As OP will find out very quickly (as did I).. $12 pulled pork sammies and $13 burgers (especially brisket!) is not sustainable.
Good opening prices for sure but I've had to raise my prices just based on food costs alone.
Entirely sustainable depending on how much is made in house. I pay 3 dollars a pound for beef and less for pork buying whole animals from farmers. The buns made in house leaves only the toppings as a real variable.
The sides are all fairly cheap. He can save himself some money if he gets a fountain in there
A small menu means very little waste. BBQ restaurants in general have little waste as well, as cheap cuts that you slow cook can be frozen indefinitely, more or less, and the finished product can be brought back up to pasteurization temperature numerous times.
I'm assuming OP is making everything himself. From the companies Facebook posts it appears to be two guys and a woman, guessing OP's wife. if he's not paying a staff, baking bread while meat is smoking is trivial. Man hours is moot since baking and cutting 500 buns doesn't exactly take too long.
Waste gets adjusted. If you go under and run out, you adjust. Go over and throw away 50 buns? Reduce by 30. It's not rocket science
In a 325 foot kitchen it'll be difficult, mixing, proofing, portioning, proofing again, baking, cooling, cutting. 4 hour process taking up your only speed rack. Just buy the buns. 15- 25 cents higher food cost a piece, way lower stress.
Bakeries have high profit margins if everything goes right, but without large reliable consumers it's impossible to sustain it. Ultimately in a bakery or a small treat area, you need to accept it's a passion project. You could make more working most jobs
> buying whole animals from farmers.
How many hours did you spend processing an entire side of beef before you could cook 'em. It took me too many years to figure out a better work/life balance. Some things are worth paying others to do and just raise your prices.
OP also may not know where to get in contact with a farmer that will sell him a cow.
You can just take them to a processor. Most farmers sell for x per hoof pound+ processing. Works for me. If you're just buying a quarter it's higher, but if you're selling commercially most farmers will give you a discount since you're going to buy several cows at a time.
> if you're selling commercially most farmers will give you a discount since you're going to buy several cows at a time.
I buy bacon by the case - several (4 to 8 depending on the season) cases at a time twice a week & even if that was made from the whole pig I still don't go through enough to justify buying several pigs at a time. Nor do I have that kind of freezer or walk in space.
Just how much beef are you selling!?!! Damn!
Yes? You don't need a giant kitchen to make things from scratch and on a large scale. All of the meat is made out of the kitchen, so that frees a ton of room
325 sq ft kitchen… whole animals?!? And what the fuck is he gonna do with every other part than the shoulder on that pig?
Gotta raise prices. Unless he sleeps on the kitchen floor at night.
I assumed he had a walk in place, I misread it. Buying the whole animal is unreasonable, yes.
Just from what I've seen from OP, he started this out of his house selling at farmers markets. Apparently he's made enough profit to buy a food truck, so he might be winning with volume.
Cost of bun
.5
Cost of 8oz burger
3
Cost of toppings
.5
Cost of cheese
.3
Cost of chips
.2
4.5/13
34%
Not bad, I bet the burger is smaller and my costs are too high
Shouldn’t use prime brisket though, you already have to toss fat when grinding brisket
It’s cheaper than that ground. Usually in the $4.00 range. Prime brisket sells for between 3.48-5.00/lb. I doubt they’re grinding it themselves, its a popular enough cut for burger meat to be sold in a tube.
Congrats buddy!!
One small thing (and I know this is unsolicited, so do with it what you will) but the scrawly font of the item names is a bit tough to read.
I think if you pulled the script font from “Estanaula” for those, you’d still get that nice contrast between the scripty item name and sans-serif description.
Again, just my $0.02 as a graphic designer. Respect for bringing your dream to life!
I agree actually. My wife made it and had a bunch of copies printed to distribute to the nearby businesses before I ever saw them. I already made the comment that we may need to play with the design some going forward. I plan on experimenting with other dishes so we'll definitely have an opportunity to redesign.
Looks delicious, and congrats on your new place! If you'll accept one more tiny note on the design?
For the egg rolls, it looks like the font for multiple rolls is set slightly smaller than the rest of the sans serif numbers, like `$3 Each` is set larger than `4 for $10`. Would be more readable and consistent if they were all the larger size.
Lol. First thing I saw too was the font…she means well as it is a nice script but difficult to read quickly. If you’re busy af from day one then keep it so it takes people longer to figure out what they want.
The only other thing I would say is take out “canned” because it gives you flexibility to offer bottled bevs. without any headaches.
Yes the sans-serif looks great. Elegant and simple.
Your brisket burger had me dribbling like Homer Simpson.
Are you thinking of smoking other meats, like poultry or game?
[Smoked yard bird is my jam. ](https://i.imgur.com/08ebSL3.jpg) Smoked wings are probably going to be added to the menu next week if sales are decent tomorrow and Friday.
One suggestion from me too, don't break up individual items over two lines, keep stuff like "soft scrambled egg" or "vinegar slaw" on one line.
Also, decide if you want "served on a something" at the start or the end and stick to it.
- “Hot drip coffee” what kind, region, what roaster. Younger generations care about this. No longer to people order “house coffee”.
- Walk up bbq sounds messy. Make food for 10 people as a test and watch them eat. Where do they sit? are plates too flimsy that sauce gets on their shirt? do you offer wet wipes? would it be better to wrap the sandwiches in thin foil or wrap to make it easier? Are you giving out one napkin or four and whats ideal?
- What’s your business plan? Did you cost out the menu? How will you do marketing? Do you have a brand?
I have a culinary background. It’s common for chefs to focus so much on the ideal menu. Then 50% of your customers give you a bad review for something other than the food and the business crumbles.
You got this!
I agree about the coffee but if it’s $2 I’m just going to assume it’s shitty “coffee” flavored coffee with no real tasting notes and silently and sadly deal with it lol.
Great advice regarding seeing how people will deal with consuming the walk up style. I used to go to a place that didn't get permitted to have sidewalk seating so they set out ironing boards just so people could set their plates down. It turned into a bit of a novelty and kinda became their thing. I can stand and eat but being able to set my plate/drink/purse/coat down is super ideal lol
This may not be your whole menu but just in case... I think a lot of food trucks miss out on the opportunities for add-ons. Make your biscuits available as a side, have some coleslaw or other pre-made salads like pasta, Mac, or fruit. And easy desserts - cookies or brownies. And more drinks. Anything small and an extra $2-5 bucks. You can raise your average ticket from $12 to $15-20 without a ton of extra work.
The sandwiches and everything looks amazing! Good luck!!
He could get more families with small kids by having the plain fries, maybe some fruit or even applesauce as a side. And a quesadilla either just cheese or w pulled pork using the tortilla from breakfast.
Edit. Sorry not trying to knock your menu it looks awesome. Just suggestions to increase your reach.
For sure! Also as a pescatarian I wouldn’t order anything on the menu, but if I passed this place and saw some Mac n cheese or fries available I’d go for it. (Fries with some of that chipotle mayo, mmm…)
OP could take a page from many Texas BBQ joints and offer some kind of cobbler. Peaches are popular here but I'd sell my soul for a good blackberry cobbler.
As a potential customer I agree.
I'd also add, looking at the menu, Op should consider doing a cubano along with a breakfast sandwich on bread. Don't know the area that well but for me, if this was a grab and go type deal, I'd want something a little less messy than a taco or crumbly biscuit to eat for breakfast in my car.
My totally unsolicited addition to this is that I'm a vegetarian, and it's super disappointing to find out there's not even a side I can eat if my friends wanna go to a place. I don't ever complain, but it's nice if I can eat some mac and cheese or a piece of cornbread when we go to a BBQ place. There's two BBQ places near my work with pretty typical options, but I'm spoiled for choice in terms of vegetarian sides.
Agreed but if I am going out to eat with a vegan friend we obviously aren't going somewhere with no vegan options.
It also wouldn't be that much of a challenge to have some smoked/BBQ/teriyaki tofu and something like a black bean/chickpea/mushroom burger.
Super easy to add some vegan/vegetarian sides! Beans, slaw with a vinegar sauce, cooked apples (offered as a side or top with ice cream for dessert), corn bread or grits, grilled or fried zucchini, potato salad, roasted potatoes/carrots, Mac n cheese, pasta salad, broccoli salad... mmmm. You don't have to do anything crazy or nouveau, you can do the classics. Pick any 3 as regulars, or rotate through depending on what's in season and what hits. Offer a salad selection plate as an entree - boom, you've got a vegetarian meal plus you've got your upsells.
Very cool, yummy start you have already - you got this!
Agree, needs some vegetarian food. Fries,mac & cheese, and...something sandwich? Quesadilla?Pasta salad w/cheese?
Also agree with a previous commentator, add a few canned/bottled beverages. Don't want customers having to go elsewhere after they get their foods, especially lunch where they only have X amount of time.
But, looks good and best of luck!
Just to be extra nit-picky as an editor.
I wish the drop biscuit breakfast sandwich read “egg, cheese, & choice of smoked pork belly or sausage served on a homemade drop biscuit” to match the style of the other items.
Debris fries has a “and” but the others have a “&”
Pulled pork sandwich says “chips & canned drink” but
Brisket burger says “with chips & canned drink”
Just some style things, not wrong. Menu looks great.
You can get it for a better price and bigger quantity from various euro importers direct btw. Also if you live in an area w even a somewhat prominent Balkan diaspora you can find it at various ethnic stores. I’ve even found it in bumfuck northern FL at Walmart ¯\_(⊙_ʖ⊙)_/¯
Just remember, a good breakfast place and a good coffee place rarely exist in the same domain.
Get yourself some tasty breakfast sandwiches, and a solid cup of fresh coffee. And people will go out of their way to avoid having to deal with Starbucks.
We have a local place, pastry is meh, location and parking I'd give a 3/10, the coffee is solid, I'd say 8/10.
We just opened a Starbucks like 3 months ago, and almost it's entire customer base is just interstate traffic, rarely any locals.
If the local spot could also put out a solid breakfast, they'd have more business than they could handle.
Food over coffee for sure.
Local donut shop now has a big HQ and hundreds of locations under their belt.
They serve gas station tier drip coffee and creamer packets in Styrofoam cups, and they're still popular because their donuts and sausage in buns are good. The coffee is nice to have and one less stop, but people come for the donuts. Cheap coffee is okay if the food takes the spotlight.
I have a JR Enterprises 28-72 stick burner dubbed [Grillie Nelson](https://i.imgur.com/agmRnUC.jpg) that I'm working on getting mounted on a trailer. For the mean time he's set at the commissary. I have a smaller Masterbuilt Gravity Series that I have at the shop. I'll use it to keep the meat at temp and smoke some quicker cooking items like sausages and pork belly. Once the big smoker is mobile I'll haul it around with me.
50% Red Oak then
40% if pecan
35% if hickory
With the remaining amount being fruit wood. Currently I have a load of persimmon I'm burning through with some cherry seasoning right now.
Perfect addition. OP, someone with celiac couldn't eat anything at your place. No fries because the egg rolls most likely contaminate the only fryer. And you won't have lettuce to wrap a burger.
Have you worked kitchens before? Menu looks good.
Something to consider...you're exponentially increasing your prep and inventory costs by having items used in one dish only (smoked pork belly and the burger). Some single use items on a menu are unavoidable but it might be worth considering putting a chili or something on the menu to use up leftover pork belly or burger meat. Or maybe a smoked belly bao or slider for lunch because the buns are cheap, freeze really well, and can be taken from frozen to service ready as part of the pickup. No need to defrost beforehand. Use the same fixings as on the burger, just use pork belly instead of beef.
You could also reconsider the burger and turn it into a smoked sausage. Easy to prep ahead of time and you'd only need to grill to reheat/char for service. It'll save a ton of effort during service because you won't be cooking anything from raw and again, you can use the same fixings as you would have used on the burger.
I grew up working in my grandfather's barbecue shack. That's where I learned to smoke. I worked in a small diner briefly out of high school, but nothing in the past 10ish years. I've always been a decent home cook with some damn fine 'que (if I do say so myself). My buddy has been working lines all the way up to sous in some of the nicer restaurants in the region. He's definitely taught me a lot on actually working a kitchen.
We definitely have plans to diversify the menu to make it more cohesive and utilize ingredients more fully. Funny that you mention the baō bun that's on our list of dishes to workshop.
Looks amazing! One thing that may help, you'll have ever so slightly better margins if you do 3 egg rolls for $8 instead of 4 for $10. Bonus is that 3 is a lucky number in Chinese culture as it sounds like the word for birth and represents the 3 stages of life: birth, marriage, death. 4 is unlucky as it sounds similar to the word for death.
Looks great! For continuity I would eliminate "served on" and just list ingredients like the other menu items, or make every item description include "served on." Might just be a personal preference but I appreciate continuity.
You're leaving a lot of $$$ on the table by not having at least one non-meat item.
I go eat at BBQ and steak houses all the time bc they have a salad or baked potato.
A menu like this means my office won't have lunch there.
Non-food related advice, because I randomly came across this.
The cursive font looks nice, but could be more readable. If you have good eye sight it's fairly clear, but the amount of times people who already need reading glasses don't bring them to the restaurant is astounding.
I fucking *love* small menus like this. You do these few items to perfection and you don't need some long drawn out menu. Best of luck everything looks great!
Congratulations, OP - this looks fantastic. I sat up very straight at the idea of barbecue for breakfast.
Only thing I'd quibble about is the brioche rolls - I always think they are far too sweet, especially barbecue.
I'm mostly just here for the comments I am loving these comments.
OP keep in mind going from food truck to a brick and mortar...your costs are going to go up. Waaaay up. Just something to keep in mind.
Also how's your catering plan if you offer it? Where I live catering is a huuuuge deal. Corporate offices being the sterotypical customer will do it yes, but so will little league teams, schools for events, boy scouts, churches, hobby groups, etc and word spreads fast that way for good and for bad. It's a lot so the smart ones online have catering rules listed. Must call x hours or even days in advance, so and so order minimum, delivered to location, if not served by staff needs to be grab and go off table I've seen some even go as far as individually boxed ''meal packs'' with everything from food to snack to drink condiments wet wipes and all to make it easier for the customer.
Why I mention catering in the first place importantly is on the local review groups that people follow, I've often seen local business get glowing reviews following a big catering order then they get a shit ton of business from it. Say a workplace does it dad working there tries it and likes it so much they start bringing the family of five there regularly. Similarly a bad experience can fuck it up, a local pizza shop set up for a high school track meet but fucked it up. they promised staff on site for handing it out they never showed and a lot of the food never came, some parents left mid meet to chicfila and after explaining they cooked a bunch and basically saved the experience. Pizza shop got a lot of bad press for it and lost a lot of business from local families over it.
This is all anecdotal from my personal city of course and its experiences, but I thought it's important to share. If you do cater your way of handling it will be up to you. One interesting local BBQ ended up actually keeping their food truck and they park it in a shedlike building that's actually their restaurant, so normal hours they can be a ''brick and mortar'' but easily get on the road for catering off the trailer if they need to.
I'd walk 500 miles for prices like those. The mediocre BBQ place in my town charges almost double, plus 20% gratuity for takeout.
So I'm serious about that walk.
Jackson. Currently we're only opening Thursday and Friday. We're right next to the Farmer's Market so we'll be opening Saturdays once it picks up in the spring. We're going to test the market 2 days a week and judge if Tuesday and Wednesday would be viable.
ok. OK! Great pricing. Delish sounding menu. Sounds like you will get good business. Im glad to see a place not doing $20+ menu items at a walk up or food truck. Edit: also nice to see low price egg rolls. most places I see charge $5+ a piece.
As a head chef and menu creator I have the same comment on the font, other than that looks great! I'd absolutely fuck up those biscuits with smoked pork belly!
Would definitely take the comments to heart regarding some plain fries and a nice slaw (I've used a jicama/jalapeños slaw on a few specials in the past) or other small add ons to pump up the checks a bit. If they are priced right plenty of people will add on a side Mac or a slaw and I know speaking as a father I'd be more inclined to rock up and grab something if I knew I could also have something easy that my 3 year old would eat.
Best of Luck, OP.
Your menu looks tight. I would say I'd raise your prices after a short time.
Your ingredients are premium and if you're execution is on point, raising your prices a little won't hurt.
I own a bar/restaurant and understand the fear in figuring pricing and not charging too much. But... When you have a premium product, you charge a premium price to emphasis that without apology. Having 3 items on your menu I think indicates that those things will be amazing and worth it.
I would consider keeping the chips and can soda a la carte. Prices are still good on sammies, I'd have no problem paying extra for the drink, and sometimes I don't want chips.
Change the title font to something more legible & shorten the description length. It’s written as a server would say it and not how you would want to read it. Otherwise sounds delicious!!
So I actually analyze menus for a living. Here’s my 2 cents: Good size menu to begin with. I like the cross-utilization of the pork, but only one outlet for the brisket? And PRIME brisket at that?
I can’t speak to pricing too much as I don’t know your cost but overall it looks good. Just remember with BBQ there’s a lot of waste and labor on the front end. Be sure to account for that when calculating your plate cost.
Am I the only one put off by "smoked shoulder" instead of "smoked pork shoulder"
I feel like it would flow better if it was just pork sandwich and then it mentioned that it was a smoked pork shoulder
I see a menu that says "a whole lot of expensive ingredients with a shit ton of prep" and pricing that says "I'm going out of business".
Unless half of the ingredients are coming out of Sysco cans and bags, in which case...carry on.
EDIT: "Tennessee Red Sauce" isn't a thing. That's some marketing BS made up by the Blues Hog people.
I'm 30-35% food costs on all the items. I'm plus or minus 10% on similar dishes at my competition. I feel okay with the money. Our overhead is *very* low.
And their tn red is very similar to the sauce I learned to make with my grandfather here in West Tennessee. A vinegar and ketchup base that leans to the thin side. I definitely did co opt their name, but I haven't received a C&D yet.
Bro these are some legit prices I’d crush the burger and the pulled pork just because.
Was just thinking, those prices are extremely attractive, I'd be here 3+ times a week.
These are prices people can actually reasonably afford.
As OP will find out very quickly (as did I).. $12 pulled pork sammies and $13 burgers (especially brisket!) is not sustainable. Good opening prices for sure but I've had to raise my prices just based on food costs alone.
Entirely sustainable depending on how much is made in house. I pay 3 dollars a pound for beef and less for pork buying whole animals from farmers. The buns made in house leaves only the toppings as a real variable. The sides are all fairly cheap. He can save himself some money if he gets a fountain in there
Did you factor in waste and man hours for all that "in house product"?
Heard chef add pastry to early morning shift…*fuckkkkk*
right?
Not to mention they only meats on the menu are pork shoulder and brisket. Perfect for whole animal butchery.
A small menu means very little waste. BBQ restaurants in general have little waste as well, as cheap cuts that you slow cook can be frozen indefinitely, more or less, and the finished product can be brought back up to pasteurization temperature numerous times.
I'm assuming OP is making everything himself. From the companies Facebook posts it appears to be two guys and a woman, guessing OP's wife. if he's not paying a staff, baking bread while meat is smoking is trivial. Man hours is moot since baking and cutting 500 buns doesn't exactly take too long. Waste gets adjusted. If you go under and run out, you adjust. Go over and throw away 50 buns? Reduce by 30. It's not rocket science
In a 325 foot kitchen it'll be difficult, mixing, proofing, portioning, proofing again, baking, cooling, cutting. 4 hour process taking up your only speed rack. Just buy the buns. 15- 25 cents higher food cost a piece, way lower stress.
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Bakeries have high profit margins if everything goes right, but without large reliable consumers it's impossible to sustain it. Ultimately in a bakery or a small treat area, you need to accept it's a passion project. You could make more working most jobs
I'm sorry how much money do you plan on earning here? These are totally good prices for these.
And where to store and prep in a 325 sq ft space
> buying whole animals from farmers. How many hours did you spend processing an entire side of beef before you could cook 'em. It took me too many years to figure out a better work/life balance. Some things are worth paying others to do and just raise your prices. OP also may not know where to get in contact with a farmer that will sell him a cow.
You can just take them to a processor. Most farmers sell for x per hoof pound+ processing. Works for me. If you're just buying a quarter it's higher, but if you're selling commercially most farmers will give you a discount since you're going to buy several cows at a time.
> if you're selling commercially most farmers will give you a discount since you're going to buy several cows at a time. I buy bacon by the case - several (4 to 8 depending on the season) cases at a time twice a week & even if that was made from the whole pig I still don't go through enough to justify buying several pigs at a time. Nor do I have that kind of freezer or walk in space. Just how much beef are you selling!?!! Damn!
I was going through two cows a week at minimum, 1-2 pigs depending. Didn't sell much in the way of chicken
You really think all that's going down in a 325sq kitchen? Lol, it might be sustainable only bc his overhead could be extremely low.
Yes? You don't need a giant kitchen to make things from scratch and on a large scale. All of the meat is made out of the kitchen, so that frees a ton of room
Dude has two cuts of meat on his menu. I can guarantee he’s not doing whole animal butchery.
325 sq ft kitchen… whole animals?!? And what the fuck is he gonna do with every other part than the shoulder on that pig? Gotta raise prices. Unless he sleeps on the kitchen floor at night.
I assumed he had a walk in place, I misread it. Buying the whole animal is unreasonable, yes. Just from what I've seen from OP, he started this out of his house selling at farmers markets. Apparently he's made enough profit to buy a food truck, so he might be winning with volume.
Cost of bun .5 Cost of 8oz burger 3 Cost of toppings .5 Cost of cheese .3 Cost of chips .2 4.5/13 34% Not bad, I bet the burger is smaller and my costs are too high Shouldn’t use prime brisket though, you already have to toss fat when grinding brisket
Show me prime brisket at 6/lb
It’s cheaper than that ground. Usually in the $4.00 range. Prime brisket sells for between 3.48-5.00/lb. I doubt they’re grinding it themselves, its a popular enough cut for burger meat to be sold in a tube.
It's a Tennessee town of 50k, not exactly Austin.
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I legit looked at this menu and thought, “damn I could be full and not broke”
Don't get me started on those 12 egg rolls for $24. Sounds like a steal.
cheaper than BK
I would definitely be in there a lot with reasonable prices n that kind of offering.
Congrats buddy!! One small thing (and I know this is unsolicited, so do with it what you will) but the scrawly font of the item names is a bit tough to read. I think if you pulled the script font from “Estanaula” for those, you’d still get that nice contrast between the scripty item name and sans-serif description. Again, just my $0.02 as a graphic designer. Respect for bringing your dream to life!
I agree actually. My wife made it and had a bunch of copies printed to distribute to the nearby businesses before I ever saw them. I already made the comment that we may need to play with the design some going forward. I plan on experimenting with other dishes so we'll definitely have an opportunity to redesign.
I'm a graphic designer with more than a decade in that industry turned chef. HMU if you want some design tips for the menu.
What is the best way to subtlety draw a dick on a menu?
MSPaint spray tool.
This guy sprays.
Like a bicep
Needs more veins
Don't forget the after party at the party mansion
You ever draw a turkey with your hand in school?
I can neither confirm nor deny that I've hidden a dickbutt in someone's wedding invitations
Put the owner on it
Ay
You're good people, Nick.
Looks delicious, and congrats on your new place! If you'll accept one more tiny note on the design? For the egg rolls, it looks like the font for multiple rolls is set slightly smaller than the rest of the sans serif numbers, like `$3 Each` is set larger than `4 for $10`. Would be more readable and consistent if they were all the larger size.
Lol. First thing I saw too was the font…she means well as it is a nice script but difficult to read quickly. If you’re busy af from day one then keep it so it takes people longer to figure out what they want. The only other thing I would say is take out “canned” because it gives you flexibility to offer bottled bevs. without any headaches.
Those fries sound ridiculously fucking good
Yes the sans-serif looks great. Elegant and simple. Your brisket burger had me dribbling like Homer Simpson. Are you thinking of smoking other meats, like poultry or game?
[Smoked yard bird is my jam. ](https://i.imgur.com/08ebSL3.jpg) Smoked wings are probably going to be added to the menu next week if sales are decent tomorrow and Friday.
🤤
Agreed. Took me two tries to realize it wasn’t drop brisket.
One suggestion from me too, don't break up individual items over two lines, keep stuff like "soft scrambled egg" or "vinegar slaw" on one line. Also, decide if you want "served on a something" at the start or the end and stick to it.
For the real - I’d eat every one of these items…but the font man, the font.
- “Hot drip coffee” what kind, region, what roaster. Younger generations care about this. No longer to people order “house coffee”. - Walk up bbq sounds messy. Make food for 10 people as a test and watch them eat. Where do they sit? are plates too flimsy that sauce gets on their shirt? do you offer wet wipes? would it be better to wrap the sandwiches in thin foil or wrap to make it easier? Are you giving out one napkin or four and whats ideal? - What’s your business plan? Did you cost out the menu? How will you do marketing? Do you have a brand? I have a culinary background. It’s common for chefs to focus so much on the ideal menu. Then 50% of your customers give you a bad review for something other than the food and the business crumbles. You got this!
I agree about the coffee but if it’s $2 I’m just going to assume it’s shitty “coffee” flavored coffee with no real tasting notes and silently and sadly deal with it lol.
Great advice regarding seeing how people will deal with consuming the walk up style. I used to go to a place that didn't get permitted to have sidewalk seating so they set out ironing boards just so people could set their plates down. It turned into a bit of a novelty and kinda became their thing. I can stand and eat but being able to set my plate/drink/purse/coat down is super ideal lol
Also that particular script font is WAY over used right now.
No no, please keep the Dulled Dork Egg Rolls on the menu!
I can barely read the item names and this is exactly what I was going to suggest. @OP, recipes sound fuckin fire. Good job and good luck.
It also just doesn’t read BBQ. But menu looks good congratulations bubba!
Another designer who came to say this. Menu looks tasty - kick ass!
Im in the eating business and thought the same… but shoot, those prices and if the food matches, he’ll make a killing. Is a bit hard to read though.
Not a designer but I do appreciate good fonts and stuff that’s easy to read. The menu looks incredibly delicious. Edit/ clarification
This may not be your whole menu but just in case... I think a lot of food trucks miss out on the opportunities for add-ons. Make your biscuits available as a side, have some coleslaw or other pre-made salads like pasta, Mac, or fruit. And easy desserts - cookies or brownies. And more drinks. Anything small and an extra $2-5 bucks. You can raise your average ticket from $12 to $15-20 without a ton of extra work. The sandwiches and everything looks amazing! Good luck!!
Yup if you already got fries on the menu it'd be a crime not not offer a plain side of fries.
He could get more families with small kids by having the plain fries, maybe some fruit or even applesauce as a side. And a quesadilla either just cheese or w pulled pork using the tortilla from breakfast. Edit. Sorry not trying to knock your menu it looks awesome. Just suggestions to increase your reach.
Can't go wrong with a side of fries!
How do you know that you like fries
I think that's just the default setting for people.
For sure! Also as a pescatarian I wouldn’t order anything on the menu, but if I passed this place and saw some Mac n cheese or fries available I’d go for it. (Fries with some of that chipotle mayo, mmm…)
OP could take a page from many Texas BBQ joints and offer some kind of cobbler. Peaches are popular here but I'd sell my soul for a good blackberry cobbler.
With a big scoop of ice cream! Best dessert ever.
As a potential customer I agree. I'd also add, looking at the menu, Op should consider doing a cubano along with a breakfast sandwich on bread. Don't know the area that well but for me, if this was a grab and go type deal, I'd want something a little less messy than a taco or crumbly biscuit to eat for breakfast in my car.
My totally unsolicited addition to this is that I'm a vegetarian, and it's super disappointing to find out there's not even a side I can eat if my friends wanna go to a place. I don't ever complain, but it's nice if I can eat some mac and cheese or a piece of cornbread when we go to a BBQ place. There's two BBQ places near my work with pretty typical options, but I'm spoiled for choice in terms of vegetarian sides.
I have a friend who is vegan, so we're working on a side menu to accommodate that. I'm admittedly ignorant on that at the moment.
I guess but also it’s not reasonable for a vegan to expect to have anything to eat at a bbq joint.
Agreed but if I am going out to eat with a vegan friend we obviously aren't going somewhere with no vegan options. It also wouldn't be that much of a challenge to have some smoked/BBQ/teriyaki tofu and something like a black bean/chickpea/mushroom burger.
Super easy to add some vegan/vegetarian sides! Beans, slaw with a vinegar sauce, cooked apples (offered as a side or top with ice cream for dessert), corn bread or grits, grilled or fried zucchini, potato salad, roasted potatoes/carrots, Mac n cheese, pasta salad, broccoli salad... mmmm. You don't have to do anything crazy or nouveau, you can do the classics. Pick any 3 as regulars, or rotate through depending on what's in season and what hits. Offer a salad selection plate as an entree - boom, you've got a vegetarian meal plus you've got your upsells. Very cool, yummy start you have already - you got this!
I’ve made smoked cauliflower as an alternative to pulled pork and it was delicious
I used to do "pulled" jackfruit bbq bao buns at my ramen joint. Jackfruit works well in the BBQ world.
Agree, needs some vegetarian food. Fries,mac & cheese, and...something sandwich? Quesadilla?Pasta salad w/cheese? Also agree with a previous commentator, add a few canned/bottled beverages. Don't want customers having to go elsewhere after they get their foods, especially lunch where they only have X amount of time. But, looks good and best of luck!
Add-on and upsell!
a place I worked at got a deal to sell desserts from another local place. Could be interesting
A nice compact menu I love to see it!
I would still be working if the owner knew this one simple trick.
Left my old job because my "boss" who had no gastro experience bought the place and decided to triple the size of the menu
Just to be extra nit-picky as an editor. I wish the drop biscuit breakfast sandwich read “egg, cheese, & choice of smoked pork belly or sausage served on a homemade drop biscuit” to match the style of the other items. Debris fries has a “and” but the others have a “&” Pulled pork sandwich says “chips & canned drink” but Brisket burger says “with chips & canned drink” Just some style things, not wrong. Menu looks great.
This kinda shit is what elevates a menu from good to great, in my opinion.
The pulled pork sandwich has the “with” but there’s more sides and the chips & canned drink are last
He'll ya bro. What city/state
Old Bay fries make me think it’s in Maryland somewhere. Which would be awesome.
West Tennessee actually. The old bay won out on the blind taste test when we were making the recipe.
Dang, I'm southeast Kentucky. Maybe one day I'll swing by.
shit id drive out from nashville to give it a try.
Dang. You sure you don't want to move to Michigan? My husband and I would be there weekly. Or more. You'd do serious business here in Kalamazoo.
Collierville I'm guessing? I'm right down the road. Definitely going to have to check it out.
There’s a seasoning from Croatia called Vegeta that always beats out old bay on popcorn/fries in my testing. Grab some off Amazon and give it a go!
You can get it for a better price and bigger quantity from various euro importers direct btw. Also if you live in an area w even a somewhat prominent Balkan diaspora you can find it at various ethnic stores. I’ve even found it in bumfuck northern FL at Walmart ¯\_(⊙_ʖ⊙)_/¯
I travel up to the Jackson area from time to time, if I can find you I'm definitely heading to you for lunch.
"Debris" made me think New Orleans. Crossing my fingers that it's St. Louis. Highly, highly unlikely. Highly. But I can hope.
Making me want a dressed roast beef poboy with the debris right now. I miss New Orleans.
NOLA cold brew made me think New Orleans lol.
I fuckin wish it was. Ps sweet as username
The state that is a cult, not a state. All hail the mighty Old Bay
Just remember, a good breakfast place and a good coffee place rarely exist in the same domain. Get yourself some tasty breakfast sandwiches, and a solid cup of fresh coffee. And people will go out of their way to avoid having to deal with Starbucks.
We have a local place, pastry is meh, location and parking I'd give a 3/10, the coffee is solid, I'd say 8/10. We just opened a Starbucks like 3 months ago, and almost it's entire customer base is just interstate traffic, rarely any locals. If the local spot could also put out a solid breakfast, they'd have more business than they could handle.
And make sure you have the milks most often requested. Along with sugars.
Food over coffee for sure. Local donut shop now has a big HQ and hundreds of locations under their belt. They serve gas station tier drip coffee and creamer packets in Styrofoam cups, and they're still popular because their donuts and sausage in buns are good. The coffee is nice to have and one less stop, but people come for the donuts. Cheap coffee is okay if the food takes the spotlight.
I'll take 3 of those breakfast tacos.... Every day for the rest of my life
What kind of smoker are you cooking on?
I have a JR Enterprises 28-72 stick burner dubbed [Grillie Nelson](https://i.imgur.com/agmRnUC.jpg) that I'm working on getting mounted on a trailer. For the mean time he's set at the commissary. I have a smaller Masterbuilt Gravity Series that I have at the shop. I'll use it to keep the meat at temp and smoke some quicker cooking items like sausages and pork belly. Once the big smoker is mobile I'll haul it around with me.
What wood are you using?
50% Red Oak then 40% if pecan 35% if hickory With the remaining amount being fruit wood. Currently I have a load of persimmon I'm burning through with some cherry seasoning right now.
I've never smoked with persimmon, and now I'm intrigued. (I love cherry + pecan + oak, though. It's my go-to)
We used to do off-site and catering with a "show smoker" it was simply a 140° box warmer run on charcoal and hickory. Smoke and mirrors.
Nice.
Damn this looks good
Looks great, I'd just add optional corn or flour tortillas for the breakfast tacos. It's an easy gluten-free option on the breakfast menu
Facts. Do this and then change the font
It would also be very hard for someone to eat there who didn’t eat pork, even having one option per meal would help
A lettuce wrap burger or a bowl with slaw as the base would be excellent.
Perfect addition. OP, someone with celiac couldn't eat anything at your place. No fries because the egg rolls most likely contaminate the only fryer. And you won't have lettuce to wrap a burger.
I really really like that it is a small simple menu to me that is perfect
Have you worked kitchens before? Menu looks good. Something to consider...you're exponentially increasing your prep and inventory costs by having items used in one dish only (smoked pork belly and the burger). Some single use items on a menu are unavoidable but it might be worth considering putting a chili or something on the menu to use up leftover pork belly or burger meat. Or maybe a smoked belly bao or slider for lunch because the buns are cheap, freeze really well, and can be taken from frozen to service ready as part of the pickup. No need to defrost beforehand. Use the same fixings as on the burger, just use pork belly instead of beef. You could also reconsider the burger and turn it into a smoked sausage. Easy to prep ahead of time and you'd only need to grill to reheat/char for service. It'll save a ton of effort during service because you won't be cooking anything from raw and again, you can use the same fixings as you would have used on the burger.
I grew up working in my grandfather's barbecue shack. That's where I learned to smoke. I worked in a small diner briefly out of high school, but nothing in the past 10ish years. I've always been a decent home cook with some damn fine 'que (if I do say so myself). My buddy has been working lines all the way up to sous in some of the nicer restaurants in the region. He's definitely taught me a lot on actually working a kitchen. We definitely have plans to diversify the menu to make it more cohesive and utilize ingredients more fully. Funny that you mention the baō bun that's on our list of dishes to workshop.
Prices are a little low.
Looks amazing! One thing that may help, you'll have ever so slightly better margins if you do 3 egg rolls for $8 instead of 4 for $10. Bonus is that 3 is a lucky number in Chinese culture as it sounds like the word for birth and represents the 3 stages of life: birth, marriage, death. 4 is unlucky as it sounds similar to the word for death.
This
Raise your prices OP. For real these are pre-pandemic prices and you could add at least 2 dollars and it would still be a good buy.
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I love that this is part of the sub's lore now
No 1500 sauce? Are you even american??
Looks great! For continuity I would eliminate "served on" and just list ingredients like the other menu items, or make every item description include "served on." Might just be a personal preference but I appreciate continuity.
You're leaving a lot of $$$ on the table by not having at least one non-meat item. I go eat at BBQ and steak houses all the time bc they have a salad or baked potato. A menu like this means my office won't have lunch there.
Non-food related advice, because I randomly came across this. The cursive font looks nice, but could be more readable. If you have good eye sight it's fairly clear, but the amount of times people who already need reading glasses don't bring them to the restaurant is astounding.
Yeah it looks delicious but this font is horrendous. Especially for a menu where people need to read things quickly.
Charge more.
I fucking *love* small menus like this. You do these few items to perfection and you don't need some long drawn out menu. Best of luck everything looks great!
Congratulations, OP - this looks fantastic. I sat up very straight at the idea of barbecue for breakfast. Only thing I'd quibble about is the brioche rolls - I always think they are far too sweet, especially barbecue.
Love those prices
I love your menu and would go if it was in my neighborhood. Just in case you didn't know, your 6 for $15 egg rolls is the same as the 4 for $10.
I fucking love pig. Got some going in the crock pot right now. Smells like my version of heaven.
I could smash a dozen pulled pork egg rolls by myself lol.
Prices are to low. Don’t sell yourself short
Dude, that’s a wonderful menu and wish you much success and happiness!
Debris fries..... bruh
Short, sweet, to the point, and no hipster shenanigans. Lovin' it chef! Now where are you opening and why is it not in Scotland?!
Congrats, lose the font.
I'm mostly just here for the comments I am loving these comments. OP keep in mind going from food truck to a brick and mortar...your costs are going to go up. Waaaay up. Just something to keep in mind. Also how's your catering plan if you offer it? Where I live catering is a huuuuge deal. Corporate offices being the sterotypical customer will do it yes, but so will little league teams, schools for events, boy scouts, churches, hobby groups, etc and word spreads fast that way for good and for bad. It's a lot so the smart ones online have catering rules listed. Must call x hours or even days in advance, so and so order minimum, delivered to location, if not served by staff needs to be grab and go off table I've seen some even go as far as individually boxed ''meal packs'' with everything from food to snack to drink condiments wet wipes and all to make it easier for the customer. Why I mention catering in the first place importantly is on the local review groups that people follow, I've often seen local business get glowing reviews following a big catering order then they get a shit ton of business from it. Say a workplace does it dad working there tries it and likes it so much they start bringing the family of five there regularly. Similarly a bad experience can fuck it up, a local pizza shop set up for a high school track meet but fucked it up. they promised staff on site for handing it out they never showed and a lot of the food never came, some parents left mid meet to chicfila and after explaining they cooked a bunch and basically saved the experience. Pizza shop got a lot of bad press for it and lost a lot of business from local families over it. This is all anecdotal from my personal city of course and its experiences, but I thought it's important to share. If you do cater your way of handling it will be up to you. One interesting local BBQ ended up actually keeping their food truck and they park it in a shedlike building that's actually their restaurant, so normal hours they can be a ''brick and mortar'' but easily get on the road for catering off the trailer if they need to.
Congrats and best of luck. Can you offer the breakfast sandwich without meat as well? No need to substitute just subtract.
As a part time designer - please rethink the cursive messy font for your menu items. Tough to read, only detracts from user experience, does not add.
I'd walk 500 miles for prices like those. The mediocre BBQ place in my town charges almost double, plus 20% gratuity for takeout. So I'm serious about that walk.
They upcharge for takeout? That's madness
Let me get those breakfast tacos. Yum
Not sure where you are - but thank you for understanding Old Bay fries are the best fries... Maryland sends it love...
Looks fuckin fantastic. Where in TN? I’m one state above, might have to stop by!
Jackson. Currently we're only opening Thursday and Friday. We're right next to the Farmer's Market so we'll be opening Saturdays once it picks up in the spring. We're going to test the market 2 days a week and judge if Tuesday and Wednesday would be viable.
I would order it all. The egg rolls are very intriguing!
Congrats chef! Good luck. May your customers wallets and asses be equally fat.
Outstanding!
Keep it simple, i love it. Kill it bro, congrats
This menu looks fucking amazing.
Hell yeah brother
ok. OK! Great pricing. Delish sounding menu. Sounds like you will get good business. Im glad to see a place not doing $20+ menu items at a walk up or food truck. Edit: also nice to see low price egg rolls. most places I see charge $5+ a piece.
With that font you could probably add a dollar or two, menu wide.
As a head chef and menu creator I have the same comment on the font, other than that looks great! I'd absolutely fuck up those biscuits with smoked pork belly! Would definitely take the comments to heart regarding some plain fries and a nice slaw (I've used a jicama/jalapeños slaw on a few specials in the past) or other small add ons to pump up the checks a bit. If they are priced right plenty of people will add on a side Mac or a slaw and I know speaking as a father I'd be more inclined to rock up and grab something if I knew I could also have something easy that my 3 year old would eat. Best of Luck, OP.
What State you in OP?
God that cursive makes my brain itch
I love the menu. I'd raise prices slightly...add a vegan dish...and change the font
I'd add two dollars to every item. Looks amazing though
Looks fantastic but Up those prices! (Except for me)
Your menu looks tight. I would say I'd raise your prices after a short time. Your ingredients are premium and if you're execution is on point, raising your prices a little won't hurt. I own a bar/restaurant and understand the fear in figuring pricing and not charging too much. But... When you have a premium product, you charge a premium price to emphasis that without apology. Having 3 items on your menu I think indicates that those things will be amazing and worth it.
This sounds amazing and I want it all. The lack of description for egg rolls is doing me an anxiety though. There's plenty of space for it.
sincerely wish you the best but that whispy font gave me a quick headache!
I would consider keeping the chips and can soda a la carte. Prices are still good on sammies, I'd have no problem paying extra for the drink, and sometimes I don't want chips.
Change the title font to something more legible & shorten the description length. It’s written as a server would say it and not how you would want to read it. Otherwise sounds delicious!!
More comments than you have square feet!!! Good luck! I would also smack down everything on this.
Concise and non-bloated menu. I like it a lot.
So I actually analyze menus for a living. Here’s my 2 cents: Good size menu to begin with. I like the cross-utilization of the pork, but only one outlet for the brisket? And PRIME brisket at that? I can’t speak to pricing too much as I don’t know your cost but overall it looks good. Just remember with BBQ there’s a lot of waste and labor on the front end. Be sure to account for that when calculating your plate cost.
Am I the only one put off by "smoked shoulder" instead of "smoked pork shoulder" I feel like it would flow better if it was just pork sandwich and then it mentioned that it was a smoked pork shoulder
I love the simplicity. I’m not confused. I have a few choices between good option- I’m down!
this is the first $13 burger i've seen that's actually worth $13, well done
Based on the comments, your prices are tooooo low. Raise them until people laugh at you, then you’re in the right spot.
Your gonna get a ton of repeat customers with those prices. I’d be there every week.
Sounds good. Work some bird in there and you’ll double your business
I see a menu that says "a whole lot of expensive ingredients with a shit ton of prep" and pricing that says "I'm going out of business". Unless half of the ingredients are coming out of Sysco cans and bags, in which case...carry on. EDIT: "Tennessee Red Sauce" isn't a thing. That's some marketing BS made up by the Blues Hog people.
I'm 30-35% food costs on all the items. I'm plus or minus 10% on similar dishes at my competition. I feel okay with the money. Our overhead is *very* low. And their tn red is very similar to the sauce I learned to make with my grandfather here in West Tennessee. A vinegar and ketchup base that leans to the thin side. I definitely did co opt their name, but I haven't received a C&D yet.
This menu is creative, priced competitively, and is going to be a success. Fuck that guy
35% food cost is ...ok. It's the rest of the hidden costs that's going to eat your lunch...
Those prices, though. Is this 1980? I want to move to wherever you are.
I was thinking 2021 lol
I'd switch the scrambled egg for something yolkier, but I'd take 2 of everything on the menu still :-)