Update: Advice for Newbies??

[ExperiencedRookie]

Thought I would update my first post about working at a failing bbq joint. Ill post a link to that one below i guess.

Original post:
http://www.thesmokering.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=62405&highlight=


After 2-3 weeks at the raunt I have decided that I no longer can work there. I have a number of reasons and here are the main ones:

1. its a sacrifice-I dont get steady pay at my normal job, but I make between 200-300 on a 8 hour shift friday/saturday nights. My first week at the bbq raunt getting paid 7.50/hr was a punch in the gut. I knew going in that I would be sacrificing money for the experience/knowledge I will gain but...

2. I dont think I will learn anything from the bbq place. Their techniques, methods, rubs, sauces, meat, sides, menu in general is bad. I was hoping to hone my craft of smoking delicious meats daily, what I really do is re-heat previously smoked meats, warm up canned/packaged sides, fry frozen items, and dont have any real input on the food in general.

3. There are no schedules/guidelines for anything. When I asked the owner about how they do briskets in detail he said "we throw them on the smoker at night and in the morning I take them off" This isnt a veteran holding back secrets, they are just that out of it. A 16lb brisket may smoke for 11-12 hours at 200-215 and then it is placed in a warming box. They also do not trim any fat before smoking and use low grade select briskets. The employees have no structure. The kitchen has no structure and I feel like bringing them up to speed on how to run a smoking timeline, food prep, cleaning procedures, daily/weekly goals, would take maybe 3 months.

4. No future. Everytime I have worked at night we have never had more than 6 people in the raunt. It seats over 100. The owner is delusional and just writes it off to being an "off night" but since I have been there we have never had an "on night". I dont want to invest my time and take sacrifices money wise if they place will be closed in 6 months.

5. Without sounding pompous, I know for a fact I can make every thing on the menu about 10x better. Its more an issue of the food being so bad but I know that with my techniques (a lot of which I have learned from you guys) I can make better brisket, ribs, pork, turkey, sides, desserts, everything. There is nothing food-wise I can learn from here. So one thing I worry about is IF I do stay on for a bit longer and improve the food using my recipes and methods, how will that benefit me? If I can implement knew better tasting items arent I only making the owner money and not helping out myself. Kind of selfish way of looking at it but I really do like the owner I just dont want to make all those changes if it doesnt benefit me financially at all.

The owner is a nice guy but is clueless when it comes to BBQ and basic restaurant operations. The employees which have been there for up to 10 years have somehow convinced him not to change what they do, which has led to the downfall of the restaurant. And I dont feel like I am receiving enough back from them compared to what I am offering. Its not a mutually beneficial deal right now.

I guess I will just continue to lurk on here and admire you other guys with awesome bbq joints.

I am planning right now to save for a small mostly to-go place with authentic TX pit bbq. If I make what I think I will this summer I can have it open by next summer which would be awesome.

Any feedback would be greatly appreciated. I thank you all for your advice and support.

[Harry Nutczak]

[ExperiencedRookie]

I know what youre saying Harry but I guess I am mostly trying to show that they DONT have any specific guidelines or idea of how to/and for how long to smoke meats.

Also, I think in Texas were a little more "snobby" about our briskets. I dont doubt what guys like you and others up north do works for you but generally speaking in Texas you trim briskets, smoke over wood only, and we dont separate flat and point to make burnt ends or anything. So that is probably where you are recognizing my distaste for our current methods of smoking briskets. (once again NOT KNOCKING WHAT YOU GUYS DO that is just how I was taught to do briskets and how the greats like Louie Mueller, Kruez, Blacks, Franklins all do there briskets)

There is definitely an issue with the current crew. Specifically a girl who has worked there for 5 years who will serve literally anything including meats that are overdone or something that guys like us wouldnt be comfortable serving. She also cuts with the grain of briskets and the owner has said he has received several complaints about her doing this and serving bad stuff. She has worked there 5 YEARS!!!!

I told the owner that I wish him the best of luck but I really cannot continue to work there. It is too much of a financial sacrifice for me now and I am not really benefiting from it. I am still able to make BBQ for my Moms catering company about once a month. It would be great if that could turn into a full time thing but that just wishful thinking at this point.

Again about the smoking times and such...Tonight for instance, the reach-in fridge had 3 smoked briskets, 8 racks of ribs, and sausages that were all smoked yesterday, Monday. We had overages today of 1 full brisket, 3 points, about 2 flats, 10 racks of ribs, and extras of all our other meats. My point is that those 8 racks of ribs probably wont be used until maybe Friday/Saturday when they were first smoked on Monday. This is an issue of laziness and lack of caring about the quality that I just really cannot be a part of. It hurts me inside selling this garbage BBQ.

If anything I learned a lot about what I DONT want to do when I am able to open my own place. I really do hope the owner realizes before it is too late and can turn it around, I just think there is so so much that has to be changed that it is gonna be a tough task.

[Harry Nutczak]

If the woman refuses to follow direction, and prepare the food correctly, why is she being kept in employment there?

That place sounds like there is no fixing it. The owner knows she is screwing up, yet refuses to rectify the root of the problem.
Seems to me you made the correct decision to part ways.
Now you mentioned your family already has an operational catering business, why don't you work from that point to get your BBQ out there better, and see if you can grow from that?
I started as a BBQ catering person, and we are still growing.

And to clarify things, I do not separate the flats from the points before cooking, and I do not do burnt ends,
and I most definitely do not slice with the grain.
I will proudly put our brisket up against any of the big boys in Texas. The feedback from our Texas-based tourists and transplants makes me confident in that.
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Just remember that the toes you may step on during your climb to the top will also be attached to the a$$es you'll be forced to kiss on your way back down!

[Geronimo]

I don't think it is hard to make good BBQ...I don't think it is all that hard to make good "any" kind of food IF you have the passion for what you are doing.
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[BigOrson]

A man has to know his limitations. It sounds as though you made a thorough inventory of the problems and identified them as real problems. It also sounds as if you weighed the difficulty of providing solutions as well as management's desire to change things for the better. To be quite frank, it sounds like you already have what it takes to run a successful restaurant, just not the capital to start one and support your family in the meantime (that's a compliment, BTW).

If it helps any, I think you made the right decision. Sounds to me as though it would have been easier to start a 'raunt from scratch than to repair the one already there. If you truly have the passion that it sounds as if you do, I have no doubts that you'll get there someday.

My restaurant experience has been on the line and in management. If you don't have the owner behind you, you'll get exactly nowhere. To have the wisdom to know this in advance is a big mark in your plus column.

[jess]

Do not take this wrong but from your first post on this subject you said that there was waste, bad personel, lack of pride in the product & buss. & a feeling of intitlement. JMHO but to make a difference you have to MAKE a difference. My grandpa would say get along or get along...

[ExperiencedRookie]

Thanks guys. I appreciate the kind words and advice.

It just came to the point where I felt like I wouldnt be able to improve the restaurant back into a successful place with the current owner, employees, food, etc. The place would need a complete overhaul or at least very major changes in how they do everything. I think the owner wanted me to come in because I was a good reliable employee but when it came down to making improvements he seemed too worried to change anything and was dragging his feet way too much.

My mother has a small catering business that she really doesnt even do anymore because of other non-business related reasons. Its changed into a situation now where if her "good clients" call her and need something she makes it but she is not actively trying to build the business. I would love to start even my own catering business but right now I dont have a smoker that can hold more that a couple briskets at a time and also dont have the money for all the stuff to get that type of thing started. Hopefully in the future pretty soon I will have enough saved to start out with either a catering business or small place like I have talked about before.

Again thanks for the posts.

[Harry Nutczak]

[animal]

is KC Boss back.
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New Braunfels Offset
Smoke Hollow #5
Lang 48 D
Acorn Komado
And a couple of Weber kettles

[ExperiencedRookie]

I have followed the shotgun pete story so far. Very inspiring.

My uncle actually has a couple 250gal homemade smokers that he isnt using and if I can get my hands on one of those I will definitely start up a small catering operation like you described.