Gary Parker's Start Up Journey

How did Gary Parker get from the halls of big tech to the Marine Town of Gig Harbor, Washington - cooking up the best brisket in the county? Well, this podcast is about exactly that. Join us as we journey from Gary's youth in Austin, Texas to his busy philanthropy and restaurant owner life today! 

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:00

Good afternoon, Facebook and YouTube audience. Uh, this is Jennifer Norrie, and I'm here with Gary Parker, the barbecue boss at Barbecue TU. Hi, Gary.

SPEAKER_03 0:09

Hi. Hey, look, I'm in my summer stuff. Oh, you can't really get CMF.

SPEAKER_00 0:13

Showing off there. Showing off the battery.

SPEAKER_03 0:16

Beautiful weather. You know what's great about weather this early? Is it's barbecue weather. That's right. Everybody's getting the barbecue bug. Yeah, early. You're going to be out, you're going to be doing stuff. So spring is here and it's barbecue time.

SPEAKER_00 0:42

That's right. So does that t-shirt have a logo on it?

SPEAKER_03 0:45

Yes, it does.

SPEAKER_00 0:48

There you go. And you can buy those at barbecue to you.

SPEAKER_03 0:51

And there's so much I get some more.

SPEAKER_00 0:54

Oh no. Don't go quite yet then. So um today we wanted to talk about uh the interesting journey that Gary's had from being a semiconductor, tester, intel techie guy. Um, hope I didn't put her that too bad.

SPEAKER_02 1:11

Engineer.

SPEAKER_00 1:12

Engineer running restaurant. He's two running restaurants in King Harbor, and specifically bar barbecue, which is was a passion of his for a long time. And you know, how did I think we've heard you know philosophically well it was my dream and I wanted to bring barbecue to Gig Harbor, but what are the tactical parts of that? Because if you think about the difference between those two worlds, it's pretty vast, right? So, and you've done very well. So can you just give us some of the secrets of how did you make that transition from a business standpoint?

SPEAKER_03 1:41

And um well, yeah. Business first of all, business is business, right? I ran pretty big high dollar programs right back in my tech world. So it's not like I'm uh it's not like I'm um um not knowledgeable about accounting and and budgets and and these kinds of things just fundamentally, right? Coming out of my background. Um and so I come in armed with that, you know. But really, I think the story um that you're really trying to talk about is um how can you turn um something that's a hobby, right, into a full-blown um into a full-blown business and what does that journey look like, right? Because that's really what this is. We're we're a mom and pop restaurant, right? So um we um you know I was I was out there just doing this for fun. I mean, as I told you guys before, um we were you know moving up here to the northwest out of Texas, right? You the these foods that I produce are staples to the um um to my way of life or how I grew up, right? And there's a lot of folks that are transplanted here, right, that are from the south as well because of the military um bases and stuff that are around us. And um, you know, so they're looking for it too and can't find it. So, you know, we started this out as fun, right? Because this was something that um when the kids were growing up, um we we were just doing this every weekend, right? And um, people joked about it all the time because it didn't really matter what season it was, you know, you could always count on uh me being out there in the driveway with the pit going. And you know, there was a time when um um we were doing um, you know, we were just doing it to do it. And um my daughter's uh first husband, he was in the air force, and we got into this, got into this this this thing where um we were inviting um all the all the one stripers. I don't know if you know what a one striper is, they're the new guys in the, you know, and um they don't they don't get a lot of money, and they either get to eat at the mess hall or they don't get to eat at all, right? Is is basically their life when they're first starting out. And so we used to sit there and invite, you know, most of the people over in his from his wing, right? Come over, right? And uh so everybody started liking us. And then, you know, these things, this is the organic side of it, is when you get when you make good food, right, and it doesn't really matter. I'm gonna talk to you about barbecue, but this this translates to the people who are doing catering, uh, people who are doing Italian, people who are doing um, you know, this or that, you know, whatever, whatever it is they do, and they'd love it, and they get up and do it every day or every weekend or every chance they can, right? It's and you're in the hobby mode, but people find out about you. And uh it's a natural progression. They go, hey, you know, I'm gonna have a party and I don't really want to cook. Can you bring the pet over? Right? Or, hey, um, my husband's gonna retire, we're gonna be over here in the park at silicone. You know, would you mind coming over and put on a big show for us? Because my husband loves this stuff, he watches it on TV all the time. And will you uh you know, will you come, you know, put on a show for us, right? You know, there's there's these things that just people naturally gravitate to you once they find out who you are. What happens then is um you start doing these things and they they get bigger, right? And you know, you're and you you kind of get on a high with when you're first starting out because people are telling you, oh wow, I could never do that, or I could never do this, right? And and but you do it so good, how do you do it? Right? And so you get this energy in you, right, because you're having fun and you're making people happy. And who doesn't like that, right? Um, and um, and then you know the things kind of progress, and you know, but everybody knows you got a real job and then you're just doing this on the weekends, right? And then as the kids grew up, you know, we got out and started doing the stuff at the uh racetracks because my son was into you know auto racing, right? And so um I was helping him build cars, and and and this is all the hobbyist aspect of it. And and anybody that's a foodie, you know, that loves to cook, right, they know what I'm talking about. Because whether it's dinner parties or barbecue or or what have you, right? You you get known as as the guy. I know a guy, right? Or I know a girl, right? And oh, you know, they make the wonderful cakes, or they make this or they make that, right? And so um, sooner or later, if you keep doing that, somebody looks at you and goes, You do so good, you need a restaurant, right? And you go, Oh, uh, that's true to my ego really well. Um, but uh yeah, you don't do it because you know better, right? And you're you're kind of a little bit apprehensive, right? Because now you're as you get into this thought process, you're starting to realize that oh, that would be cool, and I could do this and I could do that, and oh yeah, I don't want to really get up and do that every day. You know, it's fun right now, right? And um, but eventually if you're if you're really good at it, and you know, you start start people that you trust, right, start coming to you and saying, man, you really need to do this, and this doesn't exist in the town or what have you. Yeah, that was really our story. So, you know, and it's a pretty scary thing when you take that step, okay? Because you start thinking about it, and um, you know, I'm a plan, I'm an engineer, right? So, you know, I'm 47 steps ahead of everybody, right? Especially on an engineering project or or something in planning. And um, and so you start thinking about how it would look. And well, if I did that, where would I put that restaurant, right? Well, and you have no idea what you can afford because because now you're you you start to look around, you find a friend that's in real estate, and you go, well, what would that cost? What would that that space over there cost, right? Oh, well, you know, you learn all about things like triple net and uh and and price per square foot and how to calculate rents, you know, off of that, and and you go, ooh, that's scary. He gets a lot of money, you know, every day because you know, these places, particularly barbecue where barbecue diagnosis, you know, those places aren't cheap, right? And why they're not cheap is because there's a there's a synergy. You know, the the landlords and stuff that put those plazas together um are very um um particular about how where they are, how they look, what they do. Um and they're doing that because they're bringing traffic in. You know, and it's like when we brought Met Market into the uh um into the plaza where we're at. You know, that wasn't just him, that was all of us, right, around that plaza that would that you know that that had opinions on that. And um and the reason for that is because it's traffic flow, right? So the first thing you gotta do, even though you know how to cook and you do this wonderful food, if you're going to try to do it, you gotta stop and think a little bit about where is um where's a good place, right? And you've experienced this with me, Jennifer, right? Because um, you know, there was over COVID, right, when I was running the pizza joint in um in Burmerton, right? You would think that that's a wonderful spot to have a restaurant, right? Right there by the right there by the ferry docks and all the all the things that it's but it wasn't, right? Um, you know, family, you know, uh, you know, good old organic, you know, family business, family in a little restaurant that didn't work. It didn't meet the um the needs uh or the wants of that particular demographic. So then you start to learn about this. So picking your spot, you know, it takes a long time if you really are thinking about it. You know, because the other thing I want to say is is there's these dreams you think you can just go put yourself anywhere, right? And it's it's uh immediate success, right? We have a mutual friend, uh to make that an example. Um, you know, they're in the middle of downtown Tacoma, right? And so that's really cool at lunchtime Monday through Friday, okay. But you know, what happens at after happy hour, right? What happens on Saturday and Sunday when when people are all out in the suburbs at parks and things like that? How does how does your business translate there, right? And you gotta think about that, right? Cause it's and um because it that has a world of difference to to go, you know, to expand the idea because you know you've got to interface with your community and and be known in your community. So yeah, there are people in like in downtown McCoan that live in in the apartment buildings down there, right? And they they have particular ideas about what they what they want in that urban environment, right? Um, so location, you know, location is very particular about how you do it. So why am I where I'm at? Is because when we found that spot, um, and it wasn't very attractive, by the way, when we found it, right? It was an old Washington State liquor store to give you the details on it, right? It was dilapidated, the roof was leaking, right? And and so there was a lot of work that the landlord had to do just to put a roof back on it, right? And then there was the whole thing about um taking everything out of it because the the liquor store had just left everything behind, right? And so we had to get rid of everything in there and turn it back into what they call a shell, right? Where it's really just walls, some doors, and this big flat piece of concrete, right? Um, and I'm I'm telling you this lineage because then we can draw the understanding from the path, right? Um, so what was the next thing we did? So so first of all, then you you get this lease in your hand, and you're scared to death of this lease because it is a you know, if you've never read a lease before, there's a lot of legalese in that and a lot of what ifs, and if this happens, this is your responsibility, and you're going, oh crap, I didn't thought about all that, right? And um, and landlords have rights too, right? And um, these things go on, and so you find you end up signing that lease, you we we you know, you gut the place and you get it into a square. Now, what do you want that square to look like? Okay, because you talk about you you talk about atmosphere a lot, right? And these because I'm gonna tell you these things because they're all they're all the things that can that can break a business, right?

SPEAKER_00 12:08

Well nothing the thing about your rent, too, isn't that next to staffing about the largest expense? No, no, wow, because I think of that as being a pretty decent financial commitment, and you're making it over time.

SPEAKER_03 12:22

You can fire someone who doesn't that's not one of the top three, right? And I'll get into that too.

SPEAKER_00 12:28

Oh, that's amazing. Okay, I happen to know that number, and I'm like, wow. I mean, you can fire someone that does it that's rude to your customers, you know, you can't move out of a lease where you can move out of a lease. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 12:40

Um, yeah, finding a a good landlord, right? That's that's not micromanaging you. That's that's a some of my peers talk about those scenarios as well, right? But the to try to cut it up short, you know, you're you're going in there and to give you an idea of the fear factor that can that can grow into you because all you want to do is cook, right? Because that's why you're trying to do this, and you're gonna you're trying to get this out to the people and make maybe make a buck. But most restauranteers, anyway, they don't they don't do it to get rich. They um you know they do it because they want to want they want their interpretation of a of a product to go to you, right? And let you enjoy it and have you a place to come get it. Um but you start doing things like cutting up the slab in this person's building, right? And tearing walls out and doing this and building bathrooms and and there's other stuff that you do. And oh yeah, in all this, what do you want your kitchen to look like? Right? So you hadn't even you haven't even got down to this, down to the road very far yet. You're already doing these these um, you get one shot at getting it right, and you have no information, no data about how to do this stuff, right? How to design this kitchen for workflow efficiencies and and these kinds of things, right? You got all these contractors running around asking you questions. Um, and then all this time you're gone. By this time in the process, you're going, why did I do this? I was having such a good time in my driveway, right? Um, but I got to go forward because there's no turning back, right? You sign that lease and you got a minimum of five years. Um, and in our case, we got fifty, we know we go for 15 years, right? Um and um, and so it goes on. You eventually get it all put together, and now you're really nervous because now you're going, you know, because everybody's been walking by watching you, and they all figured out it's gonna be a restaurant. Oh, we have a new restaurant in town. Oh, joy, right? And uh, we're gonna try that place out. Yeah, and so you you finally put the sign up that says, okay, we're gonna do a soft open. Because and so and soft open is is a code word for coming in our food, we have no idea what we're doing, right? That's what soft open means, right? And um, you know, I remember on uh February 27th, seven years ago, when we did that. Um, I mean, that line was hanging out the door. We were trying to figure out, you know, we got about a we got about 50 customers into it, and we started running out of food. And how do you resupply the counter and all this kind of stuff? All the things I had thought through, yeah, none of them worked. Right.

SPEAKER_00 15:11

So you're immediately scaling this small version, you know, you got a small version of this restaurant in your driveway. So you had an idea of the food, an idea of the location, idea of the process, maybe sort of how many people you needed to help you, but you really didn't know. Talk about a scale story, right? So, I mean, you're taking this microcosm of a business and scaling it out to sitting on a busy suburb, you know, parking lot corner. And can I do that?

SPEAKER_03 15:37

You're scaling, right?

SPEAKER_00 15:38

Oh my god, it's like a scale.

SPEAKER_03 15:41

You know, because you're scaling because everything I was doing in the driveway, which is me, right? I didn't have to tell people what to do, I didn't have to rely on other people to do stuff, right? And so you're you're figuring all this stuff out, right? And again, it doesn't matter what what food product it is to bring the story up, you eventually you know you have all these new employees and they they kind of watch and they work with you and and they figure out what they're gonna do, right? And and they start working with each other and they figure out what works and doesn't work. And next thing you know, you take a deep breath, you look up one day, you take a deep breath, you look back and go, Wow, it's all working, right? I'm literally standing here. I got I got a lobby full of customers, I got people in line, and um that's all good, right? Supplies are coming in the back door. Um, the dishwasher works, the health department's happy, and um you you kind of have you kind of you know kick back and go, wow, I freaking built it, right? Now I gotta make it last, right?

SPEAKER_00 16:39

Scale, you scale it.

SPEAKER_03 16:41

Now there's this other thing that goes on, is because uh after you've done it for a little while and people are liking you, right? Um they they expect the exact same thing every time they come in there. Okay, this is another factor that wasn't in the uh in the fun zone back when we first started, right? Is because when I was working out the driveway or running around doing these little things, if it was a little different today than it was yesterday, it really didn't matter because I probably won't see that people again for a year or or something, right? And so what do you do? Um, you're doing brick and mortar, right? They're coming in and they want that brisket to taste exactly the same way it did last time because they loved it the last time. They want to love it again, and if it's not the same thing, then they look at you and go, What's wrong with you?

SPEAKER_02 17:30

Right. Yep, yep.

SPEAKER_03 17:31

Um, and in barbecue's case, we had another layer to that, which was what do you mean you run out? Just go back there and cook something, right? Well, you know, barbecue's a 12 to 15 hour process, right? So it takes all day to prep tomorrow's food, right? And so we make what we make. And that was the whole reason why barbecue joints run out, right? It's because we make what we make and then that's it. Um now I'm gonna so now you get all that the whole point was you're gonna get all that up and running. Um, and this is where some of the other stuff uh starts to kick in. Um, because you you get comfortable with it after a little while, you get confidence, you know, you realize you're you're not gonna be one of those that crash and burn in a week, right? And uh that's got and these are all real fears, okay, that go through you. Um so now it's now it starts to become supply chain, right? Cook process, um, what is your process? Um portion control is a really big one because you know you're depending on other people to serve, right? And so some people have an idea of what when they say, Well, give me a little, and I have a joke that I that I use with our customers and I'm going, all right, uh is that gonna be a Washington little or is that gonna be a Texas little, right? Because I'm from Texas, and so a little is a lot, you know, you know, and so what is your little, right? When you say, I just want something, right? And so then you start figuring those things out, and that's where you start to interface with the community, right? And um, and so um so you're running around all the time with your hair on fire, cut off at this range, and then you have to you have to stop what you're doing. I don't care how busy you are, you gotta stop what you're doing because when a customer walks up to you and says, Oh, you're from Austin, I'm from Austin, you know, da da da, and they want to they want to talk for 10 minutes, and you gotta have a love for that, okay? I mean, you do. Um, and I and I do thoroughly enjoy it. Uh, unfortunately, I don't get to you know stay with them very long, but I always try to stop and um and and you know engage with them because they're they are my customers, right? I want you to know that I love you, right? That I want you to come in and eat my food. I'm doing it for you, right? And um, and so yeah, I mean, somebody could be, you know, the building could be on fire, but if somebody wants to sit and talk for a minute, well, okay, right? Customer's the most important thing, right? Yeah, customers are always the most important thing. Okay, that's another learning that that comes in. Um, when you that I don't have that problem when I'm out freelancing, right? Because I'll never see the person again, right? So they liked it or they didn't, and yeah, you move on. But now when you're in a restaurant, right? You you know, every everybody that walks in there, you want to see them multiple times. You want you want this to become their go-to place, right? And so things like atmosphere come come in real big, right? You're interfacing with your public, you know, you you know, and and by the way, you don't do things right every day, and you screw things up and people get upset about it, and you know, you can't ignore that either. You need you know, one of the our policy here at you, I if um if some and I just had one the other day where um you know things weren't weren't exactly right, and so you know, I've just got a policy that I just completely replace it. You know, there's no questions about it. It's irrelevant what I think or or what one of my guys thinks is you didn't like it, and so that's all I care about. I I quit I go to solution space right as soon as I hear that, right? And um, and so you you know that's a that's a part of the business. You have to put that culture into your employees and and everything, right? And you see that a lot, or I you know, a lot of people talk to me about that and go, you guys are so nice, right? And you know, and that's because we've taught that we've you know embedded it into their thinking about how do you work. You know, people because we want, so now we're up leveling again, because the philosophy in it all is we want uh our customers to come in and and be in an environment where yeah, they know their problems um are outside the door. But while they're inside the door, right, um we don't want you thinking about that. Right? The whole idea is to give you good, wholesome food, put a smile on your face, let you let you get a breath and and kick back for a second, right? And then when you get rested, you can you can go back outside the door. Or go deal with your day, right? But when you're in my spot, I want you to feel good and I want you to relax. And so you notice the boys at the at the counter. They'll ask you, how's your day? How's your day going today? And they're all, they all have their particular funnies that they'll say, or to try to get you laughing and enjoy it. And they try to, you know, they're they they understand the power of the show, you know, like when we're cutting brisket and and doing all this kind of stuff. And so yeah, we we put on a we put on a show, and you know, and you do this over and over and over again. And in our case, seven days a week, right? And um, and you see the same people every day, and you're building that rapport, you're building a rapport with your community. That's what you're doing. Um, and though, and so like in our world, um, I'm real everybody knows um, we've talked about it here. I'm real big into um community give back, right? Not only do I want to interface in the store, I want to interface outside. I want I want Marvin TV to be known, right, and in this community um for all the things it does, right? And that's very important too, right? This was another big learning, right? Is because people walking in the store um are very sensitive. They know they're spending their money, right? And the one thing that uh particularly in communities like Big Harbor, um they know that uh if they come in to barbecue to you today, right, and they're gonna they're gonna pay it, it's it's it costs a lot to buy barbecue. But they also know that a portion of what they just paid is gonna end up out in a school, it's gonna end up paying for Santa Claus downtown, it's gonna end up, you know, providing a shuttle bus so you can park in a parking lot and go down to the farmers market. Um, it's gonna be, you know, it's gonna show up at the at the school band boosters or the key club or the you know, you you you've been here with me long enough, Jennifer and others. We probably got 200 different um entities, right, that that we support. Right.

SPEAKER_00 24:11

So did that value come to you, come with you out of corporate dumb, or are is that giving back value something that is a personality trait?

SPEAKER_03 24:21

Corporate's dry, right? This this has to be something that and um because before I was an engineer when I was younger, I worked in retail a lot, right? So I understood what it meant to be um what it meant to be you know in customer service, right? But then the natural aspects of Gary Parker, right, are um are that of empathy, right? And um and care, right? So, you know, I love neighbors. I come from Texas, right? We're the friendliest bunch of people on this planet, right? We don't, you know, and and I take people down to Texas sometimes and they go, you don't lock your doors, right, or anything, right? And nope, yeah, no, and yep, the neighbor, you know, and they'll be with me and the neighbor will walk in. And not only will the neighbor walk in, the neighbor will walk in, they'll go to the kitchen, they'll open the refrigerator, they'll grab a chicken or a beer or something like that, and they'll they'll say hi and for a few minutes and they'll split. And the people from the north that I take down there, they see that kind of thing happen, right? They're going, What the who was that? And what the hell just happened, right? I said, Oh, it's just the neighbor. I'm not worried about it, right? And I do the same thing over at his house, and then that's because you know, we're we're born. Um you know, when you when you're out in the farm and ranch land area, you know, we're we're a community, right? And we all know each other, right? And um uh we learn each other, you know, and and we deal with problems together and we deal with happy times together. And uh, you know, that's a part of me, and that's what I want to try, that's what I tried to bring into GitHub where you don't have to be so so maybe you got a better word for it, but staunch, right? And and you know, because so many of the hospitality industry and and that I encounter, um, it's like, okay, what are you here for? All right, here, here it is. Are you ready to leave yet? Right. And we try to be the opposite of that.

SPEAKER_00 26:14

Yeah, my experience in Texas was you called your neighbors and your close friends first, and if you truly couldn't solve it, then maybe you called the cops. You know, and if the cops showed up before you got through that network, it was like none of your business. Like, we're we got this, it's my cow, you know. And uh I love that. And it's like a community dependency instead of independent, you know, everybody's raising families and trying to feed, you know, and yeah, it has a lot of the same problems, right? And so it is that dependency as opposed to um so we're in this together sort of thing.

SPEAKER_03 26:45

All right. So now let's come back to your your your founding question, right? How do you, you know, how did you go do all this stuff? Well, these are all the things that um if you're truly a foodie, right? And and you're you're trying, you if you really have a passion, um, and you really want to want to get your stuff out, right? Um, these are the things you're gonna go through. And what what gives you the answer is your inherent abilities, right? These things that are embedded in you, right? Um, the you know, the tenacity that you have to to see beyond the the scary thing that you're working on right now because you're taking a risk. And you know, um, maybe that's one thing I did pick up out of the tech world. I was very accustomed already to taking, you know, you know, to hire two, three million dollar risks at a time. Yeah. And, you know, and knowing very well that I was gonna get pummeled if I if I uh made the wrong decision. Um, you know, so I I spent 30, 40 years of that, right, of that kind of environment. So um I had an inerrant ability to just you know see past the moment, right? And say, I'm after, I'm after this end game. Um, this is where I'm gonna go. And the problem that I'm that I'm worried about right now is just the problem of the moment. Next week I won't even remember I had this problem, and you just go, right? Uh you got to have a little bit of tenacity, right, to uh to open a business, especially when you're building one from scratch, right? Um, and so and and that's the way it is. That's what and if any foodies are out there that that hear this, um have tenacity, have confidence in yourself, right? That you're gonna be able to solve whatever comes at you, right? Because you don't you're not gonna know it all, right? The way that the way that it forms is you build it over, you know, build it through time. And and I could I could make the same examples out of working with the state, right? This state is a constant fluid of uh of change that goes on around your business. Um, the state is one of the most regulated uh states and one of the highest tax states there is in the union. Okay, and that stuff is always blowing up your budget, right? Um, many you probably saw the interview that I was on, I was doing on the news the other day about you know this current legislature, right? You know, so Gary, you're a barbecue guy, why do you play in with the legislature? Well, it's because I'm what I'm doing is I'm getting ahead of the new expenses that are gonna hit me right in 2027. Yeah, that's what it's all about because fundamentally, when it comes to budgeting, the um hospitality budget is super simple. Okay, you're gonna bring in a raw product, and that raw product costs X, right? You're then gonna have an expense to do the value add, the uh, you know, build in the opportunity cost, right? That's your value add. If you're cooking a steak, if you're if you're uh cooking corn on the cob or if you're cooking uh spaghetti, right? It costs you something to bring that raw material in, right? It costs you something to cook it, right? And it's costing you stuff uh money every minute to hold it while you wait for somebody to walk through the door, right? All those things are an expense, okay. And when you when you have that, and then you have to be able to sell it more for more than all that cost. Okay, it's simple accounting. And and you can't spend what you know, and you gotta be really disciplined. Um, number one trick point for for new restaurants is uh um they invest even though they're losing, right? And uh because they're gonna think, well, over time it'll it'll come back, and you know that's a pretty risky thing, right? You have to be disciplined from day one on budgets, right? I have this, and you know, if I do my job right, then I'll have this plus this much more back. And then you again, and it's a stair step, you build up, right? And then when you and and when you build up a little bit and you got a little bit of extra, then the next thing that goes into your brain is okay, what can I add right to augment the this place and make it better? Do I do do another do I do another menu item? Do I hire another employee? Do I provide another service?

unknown 31:01

Right?

SPEAKER_03 31:02

I'm a restaurant. Now am I going to cater? Right? Right. That is true, right?

SPEAKER_00 31:08

Yeah, one thing that one thing that's occurring to me as I hear you tell this story is that you know, a large brand has to do everything that you do, all the hard work. They have to manage their budget, they have to manage their flow of you know resources and food and all the things, they have to manage their people and the taxes and all that. Um, but they have this huge brand that they're dependent on, like McDonald's or Red Robin or whatever, and they have it's recognizable in the community and people know what a chicken sandwich tastes like at Red Robin. But you're doing all that same work, but you have to tell stories and involve yourself in the community. Involve yourself in the community and tell those stories. And and on top of that, because you have to build a personality, you're building a brand with the stories and the activities and the values that you have, plus you're doing all the work. So I think you have to set the expectation with someone that wants to do this that you're going to do all the same work that you see a large-scale restaurant owner do or manager do, plus you're going to create who you are in the community. And I think that's where Gary has succeeded well because he is very comfortable being out in the community. You know, I talk to other clients who are restaurant owners and they're not as much of a community person as Gary, and I get concerned because I think, well, you might want to go manage a restaurant for the lobster shop, because you have to be out at the chambers and the schools and looking for ways to get back. And um, so anyway, I think that's just a stark difference in your story versus you know just going to work for someone and being their chef or whatever.

SPEAKER_03 32:34

So but if you do the work, you know, with these stories we tell you, you do the work, um that hobby that you started with really becomes a very fulfilling, um, very fulfilling thing because now instead of having yeah, taking care of 10 people at a time, we take care of a thousand people a week, right? And I have metrics that you know, uh how many dinners for for your family, your particular family, were barbecued that you know that week, right? Is it one? Is it two? Is it three?

unknown 33:08

Right?

SPEAKER_03 33:08

How many times did you come to the store that week? You know, or am I becoming a staple for you? Right? Uh your go-to, right? Because if I'm a busy parent, both parents are working, they have two jobs, and they then they got a couple kids and a couple, three kids, and they're gonna have their friends over too, and and you know, you know, the daily routine and rat race, we've all been parents, right? And um, you know, somebody calls the other one and says, Hey, can you stop and pick up dinner? Right? Your your brain's going through that whole cycle of saying, Am I gonna do a hamburger, am I gonna do pizza, am I gonna go down and get a tie in? And up God, I'm eating it four times. I'm so tired of it. Oh, let's go get this barbecue because it's it's this outlier, right? This thing that's different. And you can actually mark into that too, right?

SPEAKER_00 33:56

Yeah, and I think it's you know, it's a meat and vegetable too. I mean, it's a meal that is uh, you know, fills your tummy kind of meal. I think that appeals to moms. I know it does me. You know, it wasn't just like you know, grabbing McDonald's or the local garbage junk food. It was like, oh, I'm gonna put some legitimate good quality protein in my kid's stomach. And um, and you know, we a lot appeal to your customers and your prospective customers with that message of we already cooked dinner, we've got you. And and for what it would cost to go to the store and cook and the time and all that, you know, we've been cooking this all day and it's hot and fresh. So why don't you just come by and get it? So and and honestly, that's that has gotten inside the heads of people and it works. You know, they relate to that message. I know moms and dads both do. So it works. I think you know, you used the word pedestrian one day uh a while back, and I think I think you can claim pedestrian. I think, and not in a boring way, but I think you can claim that this the barbecue Tungi Harbor has become and even for some Tacoma people has become a normal thing. I think they're ear their Saturday night beer and brisket, and uh like it or not, they're around for a while.

SPEAKER_03 34:58

So um that's called building a brand, right? It's building a brand. That's called building a brand. Yes, but the measurement, yeah, the building of the brand as measured by, right? That's that's a engineering term, as measured by, is how many times a week can I feed a family, right? Um, and and this is another important thing I'll tell the foodies, right? Is um my food, the barbecue in general, right? It's a food that um people can come in and buy, right? And they know right that they don't have to eat it all right then. Okay. Um because that that it'll even get better in the refrigerator the next day. All right. So you you you need to position your product, okay, such that it's very sustainable, okay. Um, because they can come in and have a nice dinner, then they can make a sandwich to take the work with them the next day just out of the one portion. So in people's minds, so you put you engineer your product so that um you know people can see a clear path to, yeah, I'm gonna spend 50 bucks on this, but I'm gonna eat twice. So it's really, you know, yeah, you know, it's really protein.

SPEAKER_00 36:14

It's a well-made meat dish. Yeah. No, I agree with you. And that is a unique, that is a unique uh what we call in the marketing world is a differentiator to your product because you don't go to Burger King and plan on having Burger King for lunch the next day or putting it in your kids' lunchbox, you know, but you might throw brisket on a salad the next dinner, right?

SPEAKER_03 36:30

So um so yeah, right, or and then then you can also position it as a cooking ingredient, right? That's the other thing that we do here at Barbecue D, right? Is um we can we can also repackage what we sell and because you know Aunt Mary wants to, you know, she wants to make a special salad, but she loves it with the brisket in it, right? And and so they'll come and get three, four pounds of brisket, and they're but they're gonna go home and go make something out of that, or the you know, chicken is popular for that.

SPEAKER_02 36:58

Yeah, I'm sure it is.

SPEAKER_03 37:00

So we so when you're doing these restaurants, you you can also think about what are adjacencies to your to your primary path, right? That you can facilitate and market and and um you know these are the things that build uh continue to build that brand as well.

SPEAKER_00 37:14

Yeah. And I think, you know, I would I know we need to wrap up here, but one of the things that comes to mind for me is you have a certain capacity, and I think you have to expect limitations on capacity. I mean, how many times have you and I or others, you know, and you talked about the other ideas? Oh, you should be doing this. Why aren't you selling more swag, or why aren't you selling online, or why don't you have your sauce in Costco? And you know, and you're really good at maybe or no or no, my focus is this. I'm gonna do these three things really well. I'm the best in town at this. I would say you're the best at brisket, if not in Pierce County. You know, I don't know. Some people say state, it's crazy. And I think that came from that discipline of saying no to a lot of things that may maybe other restaurant owners would have gone after. So um, I've admired you for that, your focus and your tenacity towards doing these certain things really, really well.

SPEAKER_03 38:03

And I think what's that? It's called staying in your lane.

SPEAKER_00 38:09

Yes, yep. It's philanthropy, it's quality of food, it's how you treat people, you know, your brand's personality is very people first and also food quality first. I don't think it's just that friendly, you know, average food.

SPEAKER_03 38:20

It all starts with a good product, right? The reason I had people told you to go open a brick and mortar is because you had a good product. Don't screw that up.

SPEAKER_00 38:27

Oh, right, right, exactly. You can't get away from that.

SPEAKER_03 38:29

Build a sphere around it, right?

SPEAKER_00 38:31

Yep. Yeah, there's a restaurant in Tacoma that used to have an amazing reputation for both atmosphere and people and food. And um, I was talking to another restaurant owner yesterday and she said, you know, their food's not really there anymore. And so there's only so many more times you're gonna go back to a restaurant with a friendly waiter for for average food. So I think you're right, you have to keep your food and the quality of it up front. But um, well, thank you. This has been a good conversation. I took some fun notes, and um, I can this would be a great thing to put in your social media, just all the different things. Um, you know, you talked about if I go back, uh, you picked your location, you had a soft open, um, you had to create a predictable uh product. Um, that you know, it's not like being in your driveway, it had to taste uh and that portions had to be consistent, um, being kind to people and the energy that it takes to greet people every day. And I apologize, I send people to go talk to you all the time. Um consistent atmosphere, creating a customer-first policy and approach and how you have to spread that cause into your employees and everybody that talks to your customers. You're giving back and you're taking risks, um, dealing with the practicalities of a budget and scaling and state regulations and all of that. So I think that would make a great, you know. I think you should again, Gary, there's these books you should write. But um, I think there you you said a lot about each of those things, and um, I'll be happy to you know put it up on your Facebook so people can grab it.

SPEAKER_03 39:50

And I'd invite anybody that sees this if you want to, if you're thinking about even the closest idea of having a restaurant, come see me. Yeah, you can set over, we can have some birds get and drink beer, and and and I'll tell you in much, much more detail than I covered here about what it's like. I'm I'm always happy to help people find a way to go do this stuff. Because to be frank with you, the hospitality industry has been so beat up over the last five years. We need more people in the business. Yeah, right, than our good people. I can tell you at least six ideas I have right now for restaurants for Gig Harbor, right? Where people are asking for for a dish and they cannot find it anywhere. And they're not gonna find it anywhere, they can't find it on the peninsula anywhere, right? And um, and so it there's so much world of opportunity, and we've been beat up so hard um from COVID and and these kinds of things, and we've never recovered for that, right? And um, but I can tell you if you really do good product and you're you give customer service, right? It the economy may be hard, but they will come see you and they will take care of you in a community.

SPEAKER_00 40:58

Yep, yeah, I agree, and we've watched you do that. So thanks, Gary. We'll talk again next month. Um, we'll have to come up with what else we should share. I think there's some topics here we could dig deeper on even more. So always good to see you and we'll be talking to you again. Thanks.

SPEAKER_03 41:12

Okay, see you soon. Bye, everybody.