Most of you know we bought the restaurant back in November of 2012, and it's been crazy ever since! Well, we've made a couple big updates cosmetically lately, and I thought I'd share if that's ok?
We finally finished the siding on the exterior of the building, and now all that's left to do is stain it, which will be done in Sept. It will be stained the same color as the front left of the building. This is the original building (I don't have one on this computer showing the siding on the front). The sign is no longer there either, as that's no longer the name of the business.
Here's the side though, just getting finished up. The front was done in the same siding.
We also had our first big event two weekends ago, an Amateur BBQ Cook Off. We opened it up to 10 entrants in the chicken and rib categories, and also had potato salad and pie categories as well, awarding prizes for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd places in each category. We supplied everything, and all they had to do was cook it......this way we were legally ok to invite the public in, and serve BBQ, selling it by the plate. We had no way of knowing how this would turn out for our first event, and planned somewhere in the middle for how many people to serve. In 45 minutes we sold out of 50 racks of ribs, 3 whole briskets, and 270 pieces of chicken!!!! People were snaked in line around the tent to wait for food!!! We had 2 bands on Saturday, and then Sunday we had a small parade around the block, then finished it off with a Bluegrass band. It was a AWESOME weekend!!! The townspeople said there has never been that many people in one place in our small town in over 30 years! I'm so happy for Dave, this was his baby, and he put his all into it! Already have people signed up for next year!
Dave and I took a trip to Spring Grove, MN yesterday, to go to a restaurant auction to look at something we wanted for the restaurant. On the way there, we talked about the highest bid we'd be willing to put in on this item, and set our limits, as you should always do before you go to an auction. We did our homework the night before, and knew how much the value of this item would be as long as the quality was good.
We got there, and checked over the item we were interested in bidding on, satisfied with the quality. The auction starts, and we get to the item we were interested in. The bidding surpassed the limit we had set for ourselves, and I was disappointed. All of a sudden I hear the auctioneer, "going once, twice, SOLD!" He was looking at Dave! My husband had taken it upon himself to go over the limit we had set, and bought all SEVENTY TWO chairs!! Gone are the old miss-matched metal framed stacking chairs, and in with the rustic hickory wood chairs! I'm glad he did though, I've had a vision of the way the dining room should look since we bought the place, and it's finally reality. We've done a little bit at a time, as we could afford it, and it's coming along slowly.
The updated bar area! We've removed a pool table to make room for more table seating in the bar. During the weekdays when it's busy, but not really busy enough to open the dining room, this allows us to have additional seating without have to open, and heat or cool the dining room. It also allows a much more comfortable seating area for our elderly crowd who have such a difficult time getting on the bar stools. Works out wonderful!
Thank you for letting me share!
We finally finished the siding on the exterior of the building, and now all that's left to do is stain it, which will be done in Sept. It will be stained the same color as the front left of the building. This is the original building (I don't have one on this computer showing the siding on the front). The sign is no longer there either, as that's no longer the name of the business.
Here's the side though, just getting finished up. The front was done in the same siding.
We also had our first big event two weekends ago, an Amateur BBQ Cook Off. We opened it up to 10 entrants in the chicken and rib categories, and also had potato salad and pie categories as well, awarding prizes for 1st, 2nd, and 3rd places in each category. We supplied everything, and all they had to do was cook it......this way we were legally ok to invite the public in, and serve BBQ, selling it by the plate. We had no way of knowing how this would turn out for our first event, and planned somewhere in the middle for how many people to serve. In 45 minutes we sold out of 50 racks of ribs, 3 whole briskets, and 270 pieces of chicken!!!! People were snaked in line around the tent to wait for food!!! We had 2 bands on Saturday, and then Sunday we had a small parade around the block, then finished it off with a Bluegrass band. It was a AWESOME weekend!!! The townspeople said there has never been that many people in one place in our small town in over 30 years! I'm so happy for Dave, this was his baby, and he put his all into it! Already have people signed up for next year!
Dave and I took a trip to Spring Grove, MN yesterday, to go to a restaurant auction to look at something we wanted for the restaurant. On the way there, we talked about the highest bid we'd be willing to put in on this item, and set our limits, as you should always do before you go to an auction. We did our homework the night before, and knew how much the value of this item would be as long as the quality was good.
We got there, and checked over the item we were interested in bidding on, satisfied with the quality. The auction starts, and we get to the item we were interested in. The bidding surpassed the limit we had set for ourselves, and I was disappointed. All of a sudden I hear the auctioneer, "going once, twice, SOLD!" He was looking at Dave! My husband had taken it upon himself to go over the limit we had set, and bought all SEVENTY TWO chairs!! Gone are the old miss-matched metal framed stacking chairs, and in with the rustic hickory wood chairs! I'm glad he did though, I've had a vision of the way the dining room should look since we bought the place, and it's finally reality. We've done a little bit at a time, as we could afford it, and it's coming along slowly.
The updated bar area! We've removed a pool table to make room for more table seating in the bar. During the weekdays when it's busy, but not really busy enough to open the dining room, this allows us to have additional seating without have to open, and heat or cool the dining room. It also allows a much more comfortable seating area for our elderly crowd who have such a difficult time getting on the bar stools. Works out wonderful!
Thank you for letting me share!
