Started An Alabama BBQ Pit In Colorado And Grew It To +50 Locations I Mike, Ben, and Jeff I AO 35

What happens when three friends from Alabama bring Southern grit, barbecue, and a whole lot of hustle to the mountains of Colorado? You get Moe’s Original BBQ — a community-driven restaurant that’s grown from a Vail Valley train station into more than 50 locations across the country.
In this episode of American Operator, JC sits down with founders Mike, Jeff, and Ben to unpack the story behind their legendary brand. From bootstrapping in -20 degree weather and using secondhand equipment, to making napkin-deals that shaped their national expansion, the Moe’s crew has built their business the only way they know how: hard work, humility, and a love of people.

They share lessons on:

• Listening to customers and letting the market guide your menu
• Vetting partners by working and playing side by side
• The realities of 16-hour days in hospitality
• Why employees are both the biggest challenge and greatest reward
• How faith, family, and community anchor them through it all

This is more than a story about barbecue. It’s about grit, generosity, and the relentless pursuit of doing things the right way — fresh food, fair prices, and strong neighborhoods.

Real stories. Real ownership. Real lessons from the field.
This is American Operator.

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Transcript

00:00:00:00 - 00:00:09:15
Speaker 1
Hard work. Real talk. No shortcuts. I'm Joseph Cabrera. This is American operator.

00:00:09:15 - 00:00:26:06
Speaker 1
All right, team, we are still here in Colorado. Kind of had to change up a little. The studio, we were outside for a little while, and now we're inside, but still in front of a fireplace with two outstanding gents I got to hang out with today at Mo's Barbecue. Founders and owners. Yeah. Mike got Jeff, man.

00:00:26:11 - 00:00:28:06
Speaker 1
Thank you for the barbecue. And thank you for being here.

00:00:28:08 - 00:00:29:14
Speaker 2
Thank you for having us.

00:00:29:16 - 00:00:31:20
Speaker 4
Yeah, that was a that was a super fun day in there.

00:00:31:21 - 00:00:36:22
Speaker 1
Gosh, man, y'all converted me back to Turkey. Thanksgiving is my least favorite day because I don't understand.

00:00:36:22 - 00:00:38:03
Speaker 2
They're not brining their turkeys.

00:00:38:07 - 00:00:40:06
Speaker 3
That's that's the bottom. That's the bottom.

00:00:40:07 - 00:00:55:11
Speaker 1
I had turkey today that taste like a succulent brisket that I've you know, it's just crazy, but it's so dang good. So but we'll get into a whole barbecue because, I mean, y'all have done some incredible things, man. From a trailer basically on the side of the road to 50 locations and growing,

00:00:55:11 - 00:00:58:22
Speaker 1
bringing Alabama barbecue to Colorado and making it a thing.

00:00:58:22 - 00:01:08:13
Speaker 1
So I got so many questions and things that I know folks want to hear about, but but I'd love to start with for first is how you both met at Alabama. Tell me that origin story.

00:01:08:14 - 00:01:21:14
Speaker 2
Oh, I had my bar. I had my original barbecue and I selling barbecue out of the old train station, which was my bar. And Jeff came in one day and was like, verse five, that, yeah, I'm old enough to bartend.

00:01:21:16 - 00:01:23:01
Speaker 3
And, you know.

00:01:23:03 - 00:01:29:05
Speaker 2
I think a few months later we go into the booth, another bar, and he's like, I can't get it. What? What do you mean, take it?

00:01:29:07 - 00:01:31:07
Speaker 4
I was managing his bar. I wouldn't even know.

00:01:31:08 - 00:01:32:15
Speaker 3
Enough to go to a bar.

00:01:32:17 - 00:01:33:10
Speaker 2
Started

00:01:33:10 - 00:01:51:12
Speaker 2
like after three months, he his manager. Then he moved to Montana or somewhere to go to go for a year. I'm like, come on back yet. But it's been a good relationship. We just got along and it's, you know, run around with the same people. And it's really a lot of like common interest. Yeah. You know, we like to do the same things.

00:01:51:12 - 00:02:03:02
Speaker 2
A lot of widespread panic in our life and different bands and stuff. And you know, it just kind of stuck it out and I'm like, yeah, let's please, let's do it. Let's do it. His thing about doing a camp with this other buddy of ours, I'm like,

00:02:03:04 - 00:02:04:14
Speaker 1
What do you mean, the camp? Was that it?

00:02:04:16 - 00:02:08:00
Speaker 2
Like I only the bicycle camp you're talking about doing.

00:02:08:02 - 00:02:11:21
Speaker 4
That didn't have any legs. I would have been terrible.

00:02:11:23 - 00:02:13:18
Speaker 2
My legs are already weak. I tell you.

00:02:13:20 - 00:02:23:23
Speaker 4
I did. No, working. Working for Mike in Tuscaloosa. I think I think I probably even I know I said is, you know, if you can cook it, I can sell it.

00:02:24:00 - 00:02:24:22
Speaker 2
Yeah.

00:02:25:00 - 00:02:33:12
Speaker 4
And that was kind of the beginning of our because it just everything of every, every food that he ever cook doesn't, like, say, damn, this is good.

00:02:33:15 - 00:02:34:07
Speaker 3
Yeah.

00:02:34:09 - 00:02:54:21
Speaker 2
Then then we went to culinary school and moved out here. I think he had one semester to finish school, and then he says, I still haven't seen that degree either. Don't. But when he finished his great he moved out. And then we like we both worked in different jobs and we kind of started doing it again. That's what we brought Ben in because he had this big party under his belt like, let's do this.

00:02:54:21 - 00:03:02:02
Speaker 2
And Ben's an awesome cat and I, he's not here today. But he's like, he's kind of what keeps us together. He's kind of like the glue that we throw shit off of and.

00:03:02:02 - 00:03:11:21
Speaker 1
Yeah. Good boy. Yeah, that's a good maybe I'll get into it right now because it would. That dynamic between you three. How's that work? Like who's kind of the who plays on what base in the baseball field?

00:03:11:22 - 00:03:25:20
Speaker 2
I think everybody kind of stays in their own lane. You know, I'm the I'm the food guy. And they they deal with the business and and trying different stuff and you know, and I think, I think the most important thing is we moved out here and there's so many kids from the South out here. But they have any barbecue.

00:03:25:21 - 00:03:33:07
Speaker 2
Yeah. And I just I'm like, man, they'll eat it. So we started in that trailer and I'm telling you, 100 days, I think we had a hundred thousand in the bank.

00:03:33:09 - 00:03:34:12
Speaker 1
Oh, it just grinded.

00:03:34:12 - 00:03:44:08
Speaker 2
One way this was when we got the next door. It was just a retail shop, so we could cook in there, and we'd be on the side of the road. It'd be 20 below. Jeff was usually out on the pier.

00:03:44:14 - 00:03:45:10
Speaker 4
That's why.

00:03:45:12 - 00:03:47:16
Speaker 3
Waiting to tell that story.

00:03:47:16 - 00:03:50:23
Speaker 1
Gate. I mean, you guys are running a chop shop man all day.

00:03:51:03 - 00:04:08:02
Speaker 2
We had the finally we got the, you know, we had the lot on the corner at Edwards. We could cook out there and everything. And then when we moved to, this retail spot in, in Lion's Head, it's like we could cook in there. So we had to put the place. We had a commissary kitchen with a big music hall was okay.

00:04:08:03 - 00:04:16:09
Speaker 2
And then we had, the pit. So when y'all get the pit is the we just kind of got rid of the trailer. We just all bring it together every day.

00:04:16:11 - 00:04:22:08
Speaker 1
Yeah. Break down that day for me just for folks to understand. Like what was cutting their teeth in a barbecue. Do what time you going? What are you doing?

00:04:22:13 - 00:04:29:23
Speaker 2
I mean, we get out there at least by 6 or 7. Jefford hit the pit with at 20 below with ribs that were hopefully thawed but healthy.

00:04:30:02 - 00:04:35:02
Speaker 4
And they wouldn't. We didn't. They didn't allow smoking in the town of Vail. So we had to smoke in Eagle Vail.

00:04:35:06 - 00:04:35:23
Speaker 3
Okay.

00:04:36:01 - 00:04:41:13
Speaker 4
And then he would go to the kitchen in Vail. And then Ben would go to the the shop in Lyons is get.

00:04:41:13 - 00:04:58:11
Speaker 2
Everything set up, would come in there and we really, you know, didn't know how to do it. But every day we changed a little bit, changed a little bit. And then we have this little technique where, you know, we write down on a sandwich wrapper, send it down. So we didn't have to have a computer that was held probably eight years before we got a computer.

00:04:58:11 - 00:04:59:01
Speaker 2
Probably one.

00:04:59:04 - 00:05:01:03
Speaker 4
Yeah. We're just using the markers.

00:05:01:03 - 00:05:13:09
Speaker 2
Keep moving. But you know I would I would go in there and cook the sides and cook the stuff and Jeff would be on the pit, and then they would be setting up everything would go in there, then would be at the end of writing it down, we just be doing everything else, man.

00:05:13:09 - 00:05:18:06
Speaker 1
So you got how long did you get? You said eight years of doing that or eight years just with the paper?

00:05:18:08 - 00:05:19:08
Speaker 2
No, eight years.

00:05:19:08 - 00:05:20:22
Speaker 4
Before we got a computer.

00:05:21:00 - 00:05:21:07
Speaker 2
We got.

00:05:21:10 - 00:05:24:05
Speaker 1
To, you know, how long were y'all having that kind of try to start to set a.

00:05:24:08 - 00:05:31:18
Speaker 2
Thousand to the summer 2002? Yeah. And it's a band we like was played at Red rocks with only two bucks and two chains.

00:05:31:23 - 00:05:35:06
Speaker 3
And at noon, so we could just pick it up. Sorry.

00:05:35:09 - 00:05:52:23
Speaker 2
Somebody came, brought us out, but it was, it was just a lot of fun, and, and, you know, it just, you know, it just kind of taken off. Taken off and taken off. And we got that first spot for $7,000 or something. Wow. And then we just kind of kept saving them. I have cheaper shit. I'm beat them to death being cheap.

00:05:53:01 - 00:05:54:02
Speaker 3
You say?

00:05:54:07 - 00:06:00:00
Speaker 1
Yes, we man. I tell you, man, it's kind of a it's a super. It's a super power and a curse.

00:06:00:02 - 00:06:16:13
Speaker 2
Well, it's, you know, it is, but it's like, I think I'm cheap because I got so tired of borrowing money from my dad to keep my other business afloat. Yeah. And I just knew that, like, yeah, I gotta be able to do this for myself. And, you know, it's like, start cheap and we do that to everybody. I mean, I don't mind buying some used equipment.

00:06:16:13 - 00:06:18:20
Speaker 2
You know, when you start making money can buy some better stuff.

00:06:18:21 - 00:06:19:15
Speaker 3
Yeah.

00:06:19:17 - 00:06:41:12
Speaker 1
When y'all were, when you guys were getting the barbecue thing moving and going, one thing y'all mentioned to me earlier today, which just was, you call it genius or fate or whatever it was, but oddly enough, there's Alabama style barbecue. Bringing it to Colorado was kind of a secret move. I mean, it was kind of a, an important move, I would say, even though it didn't, you would go, why don't you go to Texas?

00:06:41:12 - 00:06:49:20
Speaker 1
Why don't you go down to stay in Alabama? Talk to me about why this kind of flywheel, how that flywheel happened in Colorado. Why was that a special move?

00:06:49:22 - 00:07:07:00
Speaker 2
Because when I was at culinary school, I thought about it completely different than I did when Mo was helping this out. Because Mo, you know, it's just like everybody else we talked about. You cook, you thought you cool down, you bring it back up. Temperature. We all that it'd be in succulent. And then we would travel around going to shows or going to concerts or whatever.

00:07:07:00 - 00:07:22:00
Speaker 2
And then we kind of picked it up from different places. And that vinegar. I kind of stuck with this a lot. So we, you know, we have that two sauces and then we get out here and do it again. It's like people craved it. And it would be it was crazy how much they tried it. Yeah. And so we knew we had something going on.

00:07:22:00 - 00:07:25:13
Speaker 2
And then we just kind of we really took our time getting it to where we wanted it to be.

00:07:25:17 - 00:07:39:01
Speaker 1
Yeah. And then you, Jeff, you were talking also a little bit earlier today about how, and what's the word you use. It was almost like a virus, like people come here, a lot of people from America come here. And then in a weird way, they take it back home.

00:07:39:03 - 00:07:39:21
Speaker 3
Yeah, yeah.

00:07:39:21 - 00:07:47:02
Speaker 1
Which is a lot more powerful than maybe if you were going to build it somewhere in a small town in Texas where everybody in that small town might really love it, but nobody.

00:07:47:04 - 00:07:48:00
Speaker 2
Visiting the country.

00:07:48:03 - 00:07:50:23
Speaker 1
Network, that's the where you use network, the whole country.

00:07:51:01 - 00:08:01:16
Speaker 4
It's kind of kind of a doorstep, especially when we had our spot over in Vail, in the ski village, you know, every day, you know, thousands of people walk by your front door from all over the world.

00:08:01:16 - 00:08:03:01
Speaker 3
Yeah.

00:08:03:03 - 00:08:22:02
Speaker 4
And Vail being what it is, you know, brings brings a lot of people in the know and people people who are moving and shaking around the world making things happen, you know, so it's it's really pretty cool. Real authentic approach to growth. And it really kind of helped. It definitely helped us.

00:08:22:07 - 00:08:42:03
Speaker 2
Yes. It's been really good organic, our growth. Like I told you, it's like, you know, we have some people from the outside. We've been pretty lucky with the guys from L.A. mushroom. We got 3 or 4 of those guys, but they love us because we're not up there. But like Mellow Mushroom is getting 9 or 10%. Yes, I really like us because we're kind of staying out of their way doing it, but it's, it's been good.

00:08:42:03 - 00:08:49:12
Speaker 2
It's been mostly organic. The kids that have worked for us worked in Tuscaloosa or Auburn. Come out, came out to Colorado, live with us for a few years and do it again.

00:08:49:13 - 00:08:52:19
Speaker 1
Worked this job kind of got it in their blood and then kind of went back. Yeah.

00:08:52:19 - 00:09:06:21
Speaker 4
And probably as much on the end of, you know, people from around the world seeing us is now when we go open other stores. I mean, it's just a, it's a common thread of communication. Always is. Vail. Yeah.

00:09:06:23 - 00:09:07:20
Speaker 1
Any kind of ties?

00:09:07:21 - 00:09:13:20
Speaker 4
Oxford, Mississippi. Yeah. Portland, Maine. Whatever. People have seen it and heard about it through Vail.

00:09:13:20 - 00:09:21:09
Speaker 1
So it's it's kind of neat. It's kind of like being from a school, you know, you kind of have that hub point, that common point of reference, and then you get to kind of share that. What

00:09:21:09 - 00:09:26:23
Speaker 1
for folks who don't know what Alabama barbecue is, how would you describe it in a way that it's different? I had it today.

00:09:26:23 - 00:09:27:23
Speaker 1
It's a little.

00:09:28:01 - 00:09:40:13
Speaker 2
The other barbecue's around. It's like Memphis, Carolina and everything because we really to we literally travel around and say, hey, we like this here. And yeah, I'm sorry, we whip something up. It's like, boom. Yeah. And it'd be good.

00:09:40:15 - 00:09:42:10
Speaker 1
Y'all do pig really good, man.

00:09:42:12 - 00:09:43:04
Speaker 2
You have the pork.

00:09:43:05 - 00:09:55:06
Speaker 1
That's I mean, everything was good. I mean, I had I mean, we had, I had had hushpuppies just for folks listening. Right now. I got hushpuppies and brisket in the same day and same meal. Mean it didn't make sense to me.

00:09:55:06 - 00:09:58:16
Speaker 3
That never would have. But those two things, it's so.

00:09:58:16 - 00:10:08:02
Speaker 1
Good. But all I had to say like, it is different. Can you describe to folks maybe what some of those highlights are that make y'all's food different? Maybe about the pig, because I'm just so fast.

00:10:08:03 - 00:10:21:12
Speaker 2
The pork. I think the main thing about our talk is we hit it with two different sources. We smoke it. And then like I said earlier to we, we smoke it, put enough smoke on it and then we throw it in. And now two sandwiches, prime rib cooker. And that keeps the moisture in it. Yeah. Wrap it up and fall.

00:10:21:12 - 00:10:23:06
Speaker 2
So it's kind of comfy and and some fat.

00:10:23:06 - 00:10:37:23
Speaker 2
So that's really what keeps it tender. I told you about how the shoulder, the shoulder of the pig that has a lot of cushion meat around it. So it's not real lean like the, the, the picnic shoulder is or the ham that's super lean. So ours has enough push and fat around it.

00:10:37:23 - 00:10:50:13
Speaker 2
And it's just, you know, it's pretty desirable in some, you know, we pick it as clean as we can. Obviously barbecue is a little bit about the fat, but it's not, you know, in Texas y'all probably see a lot of the chopped pork and then, you know, if.

00:10:50:13 - 00:11:06:07
Speaker 1
We see it at all. Yeah, yeah, we get pork ribs usually once a week somewhere. They're doing it's something special, you know, they'll put it out there. Can you take it take folks back to like what I'm interested in is those days where you started getting flywheel going. You know, you got that trailer maybe a year or two in.

00:11:06:09 - 00:11:24:23
Speaker 1
I think the thing that don't always make it make the headlines, especially after as many years as y'all been doing it, is how hard it is just to stomach that, risking that weight every day. How did y'all kind of wrestle with that? How do y'all decide to keep going versus fold? Like a lot of people in the hospitality and food business do?

00:11:25:01 - 00:11:27:15
Speaker 1
What were those feelings like? Or did you never get those feelings or not.

00:11:27:15 - 00:11:28:14
Speaker 4
An option before?

00:11:28:15 - 00:11:30:13
Speaker 2
Yeah. So you got to take the.

00:11:30:15 - 00:11:31:01
Speaker 4
That gotta.

00:11:31:01 - 00:11:31:10
Speaker 2
Take some.

00:11:31:10 - 00:11:31:19
Speaker 1
Risk.

00:11:31:19 - 00:11:48:16
Speaker 2
Never to get it. I think maybe our first race would have been after the hurricanes. I think it was the first year Ivan and then Katrina that went through Orange Beach, Alabama. Katrina hit New Orleans, all that Gulf Coast. Yeah, this guy, like, threw in the towel and we went down there and got us into a store that we've all been to.

00:11:48:18 - 00:12:05:21
Speaker 2
We've all been down to Orange Beach, just like the only beach in Alabama. So we've all been down there. We knew it was kind of a safe place because there wasn't a lot of barbecue there. Yeah. The second story opened with some other partners was in Birmingham, and this must be 200 barbecue places in Birmingham. And it's just like we had to have something that's a little bit different.

00:12:05:22 - 00:12:07:06
Speaker 2
And that's why I tell you, you

00:12:07:06 - 00:12:12:05
Speaker 2
know, we kind of brought all the side dishes in there. So it's almost like a meet and three with barbecue as a vehicle.

00:12:12:07 - 00:12:15:21
Speaker 1
Oh, I see what you mean. Yeah. The side dishes stand alone. I mean, they're pretty dang.

00:12:15:21 - 00:12:19:16
Speaker 2
But those are like, partners are the people that keep us going today, I'd say know.

00:12:19:19 - 00:12:20:22
Speaker 4
Do you have meat? You know what I mean.

00:12:20:22 - 00:12:22:20
Speaker 1
Three years and I never even heard Texas.

00:12:22:22 - 00:12:27:21
Speaker 2
So like, get like, you get a fried pork chop and a couple of sides of beans and some okra.

00:12:27:22 - 00:12:29:00
Speaker 1
Oh, I see what you mean.

00:12:29:04 - 00:12:29:13
Speaker 3
Yeah, yeah.

00:12:29:13 - 00:12:32:15
Speaker 2
We always carry the so big in Alabama the meat and three main.

00:12:32:15 - 00:12:33:07
Speaker 1
Three choose.

00:12:33:07 - 00:12:38:12
Speaker 4
One meat out of like six options. And then you choose three vegetables or salads out of like ten options.

00:12:38:12 - 00:12:39:03
Speaker 2
It's just like the.

00:12:39:03 - 00:12:40:09
Speaker 4
Cornbread sweet tea.

00:12:40:12 - 00:12:55:21
Speaker 2
That's a that's amazing. I mean, we use a barbecue as a vehicle. You can get a sandwich with a few sides or a platter with sides. Ribs with a few sides. Yeah. And that really spread us out. I think in this like especially out to Colorado because like, holy cow, these guys can eat barbecue three times a week.

00:12:55:23 - 00:13:01:04
Speaker 2
So we that's when we started doing the catfish Friday's and the shrimp and some of the other stuff.

00:13:01:04 - 00:13:13:14
Speaker 1
Yeah. You guys listen to your customers pretty dang well. How do you how do you balance listening to them and also making sure that you're not driving yourselves to have 77 things on the menu? How do you balance that?

00:13:13:16 - 00:13:15:12
Speaker 2
If it ain't selling, you don't do it.

00:13:15:14 - 00:13:23:11
Speaker 1
Okay, so someone can have a wise idea, but if it ain't selling at the hype, do you guys test anything with specials and stuff to go, hey, I'll see you there.

00:13:23:11 - 00:13:26:02
Speaker 2
So so long. It's like I could put anything out there.

00:13:26:05 - 00:13:27:17
Speaker 3
The plate. Yeah, yeah.

00:13:27:17 - 00:13:36:18
Speaker 4
We we let we let our partners play around with stuff and not super strict with them, you know, as long as, as long as we're putting out quality products, you know.

00:13:36:20 - 00:13:38:16
Speaker 2
That's our whole thing. But no processed foods.

00:13:38:16 - 00:13:39:13
Speaker 3
Yeah.

00:13:39:15 - 00:13:41:16
Speaker 2
We really thrive on the food with integrity.

00:13:41:19 - 00:13:42:12
Speaker 3
Yeah.

00:13:42:13 - 00:14:01:14
Speaker 1
When you say so. Maybe just for folks to understand, or who may be just kind of catching up here on Moe's. Y'all had several household, 100% owned, spots. And then at some point it was, hey, look, there's a lot of good folks that came through here. You said to kind of franchise out your different locations. When did that happen?

00:14:01:14 - 00:14:08:12
Speaker 1
What year was that? When you all decided, hey, you know what, let's start giving some folks that we trust. Let me let them fly.

00:14:08:14 - 00:14:29:12
Speaker 2
You must have been like 2005 or 6. And when seven and eight came, that's what that job that was a jobs recession. Okay. And, a lot of our friends that were smart people, probably smarter than us, you know, wanted to do it because they lost their job and started spreading out then. And, and then, you know, after that, I guess we had the stores in Tuscaloosa and.

00:14:29:14 - 00:14:30:11
Speaker 3
Yeah.

00:14:30:13 - 00:14:46:09
Speaker 4
Yeah, I think 2001, we kind of started on the road side. And then by 2005 we did the Orange Beach. That was kind of the napkin deal. Like we talked about this morning. Nobody really knew exactly who got what.

00:14:46:11 - 00:14:46:19
Speaker 3
Yeah,

00:14:46:19 - 00:14:47:05
Speaker 3
I.

00:14:47:05 - 00:14:51:17
Speaker 2
Wish we'd never hired lawyers. I think that I'll be shake deals because we're good people and we're not.

00:14:51:17 - 00:14:54:07
Speaker 3
Going to know that our work. Yeah, we.

00:14:54:07 - 00:14:58:16
Speaker 2
Just saved a lot of heartache and headaches and money. So it's like.

00:14:58:18 - 00:15:04:21
Speaker 1
Yeah, I know. Yeah, it's a balance, right? Like you got because especially with you all, you all spend a lot of time vetting those people. Right.

00:15:04:21 - 00:15:06:20
Speaker 2
We make them work for us for a while.

00:15:06:21 - 00:15:08:21
Speaker 1
Yeah. And then get them in the kitchen. You better

00:15:08:21 - 00:15:24:13
Speaker 1
talk to folks about that. Like, give me a little insight in, you know, we met Michael today. What a rock star, man. I mean, you just tell right away he's somebody that just is confident. He's got. It's good people. Yeah. Smart man. That guy's got a man. He's a great cooking barbecue, man.

00:15:24:13 - 00:15:28:09
Speaker 2
You're not sorry. You can kind of cope with the younger people a little better than we can.

00:15:28:09 - 00:15:34:04
Speaker 1
Yeah. No, sure. I mean, how do you give me some traits of people that that before you decide to make them a partner in your business, like pros.

00:15:34:04 - 00:15:34:20
Speaker 2
And cons.

00:15:34:20 - 00:15:44:22
Speaker 1
Both like you both. I mean, I'm curious, like, what are the things that you look for that are maybe some telltale signs? After working in the kitchen, they go, okay, they got the right stuff. They can run their own shop.

00:15:44:23 - 00:16:00:07
Speaker 4
I think you got, two things for me. I'd say you got to work. Yeah, work side by side and have the work ethic. And then you got to play side by side. You got to have. Yeah, you got to have the fun. Extracurricular.

00:16:00:07 - 00:16:01:10
Speaker 2
Oh, interesting. Yeah.

00:16:01:10 - 00:16:04:22
Speaker 4
So you gotta be able to make it back to work at seven in the morning.

00:16:04:23 - 00:16:06:13
Speaker 3
Okay. Give me that rundown on that.

00:16:06:19 - 00:16:17:09
Speaker 2
I'll give you a rundown. Tuscaloosa reinvented Jeff, you know, with their night before and prepped everything up and took everybody out. And we the only three people that showed up the next morning.

00:16:17:11 - 00:16:21:03
Speaker 3
I was I made the cut. Now you. Yeah.

00:16:21:05 - 00:16:22:17
Speaker 4
So those employees didn't cut it.

00:16:22:23 - 00:16:25:10
Speaker 1
Do you care enough? Yeah. It's,

00:16:25:12 - 00:16:40:14
Speaker 2
It's like if you are first, they're usually in the kitchen. And then if and when we really, truly try to talk people out, we're like, man, it's hard. It's just so hard, so hard. They make it through there. Then we to put them in the back and they have to learn the numbers a little bit, and they have to have the personality to to really be the people we want them to be.

00:16:40:20 - 00:17:03:12
Speaker 4
Yeah, it's it's kind of a joke was kind of not about kind of work hard. Play hard. I mean, that's that's what we're all into, whether it's, you know, we all work hard and we've we've proven that for a long time. But but we also we also are very into playing hard, you know, whether it's concerts, skiing, biking, traveling.

00:17:03:14 - 00:17:06:04
Speaker 3
Now. Yeah. And yet. Yeah he's almost.

00:17:06:04 - 00:17:08:07
Speaker 2
Killed me out there.

00:17:08:09 - 00:17:08:12
Speaker 3
Know.

00:17:08:14 - 00:17:10:08
Speaker 4
But nobody at the store.

00:17:10:10 - 00:17:11:17
Speaker 3
With me anymore.

00:17:11:19 - 00:17:19:19
Speaker 2
We don't have our company parties. We just take them down the raft. I'd be like, somebody is going to die. So if I was to die and like, we may be done.

00:17:19:21 - 00:17:28:04
Speaker 1
But I guess that. Do you feel like that play hard. Part of you coming back means your heart's really in the business to you, right? Like you want to go lay it out on the line the night before.

00:17:28:04 - 00:17:28:19
Speaker 2
You got to show.

00:17:29:01 - 00:17:29:10
Speaker 1
That band.

00:17:29:10 - 00:17:33:10
Speaker 2
You're not playing all night. You're getting some rest because, you know, you have to get back there.

00:17:33:10 - 00:17:35:02
Speaker 1
And. Yeah, yeah, that much care.

00:17:35:05 - 00:17:38:13
Speaker 3
I only show up and.

00:17:38:14 - 00:17:40:18
Speaker 1
Put that applewood on the grill and you just got to.

00:17:40:18 - 00:17:41:17
Speaker 3
Give all of them.

00:17:41:19 - 00:17:48:08
Speaker 1
Yeah, man. Well, so you got. Okay, so you got folks out there, you kind of have a way of looking at them and making sure that they, you know, have the right stuff.

00:17:48:09 - 00:18:04:00
Speaker 2
A lot of it, they would they would, you know, especially after like 2008 nine, they would work for one of our stores. Yeah. And they didn't make it out of college or they barely made it out of college. And we would say, come on out here and live with us and work with us for a few years and then take it back there.

00:18:04:00 - 00:18:17:21
Speaker 2
Yeah. And, you know, once we've seen them for that long, you know, and then, like I said, one of the hard thing is sit across from their parents and figuring out where the money's going to come from. That's the one thing that I always try to me I'm like oh my god you guys are going to borrow some money from his dad.

00:18:18:00 - 00:18:19:14
Speaker 1
Yeah. Tell me about that process.

00:18:19:14 - 00:18:20:01
Speaker 2
That I did.

00:18:20:01 - 00:18:24:12
Speaker 1
That. Yeah. Talk to me about that process. Like especially the motion that goes into what are the things.

00:18:24:12 - 00:18:30:23
Speaker 2
I think one thing is that we don't we don't want to spend $2 million to build a building like a Zaxby's or, you know.

00:18:31:04 - 00:18:31:19
Speaker 3
Yeah.

00:18:31:21 - 00:18:46:09
Speaker 2
Some of the other place we don't we don't care about that kind of money. We care about them really wanting to do it. So if you can get in for a couple hundred thousand, three, 400, maybe then if you can get out of there and pay, you know, back, we feel like you should be able to do it because you've already done it.

00:18:47:06 - 00:18:57:18
Speaker 2
And so you know, like I said, when you've got money from somebody else like a mortgage is never an option. Like a parent wants to mortgage their house against. And I'm like absolutely.

00:18:57:20 - 00:18:58:19
Speaker 3
You say no way.

00:18:58:19 - 00:18:59:18
Speaker 1
Yeah. Don't do it.

00:19:00:00 - 00:19:00:13
Speaker 3
Don't do.

00:19:00:13 - 00:19:05:02
Speaker 1
It. That why is it so easy for y'all to say that? Like, why is it so easy for y'all to talk folks off?

00:19:05:05 - 00:19:23:07
Speaker 2
Because I mean, it's like it's, you know, one out of ten restaurants make it. And it's like, now we got a pretty good spot with, even the SBA, you know, they're like, oh my is their their ratio is pretty good. They usually make it so you can get some money from them. But it's it's just such a tough business.

00:19:23:07 - 00:19:31:15
Speaker 2
I mean, it's, you know, and it's only about, you know, doesn't matter what you are. Doesn't matter about us. Every store is about whoever's running that store because we're not there.

00:19:31:19 - 00:19:48:10
Speaker 1
Yeah, yeah, it takes a lot of grit. That what for folks who don't maybe understand the hospitality business. Tell me a little bit about what are the parts that are hard that don't always make it on TV. Like what is it? Yeah, yeah. What are the things that you're like, hey, man, these are you got a gut check your cell phone.

00:19:48:12 - 00:19:57:05
Speaker 4
Well, I think, you know, I think sometimes the the same things that are that are reward of the business are also a challenge of the business. So

00:19:57:05 - 00:20:13:18
Speaker 4
employees, employees are a freaking nightmare a lot of times. Right. There's like, if you have 50 employees, you got 49 headaches a day. But on the reverse side, employees are also the magic of the business and the

00:20:13:18 - 00:20:14:10
Speaker 4
relationships.

00:20:14:10 - 00:20:29:19
Speaker 4
And you saw it in there today, right? We they're great. They're awesome. But a lot of times they're a pain in the ass. The hours, the hours of a restaurant a lot of times are challenging. You know, you're all of our friends around the lake on the 4th of July. Well, not us.

00:20:29:19 - 00:20:33:00
Speaker 3
Yeah, we're barbecuing the smoker.

00:20:33:02 - 00:20:56:05
Speaker 4
But but them, you know, Monday afternoon at 1:00 in the afternoon, we're out playing golf or out on the river, you know, so the hours can be challenging, but but also having, a business that's open for, you know, 16 hours a day, it gives you a whole lot of little leniency with, with the schedule, which I think is really, really good.

00:20:56:07 - 00:20:57:16
Speaker 4
And so, yeah, I.

00:20:57:16 - 00:20:59:04
Speaker 1
Think how about on the.

00:20:59:06 - 00:21:01:10
Speaker 4
The, the, the,

00:21:01:12 - 00:21:21:15
Speaker 2
Customers and the landlords, it's, I mean, there's the, the food purveyors, everything is like, you know, there's so many things that can go wrong. And if you get upset about something, you just you're almost done. You can't get mad at the truck driver because he didn't load the truck. If you didn't get something in there, and it's like the landlord's going to be, you know, he's going to be who he is.

00:21:21:15 - 00:21:22:10
Speaker 2
He wants his money.

00:21:22:10 - 00:21:24:00
Speaker 3
Yeah, yeah.

00:21:24:02 - 00:21:39:00
Speaker 1
Yeah. We sell. Yeah. It's kind of a we sell y'all. Obviously y'all involved in it. Thank you for that. Like, what I noticed about the business and that's, you know, this I grew up and, you know, helping my mother in the restaurants and stuff, too. It's a living, breathing thing at all times. There's not a, like, turn it over.

00:21:39:01 - 00:21:54:10
Speaker 1
Here's a template. You're just punching out a widget, you know, because even that meat, it's not like you just said it and forget it. Y'all were tending to it nonstop and, you know, but I imagine that's the magic in it. Can you talk to me about the art of business? Like those things that aren't ones and zeros?

00:21:54:10 - 00:22:09:17
Speaker 2
You know, one, you got to stand behind your product, whatever you put out there. And it's like if if somebody doesn't like it, you should give them their money back. If it's if it's something we did wrong was apologizing because, yeah, you know, things can get too salty. A lot of human error. And when you're cooking from scratch.

00:22:09:19 - 00:22:25:16
Speaker 2
So you know what, you figure out what the problem is. And then it's like all of a sudden if it's if they just don't like it because you use too much salt, you give them the money back. So don't write a Yelp review on you. There's a fine balance there. And that's like the usually the cook doesn't get that part of it.

00:22:25:20 - 00:22:31:02
Speaker 2
But when you have somebody else around it's a haze. Guys really unhappy. It's like do whatever.

00:22:31:07 - 00:22:35:05
Speaker 1
Just make it right and keep making it right. Yeah. Kind of not worth the extra things there.

00:22:35:07 - 00:22:46:22
Speaker 4
We were talking about this morning. Some about a restaurant seems to be kind of this dreamy business and somewhat of an easy business as a spectator, like, oh, I can grill.

00:22:47:00 - 00:22:47:15
Speaker 3
Yeah.

00:22:47:17 - 00:23:13:17
Speaker 4
I grill the best barbecue. I'm going to start Johnny's Burgers. But but that's just not really what it's about at all. It's not really the best. The best cook survives. It helps. But there's but the, you know, the intricacies behind running a business and understanding what what's the you know, how do you work within this budget? What is the customer after?

00:23:13:19 - 00:23:25:04
Speaker 4
You know, what is what kind of what kind of staffing are you going to work with? All those all those different factors are just so important to play into a successful business model. I think.

00:23:25:06 - 00:23:37:02
Speaker 2
I think for us, too, is being able to run a business where you're not managing 50 people, you only managed 5 or 6 people a day. That makes it a lot easier than having, you know, just to many people work around you.

00:23:37:04 - 00:23:40:05
Speaker 1
Y'all have a lean shop. And, I mean, you do a lot with the folks that you put in.

00:23:40:05 - 00:23:51:23
Speaker 2
That's why we're always in there, though. But it's that's how you make your money if you, you know, every time we're not in there, it's costing us another, whatever, $20 plus 3 or 4 or $5 for the, the taxes on top of it.

00:23:51:23 - 00:23:52:18
Speaker 3
So yeah.

00:23:52:23 - 00:23:55:15
Speaker 1
Yeah. No, it's a that's a comment. Yeah. You don't want to work.

00:23:55:15 - 00:23:56:22
Speaker 2
Don't get in this business world.

00:23:57:00 - 00:24:11:01
Speaker 1
I mean heck that's life in general I suppose, right. When you especially when you start a business, there's a lot of things that well, is that, something your parents instilled in you? Where did that ethic come from? Why was it why is it seem more second nature for y'all? I'm just curious about the way you both grew up.

00:24:11:01 - 00:24:13:00
Speaker 1
What was that all about it?

00:24:13:02 - 00:24:15:10
Speaker 4
My my dad was a workaholic to a fault.

00:24:15:12 - 00:24:33:11
Speaker 2
Like, my dad worked hard, but it was like I knew I could lean in. And so as soon as I got out here from from Alabama, I'm like, we don't have any options because we started it. When I think upon my wife's car to get our first trailer or to make it, you know, it's like we don't have an option, you know, it's not like we can call anybody and get extra money.

00:24:33:11 - 00:24:48:09
Speaker 2
So we, you know, we were you know, did is for as little money as possible. Had some that was great. It just kept pushing it. Not trying to open a store on the mountain in Vail after our first year, you know, we got into this little store without a kitchen and and then we went to here, went to here.

00:24:49:20 - 00:24:53:11
Speaker 2
I think people that worked for us get that too. They understand that ethic of it.

00:24:53:13 - 00:25:01:01
Speaker 1
They can see it and feel it. And how about you Jeff. You and a is it. Dad was a workaholic to a fault meaning like no play at all. That's kind of his way.

00:25:01:01 - 00:25:01:18
Speaker 4
But I think he's a.

00:25:01:18 - 00:25:06:04
Speaker 2
Rocket scientist, for Christ's sakes. You guys see that? We don't do anything.

00:25:06:06 - 00:25:17:03
Speaker 4
You know, he worked his whole life working up a ladder. And and I think I was just around that and just just thought that that's what you do. You just work your ass off.

00:25:17:03 - 00:25:18:01
Speaker 3
Yeah, yeah.

00:25:18:03 - 00:25:20:08
Speaker 4
And. Yeah, I still believe that, you know?

00:25:20:13 - 00:25:20:19
Speaker 2
Yeah, we.

00:25:20:19 - 00:25:22:22
Speaker 4
What makes it all makes it with the play.

00:25:22:22 - 00:25:33:02
Speaker 2
But, you know, you think you're not going to work one day, and that's the day you're going to be in that damn kitchen. Allardyce you better dress for it. You can't you can't dress up just to be out there talking to people because you're going to get dirty in there.

00:25:33:02 - 00:25:55:21
Speaker 4
Yeah I do believe that you know the country I think this country is built on it's built on hard work. Right. And I think it's I think Covid I hate to hate to put anything but but Covid magnified and and instigated some lack of work ethic and, and I think the country we just need to all get back to hey, we work hard.

00:25:55:21 - 00:26:12:11
Speaker 4
We play hard. It's what makes America work, right? It's it's not just playing hard. It's not just sleeping in. It's not just on your phone trying to get rich doing social media. You know, that works for 1 in 1,000,000,000. But it's just the country. We're just a bad ass country because we work hard there.

00:26:12:11 - 00:26:21:13
Speaker 1
You can go grit your way through the the American dream. I think that the part that there is as much like I see what y'all built with Mose and a lot of people would look at it the same way you get.

00:26:21:13 - 00:26:31:10
Speaker 2
To leave lead the dream, though, because of what you've done for us and what the military's done for us all last year, because we don't have to worry about that. Can you imagine being somewhere where you had to worry about somebody else coming in.

00:26:31:10 - 00:26:32:03
Speaker 3
And, yeah.

00:26:32:05 - 00:26:46:13
Speaker 1
No, I well, I, I mean, it's funny that I think that's a two way street for sure, because I think for a lot of the boys and gals overseas and doing that, doing nations bidding is a lot of the like. I wanted to see Mose around for a little longer because that's a place that's worth protecting, you know, those kind of things.

00:26:46:15 - 00:26:49:14
Speaker 1
But I think you're right. I think that's key to our country's DNA.

00:26:49:17 - 00:26:50:12
Speaker 2
Right. Exactly.

00:26:50:14 - 00:27:00:03
Speaker 1
You know, it might be a little bit of a weird statement I might make here, but it is a country that's bred out of. We're a bit of these rebels with a cause, you know, like that's how this country was.

00:27:00:05 - 00:27:00:16
Speaker 2
Ended in the.

00:27:00:16 - 00:27:03:06
Speaker 3
War, you know? So just playing, you know.

00:27:03:06 - 00:27:13:10
Speaker 1
Like, you know what I mean. Like he in it like there's that fighting spirit. And I think when you lose it, you kind of lose the essence of what this country's all about. And I sell y'all out there just. It's so cool, man. Like a bunch of happy warriors.

00:27:13:10 - 00:27:17:01
Speaker 3
Soot smoke. Hey, you know, just.

00:27:17:01 - 00:27:18:22
Speaker 1
But getting after it, man. Now I'm standing.

00:27:18:22 - 00:27:28:09
Speaker 2
For us now, and I know it's for him, too. It's like it's not the money. It's the gratification. Instant gratification. It's my telling me how good it is because it's. And I mean, it makes you feel so damn good.

00:27:28:11 - 00:27:44:16
Speaker 1
Somebody said that today. I think it's. You know what it was, Michael. It was. Oh, it was Michael that said that we cut through. I think it was, a couple of us on the team turn into one of y'all's pieces of turkey. And it was at that pause you get where you could tell you just changed everybody's world.

00:27:44:17 - 00:27:56:07
Speaker 1
Like, I hadn't eaten a piece of that like that. And Michael goes, that's why we do it. He said something because that's why we that's how we do it. Me right. And that's cool. That's cool to work that hard for that five second moment.

00:27:56:10 - 00:28:03:13
Speaker 2
You know, I think for us to got we got so big so quick. And I feel like we've always kind of been like, hey, what are we going to do? What the hell's going.

00:28:03:13 - 00:28:05:16
Speaker 3
To take us? It's like.

00:28:05:18 - 00:28:21:07
Speaker 2
Oh my God, we you know, this happened to us without us really. You know, trying to it's not we had a big venture capitalist group behind us giving us all the money. We wanted to try to make something pop. We made it pop without them. And then and now it's like, Holy shit, what do we have? Yeah, we're going to make it.

00:28:21:09 - 00:28:28:03
Speaker 1
Is it hard to keep grounded, or do you feel like this is part of y'all's DNA that you don't get? Let it get too big in your head?

00:28:28:05 - 00:28:30:21
Speaker 2
Just, man, I don't for sure.

00:28:30:23 - 00:28:31:07
Speaker 3
Yeah.

00:28:31:10 - 00:28:45:07
Speaker 4
You know, I, I don't, I don't I mean, I think I'm super proud of what we've done, and I think we're super fortunate and and all the things. But, I mean, it's just we're just doing our part.

00:28:45:11 - 00:28:46:00
Speaker 3
Yeah.

00:28:46:00 - 00:28:47:03
Speaker 4
You know, it's nothing to it.

00:28:47:03 - 00:28:49:01
Speaker 2
This. It's literally about each other.

00:28:49:01 - 00:28:51:17
Speaker 4
Really proud of you. Be proud of what you do and.

00:28:51:19 - 00:29:10:11
Speaker 2
Each store and their community. It's what it is. Because to me, community is having a great restaurant and keeping the prices right and providing great food. And then when you could do it like we do, and the to get on the other side of it and donate as much as you can and do that. And that probably happened after we got pretty successful.

00:29:10:13 - 00:29:20:03
Speaker 2
And I think that's one thing that's like, you know, a new store, if you're not making it, you really can't help out as much as like our group game because this is our store and we also own the franchise.

00:29:20:03 - 00:29:21:02
Speaker 3
Yeah.

00:29:21:04 - 00:29:30:14
Speaker 1
Wouldn't you guys think about happiness, like being content with your life? How has it changed from when you were first starting to now? Has it changed?

00:29:30:16 - 00:29:33:09
Speaker 2
We can breathe.

00:29:33:11 - 00:29:34:21
Speaker 3
Yeah, we were day.

00:29:34:21 - 00:29:37:00
Speaker 4
Off back there.

00:29:37:02 - 00:29:41:04
Speaker 2
Back there. We would we would turn down any party. And it was always kind of a thing there.

00:29:41:05 - 00:29:43:20
Speaker 3
Turned down any parties. It never I mean.

00:29:44:00 - 00:29:57:15
Speaker 2
And we would, we would literally I'd go to bed two after getting everything prepped up, but no one had to get up at six and thinking, how am I going to sleep for these 3 or 4 hours? It's like, because you think about it all the time. You think about what you got to start with the next day.

00:29:57:18 - 00:30:01:05
Speaker 2
Yeah, but it's, it's been. We were fortunate.

00:30:01:07 - 00:30:03:06
Speaker 3
Yeah, yeah.

00:30:03:08 - 00:30:40:23
Speaker 4
One thing, one thing. Now that I did, I don't take for granted is like, today, a well-honed, complete staff in the restaurant. I just don't take that for granted anymore. And but when it does show up, you know, if I get my work done, I think one of my one of my ways of fulfillment through the business is that, oh, if everything's good, then I'm going to go do my best, you know, take advantage of we've put the work in and and if it's, if it's noon on a Friday and and everything looks good, then hell, we deserve to go.

00:30:41:01 - 00:30:43:03
Speaker 4
Yeah. Enjoy Friday afternoon. Right.

00:30:43:05 - 00:30:43:14
Speaker 1
Did that.

00:30:43:20 - 00:30:45:02
Speaker 4
And that took a long time. I was.

00:30:45:02 - 00:30:46:03
Speaker 3
Going to say that took a long.

00:30:46:03 - 00:30:48:02
Speaker 4
Time to talk to you because we're today here.

00:30:48:02 - 00:30:48:15
Speaker 3
At 12.

00:30:48:15 - 00:30:54:11
Speaker 1
Yeah, yeah. Not only to earn it, but also to be okay doing it. Okay. Because you're also wired to be like,

00:30:54:12 - 00:30:55:11
Speaker 2
I'm still not cow.

00:30:55:11 - 00:30:56:10
Speaker 4
I need to work. I need to.

00:30:56:10 - 00:30:57:21
Speaker 3
Work.

00:30:57:23 - 00:31:04:03
Speaker 2
Yeah, but the days are early. Is like, I'm at work today is like when your staff comes in and they're awesome. Like, yeah, we all need you here. Get out of here.

00:31:04:05 - 00:31:05:22
Speaker 3
Yeah, yeah.

00:31:05:23 - 00:31:11:00
Speaker 2
That's like, I can't wait to get out of that one. I got to go do this. You have to stay till 2 or 3.

00:31:11:01 - 00:31:26:21
Speaker 1
In the early days of family, for example, how do you balance all that, especially in this industry? Yeah. You're just man. You're grinding it out all the time. Especially when folks are when you guys are open, when everybody else is trying to have a good time. How's that work? How do you balance at all?

00:31:26:23 - 00:31:37:08
Speaker 4
Well, I think for me, one one thing that was probably by the time, my, my wife, stopped working so that she could feel.

00:31:37:08 - 00:31:38:10
Speaker 2
The tone for our.

00:31:38:12 - 00:31:58:14
Speaker 4
For our crazy stage, what he did. But but for for us to be able to. Because, you know, if 50 stores were on the road, I mean, we're working. So today, for example, you saw me disappear out to the office. I've got a couple meetings going on here. The restaurant putting out catering, meeting with you.

00:31:58:14 - 00:31:59:11
Speaker 1
Guys.

00:31:59:13 - 00:32:02:20
Speaker 2
Have the damn UPS car that I missed again. So.

00:32:02:22 - 00:32:32:02
Speaker 4
So, you know, a lot of different things going on. And I think that I think we noticed it as a family when the, when the kids were younger and we got to a spot where we made just enough money where she could stop working and really focus on the family needs and the household needs to allow us to because, I mean, I will and Mike and I or, you know, like he said, we have been here's the glue that holds us together.

00:32:32:02 - 00:32:34:18
Speaker 4
He and I are the loose eight ball.

00:32:34:20 - 00:32:35:07
Speaker 2
We're like.

00:32:35:12 - 00:32:38:12
Speaker 4
But I mean, I will, you know, literally by.

00:32:38:14 - 00:32:39:23
Speaker 2
Hunting moose up in Alaska right.

00:32:39:23 - 00:32:40:14
Speaker 3
Now for a year.

00:32:40:18 - 00:32:42:00
Speaker 1
And it's so good on him and.

00:32:42:00 - 00:32:43:01
Speaker 2
God he can do that.

00:32:43:06 - 00:32:47:08
Speaker 4
Yeah, literally buy a plane ticket this afternoon to fly out tomorrow morning.

00:32:47:08 - 00:32:47:20
Speaker 3
Wow.

00:32:47:20 - 00:32:51:07
Speaker 4
Well, many times, you know. Yeah. And so many.

00:32:51:07 - 00:32:56:08
Speaker 2
Times he flies around and has to build the rest of the restaurants so we can get open for me to get there the.

00:32:56:08 - 00:32:58:00
Speaker 3
Next week.

00:32:58:02 - 00:33:00:01
Speaker 2
I'll do it.

00:33:00:03 - 00:33:20:19
Speaker 1
No, I think that's a that's the thing that, I suppose, of you, that's another way to set the example right, which I think is not always easy to do because I think you being, a workaholic to the nth degree and your teammates never see you go emulate what life purpose look like outside the restaurant. That's also part of being a good owner, I imagine it is.

00:33:20:19 - 00:33:29:21
Speaker 2
And especially when they're young and they have they want to have family. So it's like, you know, give them our model a little bit, but it's like still make make time for whatever you need.

00:33:29:23 - 00:33:30:16
Speaker 3
Yeah.

00:33:30:18 - 00:33:46:08
Speaker 2
Even if you plugged in on a Sunday. Yeah. So you go to church, you can do whatever you need to do. Yes. With your family and a lot of, a lot of restaurants start off doing that because it's so hectic at first. It's like just as soon as you get more relaxed, you get a better staff. Then you start opening more on Sundays.

00:33:46:10 - 00:33:55:08
Speaker 2
Is Chris open on Sundays. Yeah. Michael's brother. No no no. Yeah. You got two young kids or you've got one young with another on the way. Like just be comfortable with it.

00:33:55:10 - 00:33:59:09
Speaker 1
Wow. That's incredible. Know I mean that's a well that's a different thing.

00:33:59:09 - 00:34:06:04
Speaker 2
The, the most important thing whoever's doing is happy. If they're not happy and they're working too hard, they're not going to make it.

00:34:06:06 - 00:34:08:05
Speaker 1
Yeah. That feels good. Burn out quick. Yeah.

00:34:08:07 - 00:34:29:06
Speaker 4
Yeah I think balance and you know balance is a big buzz word I think these days of how do you how do you balance things. And yeah, you never really balance it. But it but it is just so important to, to figure out what works individually and for your family because you know, your family, God, wife, family need to come first.

00:34:29:08 - 00:34:39:17
Speaker 4
And, and I think a lot of times, and we're definitely guilty of the rat race of America. You know, you get in that freaking hamster wheel of Mo's barbecue for us and.

00:34:39:19 - 00:34:51:15
Speaker 2
Start looking at the numbers like, one more day. Yeah, family's more money. Because all that goes to profit because you're already paying rent. So the nuts already been taken care of. And it's like, you know, you start thinking about that. It's like, oh.

00:34:51:17 - 00:34:55:06
Speaker 1
Yeah, it gets it's kind of an addiction. Yeah. There's an addictive nature to it.

00:34:55:06 - 00:35:14:08
Speaker 2
Right. And one thing for us, we're always so concerned about the value of the product that we're slow always to raise prices, knowing you're paying your people that much more money. And it's like, you know, there's a balance there to how you run your business and raise the price. And that's what Jeff does. Well, he talks to them about their money a lot more than I talk to him about food.

00:35:14:10 - 00:35:15:05
Speaker 2
So about the money.

00:35:15:11 - 00:35:19:02
Speaker 1
Like how to take care of their own money in their own house type thing, or you talking about.

00:35:19:04 - 00:35:19:22
Speaker 2
You know, how to run a.

00:35:19:22 - 00:35:35:04
Speaker 1
Business that way is part of it. Yeah, that makes sense. How do you just talk a little shop for a second? Like how how is barbecue different than almost any other kind of food business? Restaurant business from a, from an economics perspective? Because it just seems to me that it's I think.

00:35:35:06 - 00:35:46:22
Speaker 2
It's a lot more relaxed because you spend three hours cooking and then you spend three hours dishing it out. So it's not a mind game where cook me two chickens cooked me to to this, to that. Yeah.

00:35:47:00 - 00:35:47:12
Speaker 3
Yeah.

00:35:47:14 - 00:35:48:20
Speaker 2
Make me a chicken sandwich.

00:35:49:02 - 00:35:50:01
Speaker 3
Cut me some work.

00:35:50:01 - 00:36:12:05
Speaker 2
So it's so much more relaxed that it's not, you know, it's not too it's such a hectic thing. And you got these tables turning over and you know, barbecue kind of is, is an all day event. And one thing about barbecue is like the blues is for people is for everybody old, young, whatever. So you have the town and the older people know to come in at 2 to 3 or 4:00 when it's not so hectic.

00:36:12:07 - 00:36:16:23
Speaker 2
And but it's just like managing what's going on around you.

00:36:17:01 - 00:36:17:17
Speaker 3
Yeah.

00:36:17:19 - 00:36:22:21
Speaker 1
When do you see Jeff. When you were like when I, when I saw you kind of, working in there with the

00:36:22:23 - 00:36:25:20
Speaker 2
Holy shit. We got. No, we got a catering going out right now.

00:36:26:00 - 00:36:35:10
Speaker 1
Yeah, well, it sounds like y'all got pumped about that. That sounds kind of like, you know, when you do catering or big events. Apparently, I did a wedding, you know, like being barbecued. Wedding is my kind of wedding.

00:36:35:12 - 00:36:46:05
Speaker 2
You know, when that 0809 came around and that that was, you know, a lot of people didn't have the money they had. So everybody went from the country to a wedding to us in a field somewhere doing a wedding. Yeah. And they loved.

00:36:46:05 - 00:36:47:06
Speaker 1
It. Catering most.

00:36:47:06 - 00:36:52:04
Speaker 2
Money. We would do it for 14 or $15 a head where it cost you $100. The head of the country.

00:36:52:07 - 00:36:56:22
Speaker 1
Is catering kind of a good thing for the business, or is it a hassle? It's a good thing. It's a good thing, is it?

00:36:56:23 - 00:37:03:00
Speaker 4
We're just cooking a little more. We don't we don't really go off script for for our catering. We keep it simple and it's easy.

00:37:03:00 - 00:37:05:14
Speaker 1
A couple more ribs and more chicken and your.

00:37:05:14 - 00:37:19:11
Speaker 2
Labor kind of stays the same. So when you start your business, it's like if you can build your catering up and your business, that's what we have here. We don't have a huge bar business here. Yeah, but if we can, the people that can get the catering going and their bar going, it's pretty damn profitable.

00:37:19:13 - 00:37:21:16
Speaker 1
You even good business.

00:37:21:18 - 00:37:23:04
Speaker 4
At the financial side.

00:37:23:06 - 00:37:23:20
Speaker 3
Yeah, the.

00:37:23:20 - 00:37:57:10
Speaker 4
Financial side too. I think in general we're taking kind of a lesser priced product. You know, we're taking the pork, but we're taking in the chickens. Turkey. It's and but then we're, we're spending more money on the handling of the product. You know, it's taking us a little more labor to take a $1. 29 a pound piece of meat and ultimately charge $15 for it, where a lot a lot of restaurants, hospitality is, is looking for this X amount, X percentage to be food cost.

00:37:57:12 - 00:38:24:03
Speaker 4
You know, we need our food cost me a little bit below that, because we know we're putting the human resource power into making that product. Right. So you saw today there was there's a handful of people working in there. Not a lot but but certainly a handful. And so it was so our our model is just a touch of but it's it it really works because it's the you know taking those lesser cuts of meat and making and preparing them correctly.

00:38:24:05 - 00:38:26:23
Speaker 4
And then it's just comfort food. Yeah. You know, it's just really.

00:38:26:23 - 00:38:42:20
Speaker 2
It's just food. Nobody's dying in there. It's like they're waiting a little bit longer and give them the money back because like, you know, nobody should get upset in there because it's like, you know, it's community coming in there. You're not going in there for business meeting because it's so loud. You saw it was in there, people just coming in and hanging out with each other.

00:38:42:22 - 00:38:56:20
Speaker 1
Yeah. Well, I will say back home in Texas, yes, I appreciate that. We do a barbecue probably 2 or 3 times a week and a lot of business meetings over barbecue. It's actually where you sniff somebody out like a young girl. First of all, it's like, are you can say yes or no to my barbecue meeting, especially you coming out of state.

00:38:56:22 - 00:38:57:20
Speaker 1
You always.

00:38:57:22 - 00:38:58:21
Speaker 2
Go home. If you go.

00:38:58:21 - 00:38:59:13
Speaker 1
To a barbecue.

00:38:59:14 - 00:39:02:02
Speaker 2
There's smells like smoke. They gotta wash it the next day.

00:39:02:02 - 00:39:12:21
Speaker 1
Yeah. So you can bring them in and you watch what they order. Nice. Yeah. You watch what they order and they're ordering brisket or ridge. Okay. All right, I maybe I can have a combo with this person. But if they go out there and order something of.

00:39:13:00 - 00:39:15:18
Speaker 3
Turkey or something from.

00:39:15:20 - 00:39:17:18
Speaker 1
Turkey, that might be different. Yeah, I know I'm.

00:39:17:20 - 00:39:21:07
Speaker 3
Yeah, they're out there ordering the, who do you.

00:39:21:07 - 00:39:26:01
Speaker 4
Use for your business? Barbecue catering in Texas.

00:39:26:01 - 00:39:32:18
Speaker 1
Well, we got it. I don't know about the on the catering side of the house. I mean, blacks is one that people use a lot, and they've done a really good job.

00:39:32:19 - 00:39:34:14
Speaker 2
You said that one came out of,

00:39:34:16 - 00:39:36:15
Speaker 1
Lockhart. Yeah, it came out of Lockhart two.

00:39:36:16 - 00:39:38:01
Speaker 2
Business in Lockhart.

00:39:38:03 - 00:40:01:03
Speaker 1
Yeah. Terry Black's grandfather started blacks. Wow. And then actually, Terry Black became a CPA, and his kids were ones like, hey, dad, you know, we both, I think two sons and daughter. The daughter sounds like been the two sons. And like y'all. And they they both said, hey, dad, we'd love to get back into the barbecue business like grandpa did.

00:40:01:05 - 00:40:01:10
Speaker 1
And he's.

00:40:01:10 - 00:40:02:11
Speaker 2
How old are they now?

00:40:02:13 - 00:40:18:14
Speaker 1
They're. I think they're in their early 30s. Oh, now. So he's like, we'd like to go do that. So his father goes, all right, well, we made a lot of money with the CPA firm out front. This if y'all can prove it out and whatever. Cool. They named the business after the father. You know them. So it's a lot of just, like, built in legacy there.

00:40:18:14 - 00:40:23:22
Speaker 1
They want to do him right. And everything else is legacy. That's oh totally man.

00:40:24:00 - 00:40:24:03
Speaker 3
Yeah.

00:40:24:05 - 00:40:26:08
Speaker 2
Change pictures on the wall like this.

00:40:26:10 - 00:40:29:15
Speaker 3
Leaving just like. Well, I saw all your art in there, man. Yeah, I saw.

00:40:29:15 - 00:40:32:10
Speaker 1
All your art in there today. I was like, who made all this stuff?

00:40:32:10 - 00:40:38:09
Speaker 3
Yeah. Who's to show their studio? That's the. Yeah, that's that's my all the fish art in there.

00:40:38:11 - 00:40:40:08
Speaker 2
That's why I got sick of concerts. Can hang out.

00:40:40:08 - 00:40:40:21
Speaker 3
Anymore.

00:40:41:01 - 00:40:46:12
Speaker 4
What's the best day? Well, what's the best day for you now when you catch it.

00:40:46:15 - 00:41:03:12
Speaker 2
Yeah. Oh, yeah. I can't go out on a boat and I'll catch a fish. I'll take it. I'll clean them up. I'll dry them. I'll paint the fish. Put a piece of canvas out to pull the image off of it. Really play them, cook and eat them. It's a huge day for me. That's the best day of my life.

00:41:03:14 - 00:41:07:12
Speaker 3
Catch him paying him attention. VaynerMedia man.

00:41:07:14 - 00:41:12:03
Speaker 1
Oh my God, we're going to have to get you boys down. I just curious, you know, you guys go to Texas sometimes right after you.

00:41:12:03 - 00:41:14:01
Speaker 2
Yeah, I ran through there a couple times a year.

00:41:14:06 - 00:41:15:19
Speaker 1
Yeah. No, it's,

00:41:15:21 - 00:41:25:17
Speaker 2
But now I love it. But, you know, you know, I usually start at the top of Dallas, but I love Texas, and it's like, I have so much respect for Texas that people come to us like, yeah, I'm like.

00:41:25:19 - 00:41:38:19
Speaker 1
We'll be fine. No. Yeah. No, I love what you guys are doing. I think when you all doing is special, the one thing I'll do a little plug in for Texas weather just because I got to Alabama guys here. So maybe it'll be a way that we continue to build world peace together. I'll have some really prideful states.

00:41:38:19 - 00:41:38:23
Speaker 1
Yeah.

00:41:39:03 - 00:41:40:11
Speaker 3
Oh, you have that. Yeah.

00:41:40:13 - 00:41:46:23
Speaker 1
The other thing that's interesting, I, I've described this to somebody else the other day. It's actually foreign foreign person. And I was just

00:41:46:23 - 00:41:56:11
Speaker 1
like, what's beautiful about Texas is like, my wife's from Michigan. I will never even if I moved to Michigan, I'll never be in Michigan. I didn't grow up there. One from there, even if I got a license.

00:41:56:11 - 00:42:06:05
Speaker 1
Driver's license said it. But with Texas, you can just choose to be a Texan. It's like being an American. Like if you want to be a Texan, you're here. You're now a Texan. It's just like a state of mind.

00:42:06:05 - 00:42:12:21
Speaker 2
That's right. And that's why I think about the South. It's like, if you're from the South, you're a Southerner. Yeah, you're not a Texan, but Texas sort of their own country.

00:42:13:23 - 00:42:15:14
Speaker 3
Got a different way of doing they. Well, we.

00:42:15:14 - 00:42:39:04
Speaker 1
Have a lot of respect for it. I think the, there's a guy named Brant. Lately, he's been on the, he's had runs a little distillery, and down in driftwood, Texas, outside of Austin, 30 minutes outside of Austin. And, he's just from the outside looking in. It looks like unbridled pride. But the reality of it is especially like places like Alabama, you know, other places like, you know, maybe the Carolinas, when you meet other states that are is prideful about where they're from.

00:42:39:06 - 00:42:46:23
Speaker 1
There is that mutual respect that happens because I think it's like, if you're going to be here, be here like be from this place, drink the Kool-Aid and let's go.

00:42:47:01 - 00:42:47:07
Speaker 3
See the.

00:42:47:10 - 00:42:48:03
Speaker 1
Y'all's barbecue.

00:42:48:04 - 00:42:51:15
Speaker 2
He's moving out to South or to Texas or to Colorado.

00:42:51:20 - 00:42:54:03
Speaker 3
Yeah. No, we got some good friends from Ohio.

00:42:54:03 - 00:42:54:22
Speaker 1
That are down here. I mean,

00:42:54:22 - 00:43:07:19
Speaker 1
they root in Colorado high state, but I always give them great weather. They give me like. But look, we ain't living there. I asked a guy one time, I said, man, why do you guys do some of the most unruly fans I've ever met? I was like, why do you guys cheer so hard for Ohio State?

00:43:07:21 - 00:43:08:17
Speaker 1
The Ohio State?

00:43:08:20 - 00:43:10:00
Speaker 2
Oh, they have.

00:43:10:02 - 00:43:12:05
Speaker 3
That little buddy of mine, this guy.

00:43:12:05 - 00:43:16:19
Speaker 1
Man, he told me so plain born and raised in Ohio. And he goes, man. Because that's all we got. That's all.

00:43:16:19 - 00:43:19:07
Speaker 3
Like, there's not much to it

00:43:19:07 - 00:43:20:12
Speaker 3
so far. I know we got a horse.

00:43:20:12 - 00:43:23:18
Speaker 2
Next time on with Bama because soon we'll play y'all there.

00:43:23:20 - 00:43:24:04
Speaker 3
Yeah.

00:43:24:04 - 00:43:29:06
Speaker 2
And here and now we'll go down there and check you out. And you go. I'll come up and hang out with us in Tuscaloosa.

00:43:29:06 - 00:43:29:14
Speaker 3
Because well I.

00:43:29:15 - 00:43:42:16
Speaker 1
Can't I can't wait to come see Game Man. I mean, you guys have got me inspired to go see the Crimson do some things. But for my house folks out there, we still love you to death. It's just just so you know, there's a lot of folks moving to Texas from all that.

00:43:42:18 - 00:43:43:15
Speaker 3
Yeah. And I.

00:43:43:15 - 00:43:45:14
Speaker 1
Think, I don't know if it's for the weather because it's hot as.

00:43:45:14 - 00:43:48:03
Speaker 2
Heck for the weather, for the economics. I'm pretty sure in.

00:43:48:03 - 00:43:48:20
Speaker 3
The Texas.

00:43:48:20 - 00:43:50:14
Speaker 1
It's, there's quite a bit I.

00:43:50:14 - 00:43:53:17
Speaker 2
Mean, it's like you can't you can't take care of the whole world.

00:43:53:21 - 00:43:54:18
Speaker 3
Yeah.

00:43:54:20 - 00:44:03:16
Speaker 1
Give me let me. While we're on that subject, I'm curious, what gives you hopeful about the future of the country, like, just in general, especially when it comes to small business. Like, what gives you hope or what gives you fear?

00:44:03:19 - 00:44:24:13
Speaker 2
No, I think it is. I think that we went through so much with the last administration and the way the world was kind of changing to forward towards the left and, you know, and it's remains to be seen because the guy that's about to run for mayor in New York, our country can't believe that socialism and communism is great because it's, you know, it's a capitalist society is Judeo-Christian society.

00:44:24:15 - 00:44:30:06
Speaker 2
And I think that with all those things coming back in right now, I don't think we'll go back so hard to it.

00:44:30:08 - 00:44:36:23
Speaker 1
Interesting. You feel the same way Jeff. Oh but do you vote on you feel hopeful though about the future. Is that what you say. Yeah. Okay. All right. This is.

00:44:37:00 - 00:44:40:06
Speaker 4
Weird. Are you asking like on a business level or.

00:44:40:09 - 00:44:41:19
Speaker 3
Thought about it.

00:44:41:21 - 00:44:50:04
Speaker 1
In general, but maybe even more so think about your kids. Like do you feel like they're going into a world that you feel like is going to be as good as it was for y'all?

00:44:50:06 - 00:45:07:17
Speaker 4
Well, it's different. I think it will continue to be different. And it's hard as as old times, you start thinking, I'm started to think, you know, you start thinking about the little things about your parents that you're like, that was quirky. And now I'm like, I'm quirky like that. And now like the.

00:45:07:18 - 00:45:09:21
Speaker 3
Experiences they always have. And it's just like.

00:45:09:21 - 00:45:11:09
Speaker 4
It's just a, you know, it's a.

00:45:11:10 - 00:45:28:09
Speaker 2
I think a lot of that's about social media and not social media, but just the internet, the computers where people have so much access to so much crap going on. We're kids. You didn't know what the hell's going on. You know, there's a barbecue place somewhere around here. You go find that they didn't have a sign there. Was that social media going on.

00:45:28:09 - 00:45:30:04
Speaker 2
You just go find that. Yeah, it was good food.

00:45:30:22 - 00:45:38:09
Speaker 2
And now it's just like the so much information out there scares me a little bit. But I don't have kids but I'm just I think it's getting better.

00:45:38:11 - 00:45:39:08
Speaker 1
Reading is getting better.

00:45:39:08 - 00:45:39:18
Speaker 2
Yeah I.

00:45:39:18 - 00:45:40:18
Speaker 4
Really I so.

00:45:40:20 - 00:45:55:14
Speaker 2
I feel like we went through a time where everybody was questioning what they were doing. Even if you were religious, I mean, you were questioning, should I believe in God? I believe in Jesus because we're kind of moving away from that. And but now I think it's kind of coming back and I think that, you know, we'll see what happens.

00:45:55:16 - 00:46:12:14
Speaker 1
There's something about. Yeah. There's a humility that Joseph Cabrera's opinion. But like is humility that I think is coming back into the veins of the country, hard work and humility. And that humility being like, don't be too fancy, just go earn a living. Put food on the table for your family. If it happens to work out really well, good on you.

00:46:12:14 - 00:46:15:11
Speaker 1
But if you can't do that right, then find it.

00:46:15:11 - 00:46:20:15
Speaker 2
Take it. You know, you find that one thing that you think is going to be a good chance for you, a risk to take and you take it.

00:46:20:16 - 00:46:28:20
Speaker 1
Yeah. When you all think about the future, knows what's kind of the what is the daydream? Is there a daydream what happens decade from now? You know.

00:46:28:22 - 00:46:32:17
Speaker 2
I, I, you know, we definitely miss a little bit. I think.

00:46:32:19 - 00:46:32:21
Speaker 3
We.

00:46:32:21 - 00:46:51:08
Speaker 2
Would love for most to be the McDonald's of the Coca-Cola. When you think about it. But I'm the guy that says, man, think about your kids. I mean, they could own it without doing anything. I think it could be generational. Okay. But I also think that it's like because of our partners, it's not about us everywhere. It's about our partners everywhere, you know, what do they have going on?

00:46:51:08 - 00:47:07:09
Speaker 2
It's like we got these guys in Birmingham that have had that store for years, and their kids are starting to take it over for them, and I'm jealous. Yet because we're working so hard, they're not working so hard. But it's, you know, I think it could be a kind of a generational thing. And I've always thought barbecue's real about tradition.

00:47:07:11 - 00:47:13:04
Speaker 2
Like I said, I don't like anything to change there. Like, for it to be the same. Yeah, maybe clean the grease off a little bit, but.

00:47:13:07 - 00:47:21:21
Speaker 1
Other than that. So you think it's something they could be kind of more legacy based, more generational tradition. Yeah. And how are you, Jeff? How you feel? You wanted to.

00:47:22:01 - 00:47:51:05
Speaker 4
Well, I just want to, I want to keep, you know, aggressively growing. I think we have a I think there's a a ton of opportunity within the space. I think that good, good quality food for a value price, in a community oriented, relationship based hospitality business, I think just has enormous opportunity. And we have a really good I think we have a really good footprint, kind of in a couple regions of the country.

00:47:51:05 - 00:48:16:13
Speaker 4
And, and so I just think there's, I think that there's more that we can do. But but it's also it's, you know, it's it's become difficult with the workforce. It's it's become difficult to navigate some of those waters and understand. Okay. Well how do you really how do we really go from 50 to 100 because it's taken 25 really hard working years, and I definitely don't have 25 really hard working years ahead.

00:48:16:15 - 00:48:18:08
Speaker 3
You know. No, no, you.

00:48:18:08 - 00:48:22:02
Speaker 1
Keep it pretty good. I mean, whatever. You have water here. You both preserved.

00:48:22:04 - 00:48:30:13
Speaker 3
And selected faces. He told me we had the sun to wash. Yes. That's true. Y'all get that base coat, and it just seems like that.

00:48:30:13 - 00:48:31:10
Speaker 1
Color out of.

00:48:31:12 - 00:48:34:15
Speaker 3
Like, man or not. That's right.

00:48:34:17 - 00:48:49:05
Speaker 2
But but I believe that you know, I believe that like he says, there is huge opportunity. But how do you chase that opportunity. And I'm the guy that's like what's happening to us today? Yeah. Just out there forging forward force, which I appreciate. But it's like,

00:48:49:07 - 00:49:01:19
Speaker 1
That's pretty healthy. It sounds like you both have that healthy attention there, right? It kind of keeps things because I imagine with what y'all have built already, I'm sure there's some fancy guys in suits in Wall Street that's asked you about it, right? I imagine that's it, guys.

00:49:01:19 - 00:49:03:22
Speaker 3
Yeah. Because when you guys, if you go.

00:49:03:23 - 00:49:20:11
Speaker 2
You walk walking like this, the the made them the first time like you almost. And then we tell them how we structure, you know, our royalties. It's like we make it by sign up for six points. We're going to take four of them because we're not Ronald McDonald. We really don't know what the hell we're doing, you know, to the point we do.

00:49:20:13 - 00:49:30:08
Speaker 2
We know how to deliver a great product at a price. But it's like for us to take that much money. And I think because we own the stores, we live that same life. We see what that number would do to us.

00:49:30:08 - 00:49:31:11
Speaker 3
Yeah, yeah.

00:49:31:11 - 00:49:35:07
Speaker 1
You got, your soul's tied into it. You're not just looking at the brand, I think.

00:49:35:07 - 00:49:52:08
Speaker 2
I think so many of, like, have. Like I told you earlier, they become our friends. And then the friends first. It's like every time we go, we move up a point. It would take so much more money out of their pocket. Yeah. And it's like, you know, what do you do? The next guy, you charge him six points and it's like, yeah, I think we want to become our friends more than we do.

00:49:52:14 - 00:50:04:03
Speaker 1
You think there's a way to do it? You think there's a way to do it big? Get 250 locations across this great country and still do it the way that y'all do it today. Maybe not exacerbate the.

00:50:04:03 - 00:50:04:16
Speaker 2
Conflict.

00:50:04:22 - 00:50:09:07
Speaker 3
That half there is because there.

00:50:09:08 - 00:50:28:02
Speaker 2
Help me God. But it's like I just take it. You know, one thing we've never always done is we've never tried to sell a franchise. Every one of them have come to us and say, hey, I want to try to do the same. Oh, okay. We don't go to the the fairs to try to sell like Frank Corp or somebody like that, to try to sell a franchise and, you know, like a big profit.

00:50:28:02 - 00:50:40:15
Speaker 2
Every guy. Yeah, we're about ten franchises in Chicago. I'm like, I need one person. Let me train them and then we'll move forward from there. So that's the hard part for us. And it's because of using Whole Foods.

00:50:40:17 - 00:50:42:14
Speaker 1
Yeah. Yeah, I'm everything's fresh in there, man.

00:50:42:19 - 00:50:45:13
Speaker 2
Everything. Yeah. And it's cooked today and it's not.

00:50:45:15 - 00:50:55:08
Speaker 1
Well, you know, I didn't know this. I learned this from the blacks. I didn't know this, but apparently there's a lot of places that don't make their side at all. Oh, yeah. They just order. Man, it blew my mind. I was like, are you kidding me?

00:50:55:09 - 00:50:56:05
Speaker 4
And I that is.

00:50:56:08 - 00:51:03:00
Speaker 1
That's weird to me. I had no idea that, like his barbecue place, you're looking at the meat. You're like, clearly the potato salad is also homemade.

00:51:03:01 - 00:51:04:01
Speaker 4
Surely they make them.

00:51:04:06 - 00:51:26:15
Speaker 1
Surely to make. That's not true. I didn't know that ban and blacks are like. No. Look, one of the things we made a commitment to our kids were like, if you're going to do this in a mother, Patty, all sides must be made fresh. I told you a story today about her testing the Nana pudding after a couple of years of it being in, and she had a dear friend of hers come up and say, hey, you know, I'm not not really into the pudding anymore, because what's wrong with our recipe?

00:51:26:15 - 00:51:32:23
Speaker 1
She get some changed. And so I just show you about owners. You're just dead serious about making sure that that thing is right.

00:51:33:00 - 00:51:48:15
Speaker 2
It's part of it. It's just part about, like, what makes it great. And it makes it when you crave it, too. Because that's what we did when we started out here. They traded our food. I mean, we had people lined up so long and the people across the street that had the restaurants repair status because they're not paying the same taxes they didn't have to.

00:51:48:17 - 00:51:52:07
Speaker 2
You have all this thing and it's like, yeah, we just have good food.

00:51:52:09 - 00:51:58:14
Speaker 1
Last one, any boys? I mean, you guys been great. I mean, I talk to you guys for hours. We did talk. It's almost.

00:51:58:16 - 00:52:01:12
Speaker 3
Man, I got to. Yeah.

00:52:01:14 - 00:52:23:07
Speaker 1
Hello? Joe rogan. I'm here. One day it'll get there. I mean, well, you talk about community, y'all say it. You live it. How? Folks maybe who are out there right now understand kind of how you do community. Right. Let me preface it with something I'm saying. I think there's a lot of folks that think community just means I build businesses worth a hoot, a carve out a little donation to the Rotary Club or to the kids thing.

00:52:23:07 - 00:52:38:23
Speaker 1
And that's community seemed very different with you all. How do you actually intertwine, intertwine yourself with the community where it becomes it's clearly that place is a place that people commune. It isn't a place to just eat. How do you do it right? How do you do community, right?

00:52:39:01 - 00:52:50:16
Speaker 4
What thing? What one thing is that we give to every single person that asks. We at least give a double wide family pack gift certificate.

00:52:50:18 - 00:52:52:06
Speaker 1
And would you call it a double?

00:52:52:06 - 00:52:56:18
Speaker 4
What our family packs are a double wide and a triple wide.

00:52:56:20 - 00:53:00:22
Speaker 3
Yeah. Wait, what's included in a double wide?

00:53:01:01 - 00:53:04:22
Speaker 4
A pound of pork, two pints a sides, four pieces of bread.

00:53:04:23 - 00:53:07:01
Speaker 2
Sausage to feed somebody for $20.

00:53:07:01 - 00:53:10:07
Speaker 3
That's $30. Yes, man, I love it.

00:53:10:07 - 00:53:11:15
Speaker 4
It's for six people. Double wide for.

00:53:11:15 - 00:53:17:03
Speaker 3
Four. It's so good, man. It's at least that.

00:53:17:04 - 00:53:27:20
Speaker 2
You know, it's only like $0.30 on the dollar. So you can give away as much food. Yeah. You're the people that want cash. I was like, I don't, I don't know because, you know, it takes you almost a dollar and a half to earn that dollar back.

00:53:27:20 - 00:53:28:07
Speaker 1
Totally.

00:53:28:07 - 00:53:29:09
Speaker 2
Yeah. Everything.

00:53:29:11 - 00:53:29:23
Speaker 1
So it gives.

00:53:30:02 - 00:54:02:21
Speaker 4
People it takes participation to create a vibrant community. And this is I push this. We all do. But I really push this hard on on everyone here. My wife is like, participate in your community because that's what the community needs to remain vibrant, successful, moving forward. And that's just getting involved with whatever helping out the kids school with the rafting trip this weekend, helping out the church with this, helping out the ball league with a couple of gift certificates, whatever it is, whatever interest.

00:54:02:23 - 00:54:09:07
Speaker 2
Right we have to get goes through town. You're there bringing that. We drag that pit wherever and just help them as much as we can.

00:54:09:08 - 00:54:14:08
Speaker 1
Give people food and stuff. Yeah, it's, was awesome from the beginning. Your short about strongly about.

00:54:14:08 - 00:54:21:01
Speaker 2
It, I think because we never really advertised. We're always like, we have all this, you know, kind of our advertising budget went to.

00:54:21:02 - 00:54:22:17
Speaker 4
Community Maker's Mark.

00:54:22:19 - 00:54:26:11
Speaker 3
Yeah. Well, for the first decade.

00:54:26:13 - 00:54:30:18
Speaker 2
I don't know, just once we got a liquor license, we realized you have to make more money.

00:54:30:18 - 00:54:31:08
Speaker 3
There's spin.

00:54:31:08 - 00:54:32:21
Speaker 2
On it.

00:54:32:23 - 00:54:35:06
Speaker 3
But they got these different coping.

00:54:35:06 - 00:54:38:06
Speaker 1
Mechanisms, you know, and some people go see a consultant.

00:54:38:06 - 00:54:45:04
Speaker 2
And now we've just ever had a huge marketing campaign. So we always felt like, hey, there was money out there to, to donate.

00:54:45:06 - 00:54:46:07
Speaker 1
Interesting. Yeah.

00:54:46:07 - 00:55:05:15
Speaker 4
And it's such a barbecue is such an easy way to feed the masses. You can feed, you know, he and I can walk in the kitchen and in 20 minutes have food for 200 people. Yeah, yeah. And that, that just brings a lot to any community. That ability to feed and to bring comfort and to bring people together.

00:55:05:15 - 00:55:24:05
Speaker 4
That's what community is. And so I think barbecue in itself lends to that community feel. And I think Moe's in general has even pushed the boundaries of of that and just go we just all go above and beyond period. What what is needed from us, from our community.

00:55:24:05 - 00:55:28:06
Speaker 2
Right. It's as much as I talk about the great food is as much of that as it is great food.

00:55:28:07 - 00:55:47:07
Speaker 1
Yeah. And, you can tell and that that isn't something. Maybe y'all don't see it this way, but it takes an incredible amount of commitment and discipline to stay that course as what a lot of folks get worried. I think about my father in law all the time. He gets worried about it getting gobbled up by someone. He doesn't have that mindset because in the short term, it seems like he's getting a lot of money away.

00:55:47:07 - 00:56:03:11
Speaker 1
Would they? Don't know. And it's kind of weird because you can't do it for this reason. But I bet you it's happened. Whereas you're giving something away. Words out their mouths did a thing. People are going to be loyal to your people, coming back to eat. You know, that happens. You can't necessarily track it, but you know, it happens, right?

00:56:03:11 - 00:56:04:07
Speaker 1
It has to.

00:56:04:09 - 00:56:11:19
Speaker 2
Yeah. That's it. It's really like the over the last few weeks I've so many people I see you in the community. Thank you, thank you, thank you. Because of what you've done for the firefighter.

00:56:11:21 - 00:56:20:08
Speaker 1
The fire. Yeah. Totally. Real quick about that. What that you know, I mean, this happens y'all quite a bit unfortunately. But there's fires that happen here and you got first responders come down doing God's work.

00:56:20:08 - 00:56:44:13
Speaker 4
This this one was really it was a little bit unique because it was it was really close to home. And the first morning it just became a really special scenario because the first morning it it started getting serious. Emily and Michael, who you met this morning, put out a quick little Facebook was just like, hey, if you if you're moving out of your home or if you're helping helping our community fight this fire, come by and we'll make you lunch.

00:56:45:05 - 00:57:03:00
Speaker 4
And and that started with we just put a gift card at the register and we put $200 on it. And we're just like just feed whoever needs it. You know you only have to ask questions if they come in and they need food. Just get it for them. Within an hour of that post going out, a guy comes by the restaurant.

00:57:03:00 - 00:57:22:20
Speaker 4
This is before you even open, gives $1,000 to the call. Just a local again. Yeah, within within 70. We were asking for anything. All we're saying is come get a free lunch. The community heard it, and then the community got behind it and rallied. And within 72 hours, there was about $9,000 that people had given to this gift card.

00:57:22:22 - 00:57:37:12
Speaker 4
And so for the next 14 days, the firefighters, the displaced, homes, all these people, Moe's just became this hub of mingling and community. And it was unbelievably special.

00:57:37:15 - 00:57:41:13
Speaker 2
We didn't know they were going to go for someone special.

00:57:41:15 - 00:57:43:17
Speaker 3
We're like, is the fire still going on on.

00:57:43:19 - 00:57:47:07
Speaker 2
That BLM land? They needed to be part that. We're like, okay.

00:57:47:09 - 00:57:48:11
Speaker 4
But it it really it was.

00:57:48:11 - 00:58:04:15
Speaker 2
It was we have a lot of friends who have property up at Sweetwater. What was the community that was really, you know, about to burn down? Yeah. And, you know, they kept it off of there. And, and then I think they just let it kind of keep pushing back, too. We've had so much pine beetle kill around here that it's, it needs to go away.

00:58:04:17 - 00:58:09:21
Speaker 1
Yeah, man. That's special when you don't even have to. The community took care of it. Oh.

00:58:09:23 - 00:58:10:09
Speaker 3
Yeah.

00:58:10:10 - 00:58:11:03
Speaker 2
We started.

00:58:11:03 - 00:58:11:14
Speaker 1
Yeah. You kind.

00:58:11:14 - 00:58:12:22
Speaker 2
Of jumped in there and did it for us.

00:58:13:04 - 00:58:23:08
Speaker 1
Man. I get I mean, that's a whether it's at five second pause with the meat or something like that. Those are the things that, you know, 25 years or more doing this stuff makes it worth it.

00:58:23:08 - 00:58:42:18
Speaker 2
I imagine I did, and that's been it's that's been it's gratifying is definitely the money. But as the, you know, the the response on how good the food is. Yeah. And those guys love it. And we've always had the, the high altitude trainers from all the different special or the forces from the army and everything come out lot of the high altitude stuff.

00:58:42:19 - 00:58:47:03
Speaker 2
So we've always had great relationship with them and that's helped us kind of network the whole country.

00:58:48:01 - 00:59:05:04
Speaker 4
I told you this morning that, you know we've been doing it for 25 years, almost 25 years and that this last couple weeks, the culmination of, of a lot of things. But it was, it was some of the most special, fulfilling time of my professional career. Yeah. And it was, it was because of community. Just like you're saying.

00:59:05:04 - 00:59:12:23
Speaker 4
It's just like the community just stepped in and they used us as a vehicle to give gratitude. And it was just super cool.

00:59:13:03 - 00:59:18:18
Speaker 2
It's crazy. Vail's got enough money to remediate all their dead pine beetle, but these other communities don't.

00:59:18:18 - 00:59:24:16
Speaker 1
They don't. So you guys are in their last one to leave y'all with me. And you guys have been great. Thank you so much time for all your time and.

00:59:24:16 - 00:59:25:17
Speaker 3
All your thank you.

00:59:25:19 - 00:59:45:13
Speaker 1
Even beyond what we just met today and stuff. Just everything y'all been doing for more than a quarter of a decade. Somebody right now sitting on the fence thinking about doing their version of a mouse, just whatever they might be. Just a one shop floor shop. Or might be, by taking over their dad's plumbing business that, you know, maybe they think is a good idea.

00:59:45:15 - 00:59:54:05
Speaker 1
Any advice you'd give them before they before they take the commitment to doing it? Just anything that looking back on your younger selves, anything you wish.

00:59:54:05 - 01:00:09:19
Speaker 2
I would say just, you know, you know, you got gotta, you know, calculate the risk, press the reward on it first. If it's going to cost you too much money, it may put your family in jeopardy. I wouldn't do it. But if it's something that you can slide into with a little bit of money, I think it's worth taking the chance.

01:00:09:19 - 01:00:16:04
Speaker 2
Okay. And I think people I think America's getting back to not so much the corporate world, but to these mom and pop shops.

01:00:16:09 - 01:00:19:01
Speaker 1
They sure are. You know, we see it all the time. Yeah.

01:00:19:03 - 01:00:20:12
Speaker 4
Okay. Coming full circle.

01:00:20:15 - 01:00:21:18
Speaker 1
How about you, Jack?

01:00:21:20 - 01:00:47:14
Speaker 4
I think I think, you know, I think following, following your passion and following what you really love and letting it forge a path of wherever it takes you, you know, like the Lord's going to Lord's. Got a plan? If you if you follow to me, if you're following what you like to do, what you're good at doing, and where you can bring value to your community and your friends and all those around you, and that's your path.

01:00:47:14 - 01:00:51:10
Speaker 4
And just and just dig into that path and see what it brings you.

01:00:51:15 - 01:00:52:07
Speaker 3
Yeah.

01:00:52:09 - 01:00:55:08
Speaker 2
It's the right thing. It's got to be the right thing.

01:00:55:10 - 01:01:00:13
Speaker 1
Oh, yeah. Well, I see proof of the pudding, right? Yeah, I see it in the banana pudding right now.

01:01:00:14 - 01:01:03:05
Speaker 4
That has a can you have your pudding if you don't eat.

01:01:03:07 - 01:01:04:20
Speaker 3
It. Right.

01:01:04:22 - 01:01:16:00
Speaker 1
Well gentlemen thank you for, for like, just being, shining example of what it's like. Thank you for making me realize that I got to put it on the circuit to go get a barbecue fix here in Colorado at least once a year.

01:01:16:00 - 01:01:21:15
Speaker 2
At least I always try the mom and pop shops. Yeah, yeah, yeah, we IMO's, but you go somewhere. You just trying.

01:01:21:16 - 01:01:31:00
Speaker 1
Well, now I know. And I'll be on the lookout for the other MMOs around the world there around the US me. And so thank you both anyways. And man, looking forward if y'all are ever in Texas we're coming up on.

01:01:31:00 - 01:01:32:05
Speaker 2
Back styling for y'all.

01:01:32:07 - 01:01:32:12
Speaker 1
Y'all.

01:01:32:18 - 01:01:34:16
Speaker 4
Yeah thanks. It does a super fun day.

01:01:34:16 - 01:01:36:10
Speaker 3
Yeah like like you.

01:01:36:10 - 01:02:02:16
Speaker 1
Thanks for tuning in to the American Operator Podcast, where we celebrate the backbone of America small business owners and operators like you. If you've enjoyed today's episode, be sure to subscribe so you'll never miss out on more of these stories and insights from people who keep our community strong. Until next time, keep building, keep operating and keep America moving forward.