BBQPitt
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jun 21, 2013
- Location
- Pittsburgh, PA
Honestly, I think some start average and fall from their. The restaurant business is a tough business to start with and add to that trying to cook the most difficult way possible. Everyone thinks it is easy to run a restaurant and that anyone can do it. If you are not willing to sell your soul to your business you will not succeed. I know what good BBQ is supposed to taste like and that is what I try to put out every day. One problem I have is that not everyone shares my passion. I would like to train someone else to cook meat at my place, but I don't feel any one understand how BBQ has to be cooked. They are all about time and temp and none of them have that much of a culinary background.
This is why most restaurants fail. People won't tell you the truth to your face. Give them an anonymous place to tell the truth and they will. Everything I do is a reflection on me. I am lucky I do have people around me that will let me know if something is not up to our usual standards. I am not there every hour we are open and this may be a source of cutting corners for places that are not fully staffed.
I think a lot of the bad places over charge for their fare. We have a place near us that is an institution and has been around for years. They do not produce the best BBQ but they charge like they do. People are in the habit of going there for BBQ. Hell I worked there for a while 20 years ago.
What I find funny is that when people come into my place they look at the menu and are surprised that I only have BBQ. I do have a few salads and a grilled cheese sandwich. I am not trying to reinvent the wheel. I am trying to produce the best BBQ I know how too. People have been conditioned to expect to get anything they want. I don't believe that the customer is always right. I will accommodate them as much as possible. What bugs me is they come into the restaurant and want to change my recipes, they want french fries, they think they know how to run a restaurant.
Thanks to all that have commented. I know most of these comment were not directed at me, but reading them here makes me aware of things I need to look for.
Even if they do know how to run A restaurant, that certainly doesn't mean they know how to run YOUR restaurant.