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

[RevZiLLa]

Your restaurant, your life, your way. No fries

 

[thomasfrommicco]

Your restaurant, your life, your way. No fries

i agree,those familiar with the Billy goat tavern know they built an empire on "not" having fries remember "Cheezboger,Cheezboger,no fries,Cheeps,no Pepsi,Coke,been in business at this location since 1964... 430 Mchigan ave lower level.

Why no fries, cheeps!? With only 100 square feet of kitchen space, who had room for a deep fryer.
No Fryer, no Fries, Cheeps!

 

[Blazon]

Coming in Hot!

Driving the family back from vacation in Northern Michigan around the bottom of the lake.

We'd be driving in to the Prized Pig at about 4pm today. Anyone who knows the Pig know if brisket is still likely to be available in the late afternoon on Saturdays?

Thanks for any info in advance.

 

[marubozo]

Driving the family back from vacation in Northern Michigan around the bottom of the lake.

We'd be driving in to the Prized Pig at about 4pm today. Anyone who knows the Pig know if brisket is still likely to be available in the late afternoon on Saturdays?

Thanks for any info in advance.

I've still got brisket today. I'm at home right now taking a break before the dinner rush, but I'll be back by 4. Make sure you say hi!

 

[Memphis Que]

i agree,those familiar with the Billy goat tavern know they built an empire on "not" having fries remember "Cheezboger,Cheezboger,no fries,Cheeps,no Pepsi,Coke,been in business at this location since 1964... 430 Mchigan ave lower level.

Why no fries, cheeps!? With only 100 square feet of kitchen space, who had room for a deep fryer.
No Fryer, no Fries, Cheeps!

No cheeps at the Prized Pig.

 

[Blazon]

I've still got brisket today. I'm at home right now taking a break before the dinner rush, but I'll be back by 4. Make sure you say hi!

We are still on target! A quick stop at a farm stand puts us at the restaurant at 4:45pm.

My question about brisket was not to see if we would come but to manage the expectations of my two brisket loving boys! We'd take the detour just to try the pickles - and, of course, to meet the man - the legend.

Tally Ho!

 

[EvieMae's]

I made it to the end. Great job on everything. On a much smaller scale, I have dealt with similar issues getting our mobile vending unit up one day per week. People love good barbecue, we sell out weekly, generally cooking 80lbs brisket, 40 pork, 40-50 ribs, and chicken quarters. My wife and I have a great time with it, but it is a lot of work. I wish you the best and continued success.

 

[marubozo]

If you haven't followed on facebook, I've got my entire staff to do the ice bucket challenge this afternoon. And I opened it up to the public, so for every person who does it, I'm donating 1% of today's sales. Not sure how many we'll have, but I'm dreading it already. I'm not a fan of cold water.

I'm sure there will be video later tonight.

 

[Memphis Que]

If you haven't followed on facebook, I've got my entire staff to do the ice bucket challenge this afternoon. And I opened it up to the public, so for every person who does it, I'm donating 1% of today's sales. Not sure how many we'll have, but I'm dreading it already. I'm not a fan of cold water.

I'm sure there will be video later tonight.

So if 20 customers do it, you will donate 20% of today's sales? That is very generous of you. :clap:

 

[marubozo]

You know what sucks? When the AC goes out at the restaurant on one of the hottest and most humid days all summer. And at the same time on your busiest day ever, holiday weekend, when short staffed, and trying to cater a wedding rehearsal for 50 on top of all that. I can't wait to go home tonight.

 

[bwsawman]

Sorry to hear the not-so-good update...but thanks for sharing.

Get some rest and here's hoping things look better in the morning!

 

[marubozo]

Sorry to hear the not-so-good update...but thanks for sharing.

Get some rest and here's hoping things look better in the morning!

Oh, plenty of good to go with the bad. It's just that when things go wrong, they always do so at the worst possible time.

 

[LocoLeonard]

So guys, I've been following this thread for quite a while.......wow! Now I have a few questions & comments.

1. Thanks a ton for the pickle recipe. I've made two batches and they are awesome!
2. You are a real inspiration. Thanks for sharing your "behind the scenes" detail of your business. I've never been interested in opening a restaurant but your story is very interesting.
3. Some time ago you mentioned taking all of your paperwork to your bookkeeper. I understand it's none of my business how much money you have made, but it would be cool to hear a rough idea of the outcome of that.
:wave::wave:

 

[marubozo]

The accountant is still sifting through everything. It was a mountain of paperwork.

Otherwise, last week was an interesting one. It all started on wednesday morning when we got our first surprise visit from the health inspector. Totally wasn't ready for that because it was a rough morning doing prep in the kitchen and things were already hectic. But everything was fine, he said we were doing a great job, and passed with flying colors. Still glad that's over though.

Also had a visit from a master CBJ and past american royal champion, so it was nice to get some feedback from somebody who really knows their BBQ.

Created a new sauce on a whim when I had a little down time. Holy cow, it's amazing. It's a spicy bourbon sauce and customers are raving about it. I haven't even put it in bottles on the tables in the dining room yet and have only been offering it as samples or by special request and in the first week I still went through five gallons of it :shock:

Otherwise, I just need to find a way to handle this insane catering ordeal. Especially now that football season is underway, the requests just don't stop. Every day it's a new request for another 50-200 type gig and have to turn most of them down.

 

[drumdawg67]

Bummer. Hate to see you turn away business. Would hiring some part timers to handle just the catering be a profitable option?

 

[marubozo]

Bummer. Hate to see you turn away business. Would hiring some part timers to handle just the catering be a profitable option?

Not really, because all of the catering stuff is usually on weekends and I can hardly keep enough food on hand to sustain the restaurant. The new smoker will help, but I still only have two ovens, maxed out fridges, and zero additional hot holding options.

Still thinking about renting a commissary here in town for big order weekends, but that's another can of worms.

 

[SuburbSlicker]

Still thinking about renting a commissary here in town for big order weekends, but that's another can of worms.

I periodically scan Craigslist and search the phrase BBQ to see what pops up. Last week, a guy operating a BBQ food truck was looking to lease a church kitchen (in lieu of a commissary) to help out his lunchtime business. Interesting idea, especially if you can find a church with unused kitchen space.

 

[spinningwheel]

^^^Agreed^^^ A church commissary is normally already approved by the local Health Department and most will charge a reasonable amount to use the facility. Plus you may also widen your customer exposure once the congregation finds out what you are doing there.:wink:

 

[bigsapper]

Church as said or look for a VFW or American Legion Post that has a kitchen.

 

[Blazon]

The accountant is still sifting through everything. It was a mountain of paperwork.

Otherwise, last week was an interesting one. It all started on wednesday morning when we got our first surprise visit from the health inspector. Totally wasn't ready for that because it was a rough morning doing prep in the kitchen and things were already hectic. But everything was fine, he said we were doing a great job, and passed with flying colors. Still glad that's over though.

Also had a visit from a master CBJ and past american royal champion, so it was nice to get some feedback from somebody who really knows their BBQ.

Created a new sauce on a whim when I had a little down time. Holy cow, it's amazing. It's a spicy bourbon sauce and customers are raving about it. I haven't even put it in bottles on the tables in the dining room yet and have only been offering it as samples or by special request and in the first week I still went through five gallons of it :shock:

Otherwise, I just need to find a way to handle this insane catering ordeal. Especially now that football season is underway, the requests just don't stop. Every day it's a new request for another 50-200 type gig and have to turn most of them down.

Ok, I've been delinquent in my retrieving photos off my phone. My family did have the pleasure of making a small detour on our drive back to Chicago from a family vacation in Northern Michigan just over a week ago and it was well worth the stop.

We loved The Prized Pig and meeting Jeremy in person.

(I'm the beefier guy on the right)

So nice of Jeremy to take a couple of minutes to come out and meet the family. He also brought out some of that new spicy bourbon bbq sauce...

(A little worried Theo liked the bourbon too much)

We had the brisket sandwiches, a side 1/2 rack of ribs, potato salad, coleslaw, corn bread, mac and cheese and the famous pickles. All of it was fantastic.

(That brisket sandwich is half as tall as when served because Ben was happily eating the brisket out of the middle with no sauce whatsoever.)

My only mistake was filling up my cup with a nice sweet tea instead of the unsweetened just to the right (I was trying to save all my calories for bbq).

The reviews are in...

Thank you Jeremy and the crew at The Prized Pig for a great ending to a wonderful vacation!


P.S. Didn't miss fries in the least.