It won't be long now Paul before you will have your first BBQ restaurant.
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OUR FIRST NIGHT IN BUSINESS!
3 weeks ago, we had our 1st night in biz vending! The Arts Council holds a free concert series, Live at the Lakefront, with bands, art for sale, beverages provided by the local AB dealer, and...Food Trucks! #PaulsRibShackBarbecue was there in style!
Here are my 2 oldest daughers, manning the Example Menu table. Hannah's arms opened is sort of like our entire night, "How do we do this?!!?"
Did I mention earlier that I have a real business that I run, with 4 locations and employees and machines that break and customers to take care of and that this BBQ fun is a lot of work? Oh, yeah, I did. But we are here!
We had fully intended to do a practice vend the week before and get some rhythms down on who does what and how to get the production out...but there was too much other work to do. So, like is often the case, we figured it out as we did it. That is sort of my life story.
We were about 30 minutes late opening, but the food was good and the crowd was large. And hungry! Ultimately, we served about 200 people some good Barbecue and had fun.
Here are the 2 oldest Princess Daughters at the Example Plate table we set up. They are wonderful young women! And the table is so cool!
Oh, yeah, we cooked a bunch of Ribs and Brisket and Turkey and Chicken and Beans and Slaw for this opening night! All over Oak Logs burning at the bottom of this smoker! Don't these Ribs look great!
Here is the Example Menu table at the end of the night. Love this setup! My middle daughter saved the butcher paper, saying I will want the opening night menu as a keepsake. She's right!
Several previous #Riblisters came out, and loved the food and the experience!
On the left is Sam, my right-hand man. He did great. Next is Buck, one of my mentees. And then Allen, my best bud. He and his wife came out all 3 opening nights to help.
Lots more to say, and the pics from the 2nd and 3rd weekends...but, I. AM. TIRED!
And yet, I've got a single brisket out on the Jambo, and I'm tending a fire. LOVE IT! But, I am going to pull that sucker, pan it, and put it in the CVAP at 210 degrees, no matter whether it's probe tender yet or not. It's Midnight and I'm tired!
Happy Barbecue to you guys!
paulAttached FilesLast edited by PaulstheRibList; April 2, 2017, 01:59 PM.Comment
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I love keeping up with this thread. Congrats on a successful opening night and run. Food looks amazing and I love the display table idea!Comment
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Vending Event #5 happening Thursday Night...wonder what's on the menu #GetOntheRibList
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tbob4, we could take that same pic holding an AR15, you know, the other AR, and do a switch back-n-forth GIF!
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Wow what a great rig, sounds like you have it figured out. Good luck and here is to a brilliant future!Comment
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Congrats! The rig and everything looks beautifulComment
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I think a lot of people here have dreamed of opening a BBQ business, but most of never will. So living the dream through your posts is very enjoyable Paul.
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RonB, I'm so glad the journey is fun for you guys, too!
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Whew...Did I mention to you guys that running a barbecue truck is both fun AND work? We are now about 3 months in, something like a dozen public gigs, plus some friend ones, and Man, this is fun! (and work).
My other business is also really busy with customers, and more than that, me pushing really hard to finish some projects. The combo of these two things means my storytelling to you, my Pitmaster Club peeps, has been neglected. Alas, I shall repent and make regular updates on about the Paul's Rib Shack adventure.
Our debut was at a 3 week concert series at our Civic Center seawall, Live at the Lakefront. It's a fundraiser for the area Art's Council. The pics above are from week 1, and the pic's in here are from week's 2-3, in March.
In golf, the expression is "Drive for show. Putt for dough." In the Q Buz, I think the adaptation is, "Brisket for show. Pulled Pork for dough." I'm still not dialed in on the pulled pork recipe, a little tweaking on the pull technique and the saucing. It's good, however! Here is Sam putting on the butt's for Week 2!
The Myron Mixon 72XC is...Big! The friend I made in Carolina who uses this in his business says he can load it up with 90 butts at max...that's a bunch! We haven't done that yet.
Aren't they pretty!
We use a 10 gallon Jambalaya pot to saute the veggies for the base in the Beans. It is some kind of pretty!
This is Amanda. She and her husband opened http://www.sloppytacotruck.com/ and thus launched the food truck scene in Lake Charles, only 3 years ago! She came by and gave some support! (She also gave feedback that week: the pulled pork was a little undersalted, and she wanted some more spice with it. I'll take the feedback so we can improve!)
Here is the order taking crew! My wife worked the point of sale, and the twins took orders and showed the samples outside. I'm the rover. When I'm not needed for production, I'm the hype man working the crowd!
This is vending night #2 at Live at the Lakefront. The Twins, my 14 year old daughters, are on point manning the samples table and getting the orders on the pad before the customers get to the window. They are great! The BAD news is there was some rain, some wind, so the event was moved INDOORS, while us food truck peeps were outdoors. So, we sold less than half of the 1st week, and had a good many leftovers. That's not as fun. Oh well, there's always Next week!
The next day, Saturday, we vended at a charity event, Touch a Truck, sponsored by the Junior League. They set up all these cool trucks and construction vehicles for little kids to climb on, have fun, and learn. It was great for the community! That rain storm that threatened and rained a little the night before lingered into the morning, and we didn't really sell much until about 1. They we picked up well for the remaining hour. And we made some great friends!
The next day, Sunday, we went to one of my great friend's church, Mouth Olive Baptist Church, to give away food at the parade to honor the STATE CHAMPION BASKETBALL TEAM, Washington-Marion Chargin' Indians! Go Indians! We made more friends and had fun. Three days...three events...three locations. I was glad to park the trailer that night and go home. Satisfied.
This is the trailer and the crowd starting to build before the event. They loved the sausage and the pulled pork leftovers!
Week 3 of Live of the Lakefront was the next Friday. It WENT GREAT! We served about 250 plates. At the peak, we were serving a customer every 30-40 seconds. If you are not impressed by that, then you should be. Here is the main serving crew: Colin at left, working the steam table. Sam in the front, #BrisketSword in hand at the cutting board. And Dominic with the beannie had, working the sides in the back and the bun section. (I added another shelf above the steam table where we now have the buns and slaw-iced tray. We were busy, so I don't have many pictures!
The tourism bureau sent a photographer to cover the event, and I love the shot he picked! We were amping up the fire to finish the turkey and do some shrimp. #StickBurnersRule
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I love these posts! Keep them up. If you ever get the truck to the Houston or Galveston area please let me know. My boy would love to get some of your BBQ (so would I but I'm a long way away). If your truck goes to any events in LA near the Texas border, let me know as well. He will drive for good food.Comment
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Great story and pictures. Happy people eating good food!Comment
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You got the essence, kmhfive #LifeIsMoreFunOntheRibList
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It's good to see your beautiful family involved and sharing the adventure. They're grown and gone all too soon. We've been through that with our kids and now our grandkids. You're livin' the dream. Enjoy the ride, Paul.Comment
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Well, you're certainly no stranger to hard work, PaulstheRibList , and your enthusiasm virtually jumps off the monitor as I read your posts. It sounds as though you've thought through this endeavor very thoroughly and are following your game plan toward success. You've got a beautiful setup and if the food tastes half as good as it looks, Aaron Franklin should watch his back.
I wish you all the best. You deserve it.
KathrynComment
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That is so encouraging to hear, fzxdoc - it's a weird day when I'm not enthusiastic, but it does happen. Some portions were well thought through, but I'm great at improvising, either way. lol, I don't think Aaron has much to worry about from me.
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PaulstheRibList, It appears you have Your BBQ Trailor up and Running Smoothly! As gcdmd (George) said above it's Great to See the Family Participation! Those two Lt Wt's You have with You Look Like They Can Hold Your Trailer Down in a Full Fledged Hurricaneâ“
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Congratulations and May the Fun Outrun the Work!
Eat Well and Prosper! From a Backyard Cremator in Fargo ND, DanComment
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This whole post has been thoroughly enjoyable Paul. Kee the posts coming.
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I just discovered this thread. Leaves me wondering two things.
Just how serious, I mean really serious, is Paul about BBQ?
When are we going to see him on 'Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives'?
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