BBQ restaurant; how would you do it?

Been in the restaurant business 30+ years and until january of this year ran a hot dog cart. Made a good living at it but just burned out on it after 10 years. Find myself tired of sitting around and have been thinking of opening a little BBQ place. Not a trailer or a stand, a comfy little place with a small seating area, good food, and some atmosphere.
 
Research in the area towns finds the southern pride smokers are most commonly used but there is such a lack of consistency in the quality and taste of each place from not just visit to visit, but plate to plate it is amazing. Most of it is pretty lousy. Yet they all seem pretty busy.
 
Has anyone used the fast eddy units from cookshack? they use pellets and no gas and seem pretty fool proof. The only place I found using this equipment has been excellent every time and is about 45 min away.
 
No beer or wine as this would make the insurance insane.
 
If you were considering doing this, how would you do it.
 
Harry
 
 

Wow. I'm surprised to hear that about Southern Pride smokers.  The Sticky Fingers chain uses Southern Pride with great success and consistency, in my opinion.

I use the Amerique for some of my caterings. Not as big as the Fast Eddy's & uses real wood not pellets. Very easy & consistant. My butts go anywhere from 12-16 hours. Can't say enough about Cookshacks support staff. If I was you I'd take a real good look @ all their products.

I've had a Southern Pride since I opened 7 years ago, it's never broken down and is absolutely the model of consistency, the problem with crummy Q is the people in the kitchen don't give a damn as long as people continue to eat their sub par offerings,  do it for the ego not the money, the money follows the ego, people who do it for the money cut corners and serve crummy Q 
A small aside, people into Q don't want to hear you are using pellets instead of real wood, plus they need to see it stacked next to your store.
Call Southern Pride, they will send you a free video that will knock your socks off.

good point chewing the fat, the wood stack would like good. Didnt mean to upset southern pride users with my generalization. I fully agree its the unsupevised kitchen help in these places that cause most of the problems, just a coincidence they mostly have that brand smoker.

have the southern pride video and have had some contact with the cookshack people and am really leaning that way. The pellets avoid some of the problems real wood causes and make clean up alot easier.

I want to be able to put out a good product without a lot of hassle. But since its still in the planning stages, there is plenty of time to make a final decicon.

I think if you are not going to be mobile, and its feasable, I would build my own smoker. No, Im not in the business but I would love to be, working and real life prevent it right now. However, if I was going to do a little sit-down bbq joint, I would build my own smoker and have stacks of wood for the customers to see where all that good smell was coming from. My humble 2 cents worth.

 I am in full agreement that real wood smokers deliver the goods!! The key here is to find a source for aged hard wood that is consistent. I have used a few different types of smokers and I found that an electric rotisserie  that uses real wood at 180 degrees will make a superior product every time. The last "Q" joint I worked at had just such a unit. It used a side box smoker that was vacuumed into the smoke chamber through a water chamber.  I don't remember the brand name though (sorry.) The place was in central AZ and we sourced the wood from my Mom's mesquite grove. Depending on what you want to cook will of course determine cooking times Having a wood pile outside will help to legitimize what you are doing. People who know "Q" want to know what kind of wood you are using, what temp, dry rub, or wet mop, or both, etc....
  It helps with P.R.

JMHO

David O.

I agree. Definitely go with real wood instead of pellets. It really makes a difference. 

I cook on a Southern Pride and an Ole Hickory- both built around the same concept: thermostatically controlled gas-fired burner with an offset  firebox for wood.  Each brand has its advantages and disadvantages. The combination of an insulated unit with the thermostatic control, rotisserie racks and convection fans produce a very uniform product with having to babysit your cooker.  Likewise, the Cookshack units can produce great BBQ.
I have eaten excellent and terrible food cooked on all three of these units (as well as many other styles of cookers.)  It is up to the person running the pit that determines what comes out.  Just as you can't make chicken salad out of chicken droppings; someone, who doesn't know what they are doing, can quickly turn good pork into chicken droppings.

Recently I had to cook 1000 lbs. of butts for a local caterer. Normally, I would use my Ole Hickory simply because it's more readily accessible; however, the volume required both cookers. The product out of each cooker (Southern Pride and Ole Hickory) was indistinguishable. I often get comments from people that it is some of the best pulled pork that they have eaten.

I'm outside of Charleston, SC and you are welcome to cook on both units if you ever get up this way.

Just don't call your place Crawdaddy's. It's taken.

If you serve beer then you can call it Crawl Daddy"s!!!


LOL

David O.

Interesting thread. I have a Klose Stick Burner, a Southern Pride, and a Cook Shack (knock off) that I built, but uses the Cookshack standard parts. I also have an older small Cook Shack unit that I haven’t used in 4 or 5 years.

That said, I think there is a learning curve with any smoker, and after using any smoker for awhile you can cook good Q, even  with a refrigerator turned into a smoker. In fact I have been to contest where the whole hog division was won by a team using a standard Weber Grill. They used a piglet but they won the contest hands down.

How about some tips from  Kman 160 on how you cook on your Amerique, and what do you cook on it, at what temp and for how long?

Same thing from Chewingthe fat, on your Southern Pride?  Help a guy out? Time, Temp, do you use a Texas Crutch, smoke them meat side up or down???

EvanJohnson tell us about your Old Hickory?

SusanKay I’m not sure building your own smoker is such a good Idea, with the engineering that goes into today’s units, and some of the health department rules, building your own may be difficult. Plus you’d need to take into account the beating these units take bouncing down the road from event to event.  

But that said if you were to build a stationary smoke house with some sort of preplanned way to wash it or steam clean it you could maybe pull it off.  I’d think you would have to have floor drains and all kinds of safety measures. I can just hear our fire dept saying “Where is the Ansul System?” And our health department asking if it were a NSF certified unit?
 

 Dr., I usually set the Southern Ptide between 225-250 degrees depending on quantity of Pork butt and Briskit, put them on at 8:00pm and take them off the next morning around 10:00am, if the internal temp on the Pork is 195 degrees, wrap it in foil and hold it at 160 all day long, The Briskit is always done by 10. Baby Backs at 250 degrees till almost breaking when lifted by tongs, if they do seperate they are overdone, you want some tug. I do dry ribs, let the customer sauce them. cooking time on 2 1/2 and downs, which I use, right around 3 1/2 to 4 hours. Smoke my 1/2 Chickens about 5 hours @ 250.
I also do lots of sides, burgers, Texas chili, other soups, homemade twice fried French fries, 1/4 lb Hebrew Nationals, Talapia, Catfish, Porkloin, a decent selection of apps. Very good desserts, good beer selection, all kinds of specialty sodas, along with fountain coke products. Nuff for now!

It's not the cooker, it's the cook.  I've won 2 contests with
a little wsm and a pop up tent, right next to the big boys
with their trailers and multi-thousand dollar rigs.

I'm also working on opening a joint, and I decided long
ago to go with Cookshack....and it ain't even close.

Dr-
Hickory hunks, Butts fat side up, 225 til they reach 195 ussually 12-16 hours depending on the weather. I only use the Ameriqie for Butts. Everything else goes on the Rollin' Roaster.

Excellent points all!!! You gave me a lot to think about. I was talking about a stationary building, brick with stainless liner, with a grease trap that could be cleaned out. The entire thing can be steam cleaned. Now, keep in mind that this is all still in my head and I need to put it all on paper to work out the "bugs", so to speak. Was just throwing in my 2 cents worth. Would love to see it built, but as you said, I would have to check with the fire dept to see what the regulations in our area are. In the mean time, I will continue to plan out my smoker and hope that some day it comes to fruition.

I use a Fast eddie the FEC100 for competitions and very good consistent taste but i am in same boat i want a brick and mortar my options is a Southern pride or Ole hickory. you need to do alot of foot work vsisit the companies or talk to owners of restaurants that use the smokers you want. I totally agree i have 3 types of smokers each does things a little different but the cook make difference the smoker is a vehicle to get it done.  keep us informed on what you decide as like i said i am in same boat.

OK so heres THE problem. This silly town wants to charge me a $20,000 impact fee to open a "new restaurant"! whether I take a place and rehab it or build a new building. If its brick and mortar thats the rate. 500 sq ft or 5000 sq ft= 20,000.

If I want to get a trailer or something and set it beside the road, there is no impact fee. Just some licenses and permits, very close to the same as when I used to do the hot dog cart.

I know alot of people are doing the BBQ thing from trailers and such but its just not what I had in mind.

Seems to me that with things the way they are the brick and mortar place has got to bring them more in taxes than a mobile set up. Besides looking better for the town. Not meaning to offend anyone thats doing the mobile thing.

If Im a big national brand or something the 20grand would be nothing. What happened to small business getting a break? This will put a major hit in my plans and possibly stop me from doing it.

shouldnt they be thrilled to have me reopen a closed place like Ive been eyeing and start the tax dollars rolling in?  Been pleading my case for awhile now and no one seems to get it.

feeling DISCOURAGED at this time.

Harry.

What town is this? 
  
We know BBQ trailers in the area of Sebring.

Bermuda Triangle or Twilight Zone?

If you'r thinking about a brick and mortar place , how about a drive in window? If you've never had one they can bring in half your business. If they are set up correctly they can be the most efficient part of the whole operation. Also if you plan on doing this every day get a smoker that you don't have to babysit. A Southern Pride or an Ole Hickory can make really good que and if you train your people they turn out a consistent product . Best of luck ! 

craw daddy     what are you in Wauchula

Highlands Co just in June or July put a one year moratorium on impact fees to Help the economy.
Have you tried County Business Development.

actually between zolfo springs and wauchula, 2 tiny dots on the map in the wonderful county of hardee.
 
yes highlands has suspended their impact fees, which has definetly not spurred any big action there and no I dont want to go there and start a place.
 
my sleepy little county is filled with rag tag tent and rusty trailer deals all over the place. not a whole lot of regulation or inspecting going on here.
 
the stonewalling on the impact fee frankly suprises me.
 
there is a burrito trailer thats pretty decent not too far I could buy out and reopen today, but as I said I dont really want to go that route. the burritos are an interesting idea but being in a trailer all day just doesnt appeal anymore.
 
Harry

Which city or town is this happening in Hardee County?
 
Between Zolfo Springs and Wauchula?
 
 

wauchula is the county seat so that is where everything goes through.  Its a county thing, no so much a city or town deal.

If you "know" someone there, please let me know as I have talked with most everyone there that should be able to do something.

Harry

Well, here's the thing.
 
We know plently of folks from that area. Strangely enough most of them are one person. They "all" have some very similar characteristics. Hmm. Maybe a coincidence so I will look into the Hardee County stuff.
 
 

I just dont understand your response at all.

There is a  history of strange thing happening in and around Sebring FL. here in the Restaurant Pro section that are spooky similar. You chimed in on the ghost post comment before starting this thread so you must have read something about it to at least be aware.
 

I still dont understand what youre saying, but if I have stepped on someones toes I apologize.

Im not in sebring, not even in highlands county. I still dont know what a ghost post is. Im guessing its someone who posts and then goes away never to be heard from again. I came across that thread while reading other various ones.

I just wanted to see what people advised for a little BBQ joint, and then wanted to vent my frustrations over the unbendable crap involved to do it.

In my reading I have noticed that some of you seem to hold anyone new in contempt, like this is your private sanctuary. Ready to tell everyone how useless their idea is as opposed to your wonderous million dollar concept.

If it will make you feel better, I can disappear too. There are other much freindlier forums around.

No reason to take offense. I happen to know who the person is who is the ghost poster....so my toes are not being stepped upon. By concidence BBQ is one of the hot tickets. Ice cream coffee sandwiches how would you do this or that after many years of experience always a drawback for sympathy or flying high in the clouds. He is a real loser. Not about you. He has no power no matter what now...so please feel free to continue.