Openning Saloon/pizza place

My buddy and I are openning a saloon and pizza place. We have the key and this week, found somebody to rent the apartment upstairs. The place is in a small town surrounded by farmers. We will have great traffic because we'll be on a highway.

Our goal is to open our doors by Father's Day, which is stretching it because we're still coming up with money for the liquor license. Plus, we're still haven't bought the pizza oven. It's always about money, isn't it?

Right now, I'm estimating what our initial food inventory must be for the first 2 weeks. I'm estimating that our total pizza sales will be small--maybe 25 pizzas a day. The prime competition is a Casey's gas station that sells maybe 30-40 on a Friday or Saturday. We have pretty much agreed that we'll buy our dough, or even pre-made crusts.

We won't have tappers for beer, either. They are too expensive and we don't have space behind the bar for keg coolers because the previous owners (and current, legally) re-built the bar to give more traffic space.

I'm just now beginning to feel some stress. Not much because it seems so far away, but some. If my buddy can come up with the cash, we'll be doing fine. If not, well....not sure after that.

I'm excited. Bottom line, this is what I've always wanted. After years of working for other people and making them money, I'll be able to work for myself and do things the way I want to do them. I guess that's just what I wanted to say. I'm excited!

Good luck. I hope everything works out just the way you want it too. Be prepared for some hurdles, and don't get discouraged.

Best of luck...serve great pizza and the beer will take care of itself!

Make your own dough!!!!!! A wise man once told me "the only way to make the dough, is to make the dough!!!"

danny--I'm leaning that way, too. After talking to lots of folks, I'm believing my initial direction towards making our own dough. My thoughts are, we'll be making between 20-30 pies a night during the week and maybe 40 a day on the weekends. That really isnt' too much dough to make.

Now the question comes into play, how good are you at making dough? IMHO, it may cost more, but I'd go with pre made crusts to start with. They have a longer shelf life (plus can be frozen), and your saving on labor and experimenting costs (Not to mention the shelf life of fresh made dough is like 2 days). Work the fresh crusts in after you start getting established. And please, don't ruin the pie by getting one of them conveyor ovens.. Go Brick!

It seems this deal might fall through after all. The owners are being dodgy about some things and we're not too happy. Plus, Illinois has some expensive rules about licensing and dram shop insurance.

I would love a brick oven, but the cost is too much. I'll start out with an electric oven.

The town is 900 people with highway traffic increased during the weekend. We'll be serving everything from burgers and fries to hot dogs, chicken strips and pizza. In a town of 900, you have to have more than just pizza and beer.

Right now, we're talking about what we could do in the town I'm in now, which is about 25,000. I don't want to do pizza here for a number of reasons. Or pasta, for the same reasons. So, it would have to be something completely different and unique. But, good enough so we'll get repeat customers. It's a fine balance.

In this town, cheap is the key word. Brown, hot and plenty of it for only 5 bucks. That doesn't leave a lot of wiggle room.

Ted, when I said a brick oven, I didn't mean some fancy wood fired one.. Just an old fashioned Blodgett double deck (gas powered). If you look around, you can find a decent one (with a good stone) for a grand or less.
Here in West Michigan, I've looked over 2 pizza shops that are complete.. I mean EVERYTHING from the prep tables, stoves, ovens, fridges, freezers, cash registers, totally turn key. Both where 10K OBO. Problem was is they wanted you to take over the building lease also.. (I just want the equipment). Our economy is so bad right now, you wouldn't even dare open shop right now.. So the theory was buy cheap and ride the storm out. Since your in Illinois, and not far from here, you may want to keep an eye on www.1800lastbid.com They have a lot of food service equipment that goes for cheap at times..