Restaurant search

[ronp]

If you are looking for a no brainer, less work and time, I reccomend a Masterbuilt Electric MES from Sam's Club.

They are great!

Good luck,
Ron

 

[squeezy]

I like my propane Camp Chef Smoke Vault ... easy to use and loads of space.
Soon to have a ProQ Excel 20 vertical charcoal.

 

[joed617]

Hi Kari, We actually have folks drive the 2 hours from Ct. They love the place. This July 4th we have a guy who does "James Brown" he's really good. We use to make grits for sunday brunch but had to stop the gospel brunch. Last one was farther's day, we had to set the line up as usual and then the brunch line and then the prime rib special for dad's day. well, the brunch didn't do well. But the bbq and prime rib did. So we'll back off the brunch thingy until the fall. This July 11th we'll be open for 1 full year and plan on roasting a pig for that Saturday the 12th. So I'll have to hunt down a pig, I'll remove the shelves in my smoker and cook'em in there should prove to be interesting. I'm going to hit the hay again. Momday is my late day we open at 5pm but still have to be there at 10am for inventory, smoke off the ribs and who knows. <we are going through well over 1000lbs of meet a week> so I have to be on my toes .. Hope you make the trip up. I'm usually there most of the time I usually get my nap in around 5pm or so and usually back by 8pm .. Oh, I started out with this thread so folks will see what the process is and so on, the pit falls <no pun intended> and so on.

Have a great day off to complete something <my nap>,

Joe aka Smoken' Joe

 

[queen p]

Joe,
I've been trying to convince the other half that it would be perfect to hit "Bahstin" for the 4th- You know, see the Pops, The Queen Mary 2 will be in town (and friends will be on her- I had hoped it would be us, but we couldn't swing it work wise)
And while we're there, there just HAPPENS to be this new BBQ place. He loves his brisket. I'm a Pulled Pork person, but am slowly starting to move over to brisket, too. And while there, a co-worker who swears the Ricotta Pie at Modern Pastry is better than any other in the world (including the Italian section of Hartford) would love a pie, and she's been very helpful to me lately.

Well, heck, what more reason do we need? I also have a high school girlfriend who splits her time between her home in Cambridge (up the street, more or less) and her other place in the Berkshires. And Marc's bro lives in Boston too. Well, heck! We're practically there!

The 12th sounds intriguing. Unfortunately, he has a couple of Japanese businessmen coming into demo his product. One apparently speaks English the other doesn't But my Japanese is horrible.

The big problems with the 4th (other than logistics) is I am on call, here in Connecticut. <sigh>
Who knows. Stranger things have happened!

You need to have a booth down near the Charles for the fireworks!
<LOL> I'm sure you don't have enough to do already!

We'll get there. Sooner than later, I hope. We plan on getting up to Maine to the camps at least once this summer, so maybe a detour into Boston, or if Johnny Clegg tours there this year. (A couple of years ago he played Somerville)


Keep those fires burning! I'm looking at all sorts of smokers for my first.

Karie

 

[joed617]

This Friday we'll be open for a full year can you believe it? So for the party this saturday July 12th <our anniversary is July 11th> I ordered a 75lb pig to roast. It's been a long haul and business during this tough time with the price of gas and the economy not doing so well we are doing well. Business continues to pick up some and many, many blues bands are sending up cd's and want to play at Smoken' Joe's. I also want to thank you all for the support, kind words and cheering us on. It's been alot of work to get established and for the most part now we've become a destination for some folks. <not a bad thing> The folks that have made it to our place are the best, I mean really great folks and have become part of our family and visit us often. Anyhow, I'll be starting the pig roast early saturday for saturday night I may even get a birthday cake, party hats and so on for the folks that stop by. We'll also have the band playing so it's going to be a fun night. So again thanks for you continued support and I hope to meet a few more folks from here, so if you're in the neighborhood stop by and say hi. I'm off to work and don't get to post as all that much anymore <I need a life (laugh)> ..

Yours in Smoken,
Smoken' Joe

 

[ronp]

I am very happy that you reached your dream.

Continued success!!!

Ron

 

[joed617]

Hi Ron, The dream is never over:) We now have live music 5 nights per week. (Wednesday through Sunday) and no cover charge to boot. We have had over 25,000 guest in our frist year <not bad eh?> We've added smoked roast beef and steak tips to the menu as well as andouille sausage that we make in house. Still it's lots of work and lots more to do yet. Thr restaurant biz is slow this time of year, seems the last few weeks in august are the worse for sales but we are so far holding steady. We have many regulars who join us weekly and they love the joint. Now, what I didn't expect was the hours I put in. I start at 7am 6 days a week and 10am on mondays, some days especially on weekends I won't get home until after midnight to 1am and back at it again at 7am. Kind of reminds me of the movie "groundhog day" with bill murry.. laugh... It's worth it though we have alot of friendly folks come in and enjoy the food and music. Ah, I forgot to mension we were invited to do a "Street Fair" in Sept. We'll be the only bbq stand and they are expecting well ove 5000 ppl to show up, a guy told me to expect 10 to 12 thousand folks because last year there were 3 other events being held in the city on the same day and this year we are the only event that day. Sooo who knows, any Idea how many ribs and pulled pork to make? Kidding...Have a great one.. I'm outta here for now and thanks for the posting.

Handshake,

Joe

 

[Dutch]

Joe, glad that the dream still lives. It sounds like you had a great first year. Do drop in from time to time (as time permits of course) and let us know how you all are doing; remember friend-your still part of the family here at SMF!

 

[joed617]

Hi Dutch and happy belated birthday! <so that makes you 39 and holding?> The dream still lives. and yes we had a pretty good first year and the 2nd year is looks even better. I do pop in once and a while when time permits but that's very rare. I now use my home just for sleeping and showering <laugh> I hope you and yours are doing well as are your grandchildren. You would enjoy this one. My waitress asked me if I would talk to a couple at a table because as the waitress said "They really love the food" soo I went over and introduced myself and the guy said "My wife is in the food business and you should listen to her" So, I listened, She told me the chili was too salty, I told her I didn't use salt in my chili. Then she went on telling me that the ribs are burnt, I did explain to her that they are smoked and it's bark. I figured at this point nothing I said was going to make her happy. I asked her how she did her ribs, Her reply was "I BOIL them in onions and peppers and then I place them in the over with the liquid and onions and peppers covering them with foil and in a few hours there're done, falling off the bone. I said to myself "OK" Now I had to ask her where she was from. She told me she was from Nova Scocia, I chuckled on the inside and all along this lady never looked up at me. I figured her husband was laughing on the inside as well because he gets to see some other guy get it from his wife. A week went by and we have this guy who's mom lives up here and he's from Nashville and I told him the story and he asked me what do they eat up in Nova Scotia and all we could come up with was "Pickled Herring" and we laughed about it. Anyway, I figured out why that waitress (who is no longer with us) asked me to visit her table. It seems that if I talk to the guest (I usually do) thier tips go up. I told her after that lady to NEVER ask me to talk to another table again. I usually make rounds and say hi on my own, But sheesh being put on the spot like that was atleast to say uncomfortable. You can usually pick out the folks that nomatter what you do they won't be happy so if I please 90% of the people 90% of the time I'm happy. anyway I thought you would enjoy that li'l story.


Yours in Smoken,

Joe

 

[monty]

Heya, Joe!

Good to see you're hanging in there and giving the Boston food scene hell!

I once had a similar experience in my restaurant in Lexington, only it was with "natives". Watress called me to a table where sat a couple in their forties and two teenaged sons. Each of them had eaten a different menu item.

The "man" of the family began to tell me what was wrong with everything they ate and that they would not came back unless I made their evening meal a free one. Talk about chutzpah!

I asked them why, if the food was soooo baaad were their plates so clean it appeared that they had licked them. I personally presented them with their check and invited them back for some more of our horrible food since it appeared that they liked it so much! They must have come up from Boston and I never saw them again! Sometimes the customer just isn't always right!

Cheers!

 

[smokin365]

It seems you got scammed. If something was truly terrible, they wouldnt have scarfed it down like that. ive never owned a restaurant, but was 2nd cook in a q joint. I know that point of view is different between owner and employee, but if i had seen that, I would have told them "We dont run a soup kitchen. If you want a free meal i suggest that you go ask your local Saint Vincent De Paul organization"(catholic charity group)
I do have to say that it takes great will power in a situation like that and respect any one who can keep cool with people like that.

 

[monty]

Ya just nevah know the games people wanna play. In this case, they lost. I got paid and the waitress was tipped. And without a single sore word or any raising of voices.

Cheers!

 

[gnubee]

Joe I am a total newb to Smoking and have been inspired greatly by this Thread.

Finally at long last I have reached the end of this thread whew! Almost a two hour read. Like a good book I just couldn't put it down so to speak.

I sure wish British Columbia was a tad closer cause I wish I could try out your menu. Your persistence in the face of such long odds has for me been a truly amazing read. My hats off to you my friend. I applaud both You and your wife for having such true grit.

We desperately need a Smoking Joe's up this way. Folks up here think that boiled ribs are just fine as long as there is a lot of off the shelf BBQ sauce slathered on it. They think rubs are what you get from a masseuse,Mopps are for Cleaning floorrs and Smokin isn't good for you but with the help of the patch you can quit.

I googled a map and your restaurant is only 3007 miles or 46 hours driving time away covering 12 states and two provinces so this would be a fairly close 2nd location for you should you care to expand. To far? OK then maybe a franchise.

I was particularly impressed by the review that mentioned the cleanliness of your place. Man if the guy only knew what it took for you to get it that way He'd have added another star to your already high rating.

Cheers and keep Smoking

 

[chargrilled]

I am laughing my a&& off, very well put. Wow I needed that.

Bee I think there are ALOT of folks that think that way. LOL

 

[richtee]

A-freaking-men. I'm about ready to give up local-yokel rib contests. As I have said before "They don't know a good rib if it hit them in the head".

 

[douglaslizard]

congrats on a good year i too have a dream of one day opening a bbq spot any tips on getting started i guess i will take another day off and read through the whole thread .

 

[joed617]

Hi GnuBee, Thanks for reading the thread. It is a long read but hopefully worth it if you plan on opening uo a place. We had some idea what it would take but things did pop up that we didn't plan on. So you have roll with the punches and keep moving forward and in time those things did pass. <at times like a kidney stone "very painful"> but we got through it. I know now what it takes to open up a place and from the get go, be frugal and don't spend anymore than you have too. For instance, To buy my smoker up here "used" would have been 12,000.00 bucks. I found one in Alabama used for 3,000.00 bucks and another 500.00 for shipping and storing. So shop around ALOT. You also have to learn a word, This word is "NO" if not, people will bleed you dry. Just a quick note I'll write more later. Good luck in your new hobby, it can be fun. I still enjoy smoking meat.

Joe

 

[joed617]

Hi Doug, Interesting enough, I read an article in a magazine and it said "We'll give you advice for $50,000.00 and what you get is that we'll try to talk you out of it" I did laugh at that one. I'll only charge you let's say half that if you act now! <laugh> If you're serious read this thread, I started it and didn't think it would be all that helpful but after reading it again it will show you what we had to overcome just to get the doors opened and not the work we did before hand. Research, demographics and eating at the other bbq joints. What did we have that was differnt and how do we seperate ourselves from the other bbq places. In other words, What would bring people in to your place when they've been eating at the other places for so long. Remember now, people are creatures of habit and you have to be creative to get them in your door. Also remember this and this is a good one. Serving food you get ONE chance to make your guest happy. if they have a good experience you're in luck and they may tell a few friends. If they have a bad experience they WILL tell all thier friends about it. So as I said, it's a one shot deal and you better put your best foot forward. We all know food is a matter of taste, Well some folks you just can't please no matter what you do. Now, this is the computer age and we have blogs and the word travels quickly. Do I take what they say in the blog about me seriously? Depends what was said. The service is slow, I know this and doing our best to fix that. Some don't like the food and they say that they're from the south <south boston maybe> because for the most part we get alot of transplants and college students to have relocated here and they bring thier parents to the place and they love the food. Then I go online and read that some don't like the food. what I'm saying is you're not going to make everyone happy and if you have thin skin and take it too personal you will crumble under that pressure. So back to the advice. My only advice is this, If you really want something you'll work hard for it and get out of it what you put into it. Success isn't given to you, It's earned and by this I mean. If things come up <oh, and they will come up> are you strong enough to do whatever it takes to move forward? or will you give up and throw in the towel? again success isn't for the weak or the people who are not willing to give it thier all. I hope I didn't scare you, but it's the truth. First thing first, write a solid business plan and ask yourself why would people want to come to your place to dine in and what you have to offer that's differnt.

Good luck,

Joe

 

[joed617]

Updated: The News Paper is doing an article on our place and should be out next week. <how cool is that> I did an interview on friday and later that night they were taking pictures. BTW we are also producing a concert for October 12th and we have James Montgomery as the headliner. Check out our website if you're interested. So alot has been happening...

Joe

smokenjoesbbq.com

 

[monty]

Still stirring things up in Boston, eh? Funny note; my late father's name is James Montgomery. Therre was never a hint of blues in his music taste. Now, bring on a CD full of bagpipe tunes....

Good to see that things are happening in an awsome way. Perhaps I should rephrase that....Good to see that you are MAKING things happen in an awesome way!

I must say that your website is super! My only lament is that my bandwidth just cannot handle the better features of the site. But for what I can access...GREAT!

Keep at it good friend!

Cheers!