HeSmellsLikeSmoke
somebody shut me the fark up.
Other than having very good Q, it seems like meat portion control, and staff management are the keys to making money in a bbq joint. (I have noticed that the owner usually is the person serving the meat thus controlling portions in the successful small joints that I have eaten in.)
The best operation, as far these considerations go, that I have ever seen is Cooper's Old Time in Llano, Texas.
They start with the smell of mesquite smoke from the oudoor burn piles and pits doing more advertizing than the sign. Customers enter the side door already salavating as they pass a big pit on the way thru to the dining area. The serving pit door opens up and again they get a good strong whiff of that great BBQ smell. (The meat is being cooked on adjacent outdoor pits and is carried over to the serving pit when done)
The customer is then asked how much of the many meat choices they want to buy by a server standing there with a big sharp meat knife poised over the meat - sliding it sideways until the customer says stop. It is virtually impossible to resist ordering WAY too much and too many meat choices. The meat is then taken by the customer inside to be weighed. So no matter how much you get, you pay for all of it.
The same goes for the sides -- by the pound, the customer saying how much they want of each. BBQ sauce, pinto beans and pickles are all-you-want and free at self-serve counter.
There are no servers or employees working the dining room itself.
The meat is served on butcher paper and eaten on long, family style tables. No matter who you are sitting near or where they are from, you are family after you start eating Q together.
Everyone has ordered too much, so there is a self-serve "doggie bag" counter where you wrap your own food to take home as you police up your own mess and toss it in the nearby trashcans.
I believe this is the perfect system for both the customer and the owners, but i have never seen it used anywhere else I have eaten, although I imagine that it must exist elsewhere.
Does anyone here use any thing like this system in their operation?
The best operation, as far these considerations go, that I have ever seen is Cooper's Old Time in Llano, Texas.
They start with the smell of mesquite smoke from the oudoor burn piles and pits doing more advertizing than the sign. Customers enter the side door already salavating as they pass a big pit on the way thru to the dining area. The serving pit door opens up and again they get a good strong whiff of that great BBQ smell. (The meat is being cooked on adjacent outdoor pits and is carried over to the serving pit when done)
The customer is then asked how much of the many meat choices they want to buy by a server standing there with a big sharp meat knife poised over the meat - sliding it sideways until the customer says stop. It is virtually impossible to resist ordering WAY too much and too many meat choices. The meat is then taken by the customer inside to be weighed. So no matter how much you get, you pay for all of it.
The same goes for the sides -- by the pound, the customer saying how much they want of each. BBQ sauce, pinto beans and pickles are all-you-want and free at self-serve counter.
There are no servers or employees working the dining room itself.
The meat is served on butcher paper and eaten on long, family style tables. No matter who you are sitting near or where they are from, you are family after you start eating Q together.
Everyone has ordered too much, so there is a self-serve "doggie bag" counter where you wrap your own food to take home as you police up your own mess and toss it in the nearby trashcans.
I believe this is the perfect system for both the customer and the owners, but i have never seen it used anywhere else I have eaten, although I imagine that it must exist elsewhere.
Does anyone here use any thing like this system in their operation?
:icon_clown 
