Thursday, January 18, 2007

A satellite Martin's Bar-B-Que???????

Yep.........for several weeks I've been talking to the "End Zone" in Green Hills about taking over the food there. Last night Joe (the owner) and I verbally finalized everything. The Zone used to be an old stomping ground of mine back in college. Now I might go there every couple of months or so when I'm in the area just to stop in to see if any old buds are there. Its gone down hill a lot recently. I had heard that one of the biggest reasons for this was the lack of food. They had quit serving food almost a year ago. Joe needs food like the crops need rain and it gives me a chance to increase overall cash flow to offset expenses at the joint in Nolensville. We're going to start off slow. Wed. - Sat. nights from 5-10. It will be a limited menu. BBQ sandwiches, BBQ plates, 1/2lb burgers, catfish po-boys, crawfish etouffee, brisket tacos, wings and ribs. I'll bring shoulders and brisket down about 4:30 in the afternoon and when we run out we run out. Same thing goes there as it goes out in Nolensville.....cook it fresh everyday and when its gone then its gone till tomorrow. I've talked to "Pooh".....the old line cook at the Box Seat about coming in down there and he is all for it. Between Pooh and I, there should be good food and a lot of Bull-s*%@ flowing down there again. Its not really costing me a dime to do this so if after a few months it doesnt work out then no harm done. This is a "trial" period for both Joe & I. Oh, for those of you that know Joe that are wondering what I know you are wondering, I'll have my own seperate register in there so my butt will be covered.
Things are flowing pretty good in Nolensville. Things slowed down a bit during the holidays, picked last week while it was warm and has dropped off a good bit this week because of the cold weather. Everyone has told me that this is the way it is from thanksgiving till March 1st. I'm not really making any money right now, but I'm not losing any during this down time either.....which is the important thing. Jonathan Nebble (owns Jonathan's bar & grill) came in to see me yesterday and told me the fact that we're at least breaking even during this time is something to be happy about. My banker told me the same thing. So relativly speaking cash flows are good, have some unreal people working for me and words getting around about the food. The "groove" that the Joint in Nolensville has found is what gives me the confidence to be away a little bit to do this in Green Hills. Having the guys that work with me out there are the backbone to that "groove".......cant say enough about them. Thanks to a change in schedule, Jackie is now going to start manning the kitchen during the weeknights to let Bo off. Bo will now work lunch tues-thurs and then pull the all day friday & saturday. Its great for both those guys, Jackie gets more hours to work and Bo gets more hours to himself......which is well deserved! There will be no dropoff in production....The smoker has MORE than enough room in there to handle the cook and Jackie has been at this for almost 20yrs and has owned his own restaurant himself, so the kitchen will be fine. And then there is Ball (Bryan Chandler). Ball works part time on weekends to pay for his scotch habit....just kidding. He's working to make some side cash. He's like a dang brother to me (literally) and as usual is the most reliable sum-bitch on the planet. After things are up and running I'll put someone down there with Pooh and I'll come on back out to Nolensville full time. Got to hit it......come out to the Joint and buy some food from me.......we got kids to feed!

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

I just ate at the Nolensville location for the first time. It was great. I'll have to find my way to the End Zone. It's alot closer than Nolensville so that's great for me. Best of luck and I'll try to spread the word about your outstanding product.

Anonymous said...

Pat:

I want to try to come out there soon, possibly this week. I want to make sure you are going to be there. E-mail me your cell phone number. BTW, Dean England called last week and said that they want you to cater the Family Values Dinner at FHU in 2008 with Ron Jeremy as the keynote. You'll need to fix a lot of smoked sausage for that one - LOL!!!

Also, I don't know if you are aware or not, but I've learned to play the *#($ out of a 5-String Banjo in the past 2.5 years. I may have to frequent music night at some point.

Contact me:

barrybooker@msn.com

Anonymous said...

Pat:

I want to try to come out there soon, possibly this week. I want to make sure you are going to be there. E-mail me your cell phone number. BTW, Dean England called last week and said that they want you to cater the Family Values Dinner at FHU in 2008 with Ron Jeremy as the keynote. You'll need to fix a lot of smoked sausage for that one - LOL!!!

Also, I don't know if you are aware or not, but I've learned to play the *#($ out of a 5-String Banjo in the past 2.5 years. I may have to frequent music night at some point.

Contact me:

barrybooker@msn.com

Anonymous said...

Okay so of all things I cannot believe that you didn't say that the End Zone is also where you met and hit on your wife. You should be ashamed.

Anonymous said...

Sounds like your doing great, the food is fantastic. I stopped in a few saturdays back 2 in a row and the cook ...(Jackie)? was running some great specials! I noticed he will be working nights, the food is always good but seems to be just a little better when he's there....I do try to eat lunch there at least once a week, wish Jackie was there for lunch. Wish it was the other way around.
Keep up the good food! Love the atmosphere!

Anonymous said...

http://www.break.com/index/baby_shoots_his_first_gun.html

This will be Patrick and his son someday!

Anonymous said...

http://www.break.com/index/baby_shoots_his_first_gun.html
Patrick and Son

What is this Blog???

You ever been sitting around cooking for your family and friends and been told the following: "Hoss, this is the best I've ever had in my dadgum life.....you have got to open up a place of your own". The thought crosses your mind to do just that, but for whatever reason you dont. Well I'm "that" guy that actually went through with it and did it. I had absolutely ZERO restaurant experience! I decided to start this blog about my own experience hoping that it may be of some use and help to others who might be interested in opening their own place.
I learned this craft almost 20 years ago cooking whole hogs on brick & cinder block pits at a couple of little BBQ Joints in Henderson, TN. I learned from old, lifelong career Pit-Masters, working with them as an apprentice during school off and on for four years. Over the course of that time I learned the old, time-honored craft of REAL pit barbecue. At Martin's Bar-B-Que Joint I am trying as hard as I can everyday to bring that time-honored authenticity to my customers.
As you read you'll see I've made some stupid decisions, and I've made some good decisions. If you are thinking of opening a restaurant, especially a BBQ Joint, read this blog! Maybe some of this info can be of use to you. At the very least you will be entertained because I pull no punches.
Now listen, this is my blog to not only help with information but my blog to freely rant about my day to day experiences. There is no real "bad language" on this blog but there might be some things said that are very "tongue in cheek". If you are easily offended and/or cant see the satire in my posts then please just leave the blog. It will save both of us the annoyance of each other. For those of you who do like satire and are looking for good information about this experience, then by all means enjoy!