Backyard Warriors and Beyond

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krj

Smoking Fanatic
Original poster
Mar 23, 2009
436
325
I wanna preface this by saying I've been thinking about this for a couple days now, for some reason it's been bugging me. So I've finally decided it would be best to get it off my chest. I appreciate everyone who hones their craft. Be it woodworking, music, etc no matter what it is, the will and drive to better one's self/passion/skills is a great quality. Bbqer's are no different in this aspect. No matter if your the total novice who went to Walmart and bought the cheapest tin walled smoker, the well seasoned veteran who have honed their skills over many a smoke, or the those of us who have turned competitor/restauranteur.

With all that said and out in the open I want to get to what I've been stewing on. Despite enjoying my own brand of Q, I still love finding a good BBQ joint to grab something different at. I'm pretty lucky to be just an hour south of KC, so there are always a ton of choices available. A little closer to home is a Q joint, that only a few months ago finally found a location and moved into a building after working out of a trailer for a couple years. I've supported this spot for quite a while, while they worked hard and dished out some damn good Q.

Them moving into the new building was a great business move. They already had a good customer base that was willing to brave to weather to get food from a trailer, and it skyrocketed going to the building.

Here's the rub, I was in the area the other day and decided to swing in and support this spot by buying a full slab. I took them home to eat for a later meal, and when the time came to reheat and eat, I discovered they were not only very tough, but the flavor and quality was poor. Now I don't normally nitpick every visit to a restaurant, but after speaking to my folks who had eaten there a few days before they said the same. And for some reason it got me a little upset to see a drop in quality after doing such an amazing job for so long, with less equipment.

Now I'm not saying I'm perfect, or that I haven't ever botched a cook job. But I'm also not a restauranteur, with a well established product. You see, I grew up in the kitchen of a pretty damn good Q joint. If it wasn't for the owners taking cash out of the till to go gamble, and then eventually to slack off on the food that place would likely still be alive and thriving. I've seen what it takes to be successful, and how to turn it 180 and be worthless and close.

I know this post was full of rambling thoughts, with no real point in sight, but this was just something I needed to get off my mind. I don't care if all you ever do as a bbqer is cook meals for your family, or if you go bigger and cater/vendor at some events, or even go all the way and open a restaurant. What I care about is that you always put out a product that is the best that you can put out. Be the best that you can be, do the best that you can do, never stop learning and growing your skill.


Sorry for the wall of text that is very random. Sometimes my head gets this way, and I just need to do something with it.
 
I think we have all seen how success can ruin a business, not just restaurants.

When things are going good, sometimes shortcuts are taken & the quality suffers.

It's too bad when that happens.

Al
 
I don't care what it is, I'll pay a lot more for a

quality product.

I too have seen this, and it is sad.

It is the trend today though, make it cheaper.

               Ed
 
I think one of the biggest problems is simply cash flow.  When the business was operating out of a small trailer, costs were in all probability fairly low.  Now that they have moved into a permanent location, they suddenly find themselves faced with a lot of new expenses every month.. Cash in is no longer much greater than cash out every month.  So they start to scrimp on the small things.  Small things add up to become big things and eventually quality suffers. 

I know this is sad, but a lot of small business owners just don't do their due diligence before expanding.

Gary
 
Could be some of the new smokers, are not seasoned like the old ones yet.How long ago did they move

Richie
 
Ive experienced this with a few local favorites too and it's always sad. It seems like the crowd of people makes them forget quality is what brought the people to begin with. Then nobody wants to hurt feelings by saying the food isn't good anymore and owners don't want to admit truth. Almost inevitably the crowd drops and the doors close. It can be like watching a car crash coming without being able to stop it.
 
 
I think one of the biggest problems is simply cash flow.  When the business was operating out of a small trailer, costs were in all probability fairly low.  Now that they have moved into a permanent location, they suddenly find themselves faced with a lot of new expenses every month.. Cash in is no longer much greater than cash out every month.  So they start to scrimp on the small things.  Small things add up to become big things and eventually quality suffers. 

I know this is sad, but a lot of small business owners just don't do their due diligence before expanding.

Gary
Well, I understand the cash flow argument, and normally I would consider it to be a possibility. However the customer base of this place exploded when they moved to the build. Prior to this bad experience, I had been in at "off hours" like 3pm and there was still 20+ customers in.
I do a lot of event catering, and I treat each event if it was my family event. If I would not be happy with it then I would not serve it.
And that is how you will continue to thrive, giving your best product everytime. 
 
Could be some of the new smokers, are not seasoned like the old ones yet.How long ago did they move

Richie
Looking back, they moved into the location on January 12th of this year. He did end up building a new smoker so he didn't have to dismantle his concession trailer. To my knowledge that smoker was done and ready to roll smoke before he opened in the building. But I've had been several times since they have moved in and this last was the first time I've ever had any problems.
 
The ultimate BBQ. Have all of us show up in one place. Cook and try each others food. That would be the best restaurant.
 
Unfortunate this is sad but true and as has been said it happens for more reasons then we see. Are you close enough to the owner to make them aware that things are not the same. Even though now they have a larger costumer base it may not hold up.
 
Some business just don't scale well. One you make the jump, quality control becomes more difficult to maintain.
 
Could be a number of things that can affect quality. If they had a good increase in customer base when they moved into the new building they could be overwhelmed\adjusting to how much food they are putting out. Might be doing multiple cook times and not having the timing down yet for the lunch\dinner crowds etc.

Could be the expense thing like previously mentioned.

Might also be they had to hire more people for prep\cooking and are having problems with the learning curve. If they had a significant increase in business I could see that happening.

Whatever the case may be I hope they figure it out and turn it back around.
 
The only way to make tuff Q is to cook it to hot and or not long enough.

Am I wrong?

I can’t be much fun fire up the smoker every day a midnight so everything is fresh out of the pit for lunch.

Walta
 
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