Open a BBQ restaurant, they said. It will be fun, they said

Best of luck. You will be on Food Network Diners, Drive In's and Dives soon. I know you will be a success as you have done your homework!

Looks like I will be driving by the Prized Pig on Wednesday for lunch on my way to Detroit. Can't wait to try it out!

marubozo said:

What time? I'm usually here afternoons and evenings on wednesdays. Ask for me when you stop in.

And the drama never ends. As good as things have been going, there's always something that kicks you in the nuts. I got a call from the security company at 2 this morning that the alarms are going off at the restaurant. Sure enough, someone broke in. Again. That's what, 4 or 5 times now in the past year or so?

It's so incredibly frustrating. As usual, they didn't get anything of real value. Maybe 100 bucks in small bills and rolls of change. But this guy did rip the alarm keypad off the wall, broke two of the motion sensors, and ripped out the alarm. So now I will have to have all that replaced.

On a more positive note, I'm buying a company truck tomorrow. It will be nice to have a dedicated vehicle for towing the smoker, hauling wood, and all of that for catering jobs. I'll post pics tomorrow when I get it. It's a beauty and a classic.

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Geez that sucks. Do you have any cameras? I'd see about a camera system to record outside at night but you could also have some pointed in the kitchen prep area or cash register area. You just never know when something is going to happen. If you're away from the restaurant for the day you could log in remotely and watch or if the alarm is going off maybe you could log in and see what's happening before getting in the car and going down there.

That sucks, I agree with others, put in a few cameras. We put them into all of our rentals and also our house. It has eliminated everything from a slip and fall claim that the camera showed the person getting out of the car already limping and filed a claim that they fell after getting out of the car, obviously forgot the cameras were there, more than paid for all of the systems we installed, to a contractor billing me hourly at my house, billed me for 11 hours, knew I was out of town, I paid 5 hours when I showed him the video of when he got there and when he left. It cost him alot more than that though, as he did over $6K in labor for us last year, since the over billing $0, and keeps calling wanting to know why we arent using him.
Put them on your cash register, doors out of the kitchen, use clear trash bags, you will be amazed what people think they can get away with.

Like the truck.You can put a blade on it and push the snow too. Good luck.

Nice Rig....

marubozo said:

Picked up the new company truck this week. It was a steal. It's an 81 with an 86 front end. Rebuilt 350, 4wd with lockers front and rear, hardly a speck of rust anywhere to be found. It looks beautiful with Shirley in tow.

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Nice!!

Very clean for it's age. When do the logos go on?

nice lookin truck right there!!!!!

That is freaking nice.

Bea-u-ti-ful :-D

Real good lookin' rig

I read through this post back in the summer of '14, when I had just finished grad school and was catering BBQ on the side. I took the plunge into teaching for two years and have come up against a wall there. I just re-read the thread, including the new two years of posts because I'm now about to pull the trigger on a legitimate catering business, with all the T's and I's taken care of...licensing, legal, etc.

First, I am extremely sorry to hear about the family stuff. That is a bummer, and more than any other factor in your thread, gave me pause about doing a service business.

Second, your business side trials and tribulations, rather than moving me away from wanting to do it, have just made me want to be more prepared. They helped the dreamer in me be a bit more mature. I was about a second away from making a deposit with Tyler on a cooker, and your thread made me realize it was too soon (well, not to get in line, but to make that expense without other details taken care of.) I can't simply hope that finances will fill in the emergency gaps. My wife thanks you for this pause. That said, I'm about to sit down and do the meticulous job of re-writing, re-thinking, and re-strategizing funding so that my startup is responsible and fully thought through.

Third, I am amazed at both the trials of opening, and the incredible turnaround in business once you opened. There are definitely a few things that have come out of your thread (Shirley being the most important.) In fact, the reason I went back to the thread was that I remembered your indoor exhaust requirements. I wanted to see if I could figure out what I needed while I waited for my HD to get back to me on a possible indoor cooker. I've decided that outdoor is much simpler. Anyway, enough about that. Your thread is great, and I wish I had chimed in 2 years ago, but I'm really glad you kept the thread up.

Love the new work truck!!