Bump
Been a bump in biz since the article came out. Since Saturday we've done almost double the daily biz that we normally do. We've run out of food by about 7:00 at night the past 3 nights we've been open. From what I've been told this generally happens after a positive review by a food critic. Biz is crazy for a few days/weeks then settles back down. I've been told that its a big deal that they even reviewed me this early in the game.......some places have been open for years and still havent been reviewed and we were covered in 3 1/2 months.......just cant relax and need to stay focused on putting out great "Q" and let the chips fall where they may. I know the guy (Jim Meyers, food critic) was just doing his job and could have written an article that was bad or good......but dad-gum I almost feel like I owe him a cut here for this increase in business! I'm just thankful he enjoyed the food and wrote a positive review. Hopefully this will keep on going and when it does settle down, average daily sales will be higher than before. We've been tinkering in the kitchen trying to get ready for spring/summer. I'll have a spring/summer menu with all kinds of good stuff on it.....a lot of which will break the mold of a typical bbq joint but will still be based in the process of barbecue.......stay tuned. Getting more beers in next week. Ordered some specialty beers from a local distributor that will be a little lighter and reflect the upcoming changing season in a month or two. Still have the old stand in's but these will give some variety.
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!
4 comments:
I ate at your place for the second time tonight. It was fantastic again. My girlfriend said your sauce is the best she's had so not everyone agrees with the critic. Which I guess is clear from the line being 5-10 people deep for the entire hour we were there. When will your stuff be adailable at The End Zone?
I also tried to give you some free pub on roadfood.com. Here's a link.
http://www.roadfood.com/Forums/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=17573
Keep up the good work.
Patrick,
I have been trying to get a hold of you since the food critic article came out. I thought I might give this way a shot to maybe get a response. I work for ESPN Radio and I was interested in talking to you about doing some advertising with us. We have different packages for all diiferent businesses, ranging from being a Titans sponsor to being a Vols sponsor; customizing your own schedule to having Dan Patrick recording your commercial. Being a new business, I would assume your budget might not include much for advertising, if any. Even if thats the case, I would still like to talk to you about doing radio advertising with us in the future. I promise not to waste your time. Give me a call at 312-3505 or send me an email at josh.webb@cumulus.com. I hope to hear from you soon. Thanks.
Josh Webb
thanks for the comments.....i really do appreciate them! compliments never get old and when you are doing something as shaky as this is they serve well! the zone maybe on hold right now, we've hit a bump in the road on a couple of things. hopefully we'll work them out. also, thanks for the pub on roadfood.com! next time you are out let me know! thanks again!
-pat
Dude, the health inspector would walk in the door and skateboard a cockroach around to the kitchen peek his head in there and laugh his fucking ass off. Dont do it. That bump is a mountain. Please dont edit and post this Martha.Im happy for you guys. Is the next one another little redneck or an underhanded phenom?
Post a Comment