers are ordering to get a handle on your future item mix. You'll need this in your margin analysis.

Lastly, employees (God love em). Watch for over-portioning, stealing things like your expensive as hell brisket, cash, etc. I learned (again) that the vibe that comes from your staff comes directly from the management. It would be ideal, but not possible, for you to talk to every customer, check the bathroom every hour, and supervise the kitchen and prep area cleaning on a set schedule. The right person onsite can instill an ownership mentality in everyone even down to the dishwasher.

Lastly, lastly, learn the health codes. If you get a squeaky clean first inspection you can begin to build a positive relationship with your inspectors. We had a little trouble learning this and did dumb ass things wrong with food labeling in the walk in, storing cooked food at too warm a temperature, and not having soap in the right spots.

Even with a semi-controlled demand and tenured employees, we lost money and had to be subsidized by the corporation. I always suspected, but couldn't prove, that our suppliers were ripping us off or our buyer was on the take.

I hope you make this work. Many people do, it's just hard work, long hours, and careful management. Best of luck!

 

[Partimewages]

Keep us posted. Not to far a drive from Delaware Ohio! BBQ is a tough business. Do a few things really well. We find ourselves going to specific places for the same thing because it's done so well. Everyone in that area wants to party.Don't forget the perch!

 

[Beach_Glass_Lounge]

I live in Kansas City. I am in the heart of BBQ options. My nextdoor neighbor owns a BBQ restaurant. I'm also friends with a couple that owns a Dickey's BBQ restaurant. The restaurant business is tough. The BBQ restaurant business is even tougher. Both would tell you to rethink this, especially if you're not running the restaurant.

Of the hundreds of things you have to consider, you have to appreciate that you will need barbecue ready to be served at 11:00 AM when you open your doors to 11:00 PM when your kitchen closes. It takes serious chops to understand how to make that possible and to master it so the quality of the food is consistent throughout the day. This isn't something you can easily delegate to a random employee or two or three.
The margins on BBQ meat are very tight with little room for error. BBQ needs to be consumed or it's gone. An uncooked hamburger patty or chicken can wait or even steak can sit there and wait to be cooked. Not BBQ, you're cooking it no matter what. If it doesn't get eaten it's getting tossed.
Of all the women I've been friends with, dated, and now with my wife, you know what I've never heard any of them ever say? "Hey, let's go to that BBQ restaurant." My wife hated BBQ until I started making it and forced it upon her. Every YouTube video or recipe always has a comment, my wife didn't like BBQ until she had mine. My kids hated BBQ until they had mine. Etc. Etc. I've never seen such a comment on a burger, chicken, or sandwich recipe. Whatever you do, don't but "BBQ" in the name. Or "Grill." I don't know why people but grill in the name of their restaurant or bar.

As much as we all love BBQ, there's a reason there are so few BBQ restaurants. They are tough to run, tough margins, and the average person would rather have a burger, sandwich, or chicken. All of which can be done very well by novice kitchen help. Good BBQ simply cannot.

Charcuterie is a good idea. I'd think we'll done sandwiches, salads, elevated appetizers would all work well. Simple menu. Simple fresh ingredients.

I'd also look into a beer and/or wine wall. Google "beer wall" and look into Pourmybeer and ipourit. We were considering it for my neighbor's restaurant but his bar build out took up too much space.

Finally, no college girl would order a Rosé, they'd ask for a white claw or beer. I get your point, though.

I've been meaning to reply to this post for what seems like weeks.. THANK YOU for the candid feedback. These are the posts I'm looking for.. The "Why You SHOULDN'T" thoughts and ideas.

I couldn't agree more on the branding around BBQ and more specifically, how women feel towards it in general. I've had multiple women tell me that ladies in general will not approve. I think your comment was my tipping point.

I actually thought about BBQ for the menu so as to reduce the need for a large cooking staff, minimizing kitchen investment and essentially eliminating made to order menu items. The idea was to sell through our BBQ and to then supplement with brick oven pizza, charcuterie, apps, etc. As you know, made to order kitchens come with a certain level of staff requirement and chaos, some things I was looking to avoid. I am very confident we would sell through our low and slow menu the days we were thinking of doing it.. Friday PM to Sunday brunch. However, I don't think we can do this without eliminating a lot of the market participant - Females.

We've pivoted away from BBQ at this point.. Not that it won't be on the menu in some capacity, but that we won't emphasize it as a core menu approach. (Look at Husk in Charleston.. Amazing menu with some BBQ on it.)

As I said in a post on this thread, if we could just sell drinks we would do that. Selling alcohol is the primary driver of this specific project. But we simply have to have food to keep people in the seats and to deliver the experience that is expected of our tourist clients in our unique area. I'm simply trying to figure out how to solve the food problem in a way that is simple yet effective. I thought BBQ was a good way to simplify but it sounds like it could cause more problems than it could solve.

I will continue to think on this. Thank you and Happy New Year!

 

[Beach_Glass_Lounge]

Keep us posted. Not to far a drive from Delaware Ohio! BBQ is a tough business. Do a few things really well. We find ourselves going to specific places for the same thing because it's done so well. Everyone in that area wants to party.Don't forget the perch!

There will be PLENTY of nice beverages to choose from as we are a party destination, indeed.. haha.. And yes I think you are correct.. Perch and Walleye need to be a part of our offering. Thank you for the comments and please come have a drink with us!

 

[Beach_Glass_Lounge]

I retired at the VP level of a large company. One of my area of responsibilities was the company restaurant (cafeteria was considered a dirty word for some reason, but that is what it really was.) Our building housed around 2,400 employees, so my customer count was fairly predictable, but still varied enough to cause run-outs and leftovers. We strove for a predictable supply and demand balance and quickly learned that creative use of left-overs was key. When our food costs got above 30% we were in trouble. With a barbecue menu this will be tough because of the long lead time to prepare food, and a rather limited use for leftovers. As the other poster said, nachos, chili, loaded potatoes, etc., will help. The key is have a plan to use it all somehow if you cook too much.

We found the employees to be far more price sensitive than anticipated. It took some tuning to see where price increases could be tolerated without effecting demand too much. If I were considering your venture, I'd visit your future competition to capture their pricing and portion sizes. If they've been in business very long they must have surely figured out the sweet spot for item pricing. And, if you sit at their place drinking beer so they don't toss you out, you can watch what customers are ordering to get a handle on your future item mix. You'll need this in your margin analysis.

Lastly, employees (God love em). Watch for over-portioning, stealing things like your expensive as hell brisket, cash, etc. I learned (again) that the vibe that comes from your staff comes directly from the management. It would be ideal, but not possible, for you to talk to every customer, check the bathroom every hour, and supervise the kitchen and prep area cleaning on a set schedule. The right person onsite can instill an ownership mentality in everyone even down to the dishwasher.

Lastly, lastly, learn the health codes. If you get a squeaky clean first inspection you can begin to build a positive relationship with your inspectors. We had a little trouble learning this and did dumb ass things wrong with food labeling in the walk in, storing cooked food at too warm a temperature, and not having soap in the right spots.

Even with a semi-controlled demand and tenured employees, we lost money and had to be subsidized by the corporation. I always suspected, but couldn't prove, that our suppliers were ripping us off or our buyer was on the take.

I hope you make this work. Many people do, it's just hard work, long hours, and careful management. Best of luck!

This is another post I've been meaning to get back to. Wow I can't really thank you enough for your meaningful observation from the inside of the industry. I am printing off your post and covering it with the key members of the team.

Would it be possible to pick your brain further on the things you mentioned?

Thanks!

 

[Partimewages]

Take a look at Blend of seven winery here in Delaware. They just partner with Jimmie Gs bbq to run the kitchen. Might give you some ideas.

 

[Roaniecowpony]

This thread is a bit stale but I'm sure the OP is still open to thoughts/ideas.

I can't provide you with any better than what others have already written. But there's a local joint that has a model not unlike yours that kills it Friday to Sunday. They have a little bbq on the menu. You might check out their menu here. https://www.hopsaint.com/

 

[Edthebook]

I heard someone say all of his free loading friends told him how fantastic his cook outs were until they had to start paying for it. The fan base then vanished.

 

[Motodad1776]

OP hasn't been back since April 11th, gone like a fart in the wind.

 

[Beach_Glass_Lounge]

OP hasn't been back since April 11th, gone like a fart in the wind.

Been busy building a freaking restaurant lol…. Ground up

 

[Beach_Glass_Lounge]

All,

Love reading over these replies from the last 13 months. We are indeed opening a restaurant in Lakeside Marblehead, Ohio. We are going with a bar-forward dining experience, which will be elevated and focuses on steaks and some seafood. There are a lot of good opportunities to incorporate barbecue into this over time so we are still discussing that. We are building a campus across 8 acres, which will include retail shopping, Glassblowing, outdoor dining, bar and table, etc… You are all awesome and we appreciate the thoughts and insights!!! We are Beach Glass Lounge, Ferguson Gallery & Whitecaps Bar…. Swing by if you are in the area! Bar and table concepts will be here July 2024. Retail and Glass studios have been here since 1997…. Onward and upward.

 

[Motodad1776]

Congrats my man, I shall in time be heading up that way to enjoy the fruits of your labor.

 

[Beach_Glass_Lounge]

Congrats my man, I shall in time be heading up that way to enjoy the fruits of your labor.

Thank you! Sounds good let me know how we do… I will be there on site for most dinner shifts during the peak season, so flag me down.. we can talk some barbecue!