Original Content

What It’s Like to Open a Barbecue Restaurant in the Middle of a Pandemic

/ Barbecue Bros / Leave a comment

Good news: Garren and Kelli Kirkman of Jon G’s Barbecue finally realized their dream of opening a barbecue restaurant this year. Bad news: the restaurant opening was in the middle of a global pandemic with all of the social distancing and protective measures that go along with that. A little over three months into their dream, I reached out to Garren and Kelly to see how the first few months have gone.

How has the reception been the past 3 months or so after opening your long-awaited brick and mortar?
Pretty humbling to say the least. It blows our minds when people from all walks of life start lining up to eat our food. From local Anson county natives all the way to people from Texas and beyond, we truly feel so honored to get to do this week to week in our own building.

What were you able to learn from your three soft openings in June and July?
Those soft opening days were crazy and hectic, but we knew that we needed to train our staff that had never worked on the food truck before. 

It was also a goal of ours to help people understand how the line would work and make the wait seem like more of a party than a wait at all. 

The biggest thing (more from a business perspective) was to dial in our ticket times. We wanted to be very similar in the food truck times, but still engage in our customers with conversation and a welcoming atmosphere. Amazingly, every week, be it a $10 ticket or a $300 ticket it is still a 1-3 minute turnaround. 

What are some of the unexpected things you didn’t realize you’d have to do as part of running a restaurant? 
Well, food truck life is definitely not for the faint of heart. It prepared us in ways that we didn’t even know we needed until we opened the restaurant doors. It felt like a relief and a dream to have our own space to cook in. It is nice to not have to drive ourselves to where we are serving worrying about flat tires, generator issues, praying the food stays put in the trailer while traveling and serving in 107°or 30°. 

Changing gears, how early have you been selling out each Saturday?
The earliest was 3:30, but on average around 5:00 pm. Sometimes what we have on special, Brunswick Stew for example, is sold out by noon. We did Pork Chops on special (which we thought were phenomenal, by the way) that we were giving away at the end of the night. Sometimes it’s just a gamble.

What’s been the most popular menu item?
Overall, brisket continues to take the top spot, but we sell double (sometimes triple) the amount of sandwiches in the restaurant versus the food truck days.

Any plans for opening outside of Saturdays in the near future?
We’d love to, but not sure what that schedule looks like at this point. A very large (75% or more) of our guests are people who drive from 1+ hours away and couldn’t necessarily make that trip for a weekday lunch break.

We are finally getting catering calls again, which has been null since March. Catering is typically a weekday job, so we are at the restaurant prepping and delivering that for people as well. 

With a small building comes limited refrigeration and warming space. We have to keep everything at safe temperatures and grow into whatever is next for us. 

That makes a lot of sense. In terms of upcoming specials, are there any you’d like to tease?
We just rolled out our Brunswick Stew, and my gracious it went FAST. We’ll continue to have that through the Fall. We are also toying with the idea of a burnt end. Posted one picture on social media and we think people will enjoy those as well. 

What would you like every customer to know before they make the trip out to Peachland?
Don’t let the line be a downer. The best part is that it’s outside (covered for rain and such). You can social distance and still feel somewhat back to normal in these crazy times we live in today. Make friends, BYOB, share stories and talk to us when it’s your time to order. We wouldn’t have gotten to this point without our amazing customers and staff. We love getting to know you. At the end of the day, we are a small business and it’s still us (Garren and Kelly) working the front lines and we wouldn’t have it any other way. 

Thanks to Garren and Kelly for taking time out of their busy schedule to talk with us.

Jon G’s Barbecue is located off Highway 74 at 116 Glenn Falls St in Peachland, NC (about 40 minutes east of Charlotte). They are open Saturdays from 11 until 6pm or until the meat runs out.

Barbecue Bros Book Club: “Franklin Steak” by Aaron Franklin and Jordan Mackay

/ Barbecue Bros / Leave a comment

Not that we’re anywhere close to being qualified enough to evaluate books but more so as a public service announcement we will periodically discuss barbecue and barbecue-related books.

Monk: As I mentioned in my prior book club entry, it took me years to finally read “Franklin Barbecue: A Meat Smoking Manifesto” as I (wrongly) assumed it was just yet another barbecue recipe book. As is the case with “Franklin Steak,” these books are more textbook than cookbook.

In “Franklin Steak,” Aaron Franklin and his co-writer Jordan Mackay, a California-based food and wine writer, take much the same approach as they did on “Franklin Smoke.” They take their time getting to the actual cooking of the meat; in the three parts of the book (each with three chapters), they don’t get to the cooking until midway through Part III.

The book starts with “Know Thy Beef” and educates the reader on the history of beef and how the evolution of cattle and beef has coincided with the evolution of man (seriously), before getting into the different breeds of cows on the market today and the different cuts that make them up.

Part II handles the aspects of steak leading up to the actual firing of the grill. It dedicates an entire chapter to dry aging and the science behind it. For the curious home chef, it even shows step by step how you can dry age at home by utilizing an old fridge (which may be the only way to get it outside of a restaurant).

There’s also a chapter on the different styles of grills, from the basic Weber Kettle to a Kamado-style cooker (such as a Green Egg) to the PK Grill to a Santa Maria style grill. After reading about the PK Grill (Aaron’s preferred grill), my interest is definitely piqued into potentially getting one of those, which can be used for steaks or for smoking and I think would be a perfect complement to my old Weber and my Oklahoma Joe offset.

Finally, Part II ends with an exploration of different types of fuel; that is – the various types of charcoal found around the world as well as all the varieties of woods suitable for grilling.

Finally, its grilling time, and Part III (“Steak Perfection”) gets down to business. After a short chapter on lighting the grill and some different set ups (in particular, the charcoal and accent long two-zone method known as the “Franklin Formation”), it’s time to grill the steaks. Using a science and evidence-based approach, the book walks through how to do each method (hot and fast, reverse sear, on the coals, and blast furnace over the top of a charcoal chimney) and pros and cons of each. Finally, the book ends with the self-explanatory “Sides, Sauces, and Drinks” to pair with steak.

Sprinkled throughout the book are short profiles on the best steakhouses in the world, from New York to Spain to Japan. Interesting but not essential for 99% of the us who will likely never make it to any of these hallowed institutions of beef.

Franklin and Mackay’s writing is smart and sharp but also accessible. You can tell they both know their stuff when it comes to the science of beef and steak. As was the case with “Franklin Barbecue,” throughout the book are wonderful photos by Wyatt McSpadden, the fantastic Texas photographer who has two barbecue books of his own (one of which we previously featured).

Rest assured, I will be purchasing the “Franklin Barbecue Collection” gift box set so I can have both of these books on my shelf. They are filled to the brim with so much information, that it will be nice to be able to return to them time and time again.

Available at Amazon or wherever you buy books

Barbecue Bros Book Club: “Franklin Barbecue: A Meat Smoking Manifesto” by Aaron Franklin and Jordan Mackay

/ Barbecue Bros / 1 Comment

Not that we’re anywhere close to being qualified enough to evaluate books but more so as a public service announcement we will periodically discuss barbecue and barbecue-related books.

Monk: For some reason, it’s taken me years to finally read “Franklin Barbecue: A Meat Smoking Manifesto” as I assumed it was just yet another barbecue recipe book, albeit one from the man behind the most renowned barbecue restaurant in America. But I’m happy to report that it’s so much more than than – more textbook than cookbook – and is a valuable reference for any backyard smoker.

Aaron Franklin and co-author Jordan Mackay, a California based wine writer, take their time before they get to the meat of the matter. The first chapter covers Franklin’s humble beginnings with barbecue and how he leveled up from backyard smoking on a cheap offset to the restaurant he has today (his wife Stacey partnering with him the whole way). It’s a story that has been well-covered before but perhaps not to the depth Franklin writes about in this first chapter.

Franklin (the writing is primarily in his voice) then goes hardcore textbook on the reader, discussing different types of smokers (including the thermodynamics behind how they work) and even how to construct your own offset or modify an existing one if you’ve got one already.

The next chapters cover the wood, fire management for smoking, and finally the meat. Franklin goes in depth into the different types of wood used for barbecue, how to start and maintain the fire during a smoke, and the different meats he smokes (with a particular focus on brisket, naturally).

Finally, he gets to the main event in Chapter 6 (“The Cook”), which builds on the previous three chapters. From the prep work needed to being the smoke to the basics of smoking meat to different spices commonly found in barbecue rubs to the dreaded stall and finally the myth behind the smoke ring. Any aspiring pitmaster will surely pore over every page of this section, dog-earing along the way.

The last quarter of the book is where you will find recipes on how to smoke each meat as well as what sides and sauces to make and even what to drink with barbecue. Franklin is clearly a beer guy, and he gives in-depth thoughts about which beers pair the best with barbecue (avoid IPAs and higher ABV beers, for instance).

I will surely be returning to “Franklin Barbecue: A Meat Smoking Manifesto” as I continue my backyard smoking experiments during the pandemic, and as you will read next week this and the “Franklin Steak” book will soon be occupying permanent space on my bookshelf.

Monk’s 5 Favorite Barbecue Meals of the First Half of 2020

/ Barbecue Bros / Leave a comment

Monk: A little later than I’d normally like to post a first half look-back but then again, I think we can all agree that 2020 has been a weird year. At least barbecue is (mostly) back. After a lot of backyard smoking (a little more on that below) and an attempt at mail order, barbecue restaurants started to reopen in late spring and adapted to the current situation with all formerly extinct practices like curbside service and carhops that made perfect sense in a pandemic environment.

In alphabetical order:

Chopped pork tray from Backcountry BBQ (review)

A barn full of firewood out back was a sign of good things to come when it came to Backcountry Barbeque, an unassuming barbecue joint south of Lexington that landed in the top tier of my Lexington barbecue rankings.

Pork belly burnt ends and sliced pork belly from my backyard (story)

While I haven’t quite lived up to my promise that I would smoke pork belly again very soon, it is very much on my to-do list for upcoming backyard smokes. Particularly as the weather starts to cool down this fall. I still think about those pork belly burnt ends from time to time.

Beef rib, brisket, ribs, and cheddar bossa sausage from Jon G’s Barbecue (review)

You guys all know how I feel about Jon G’s by now, so not too much more needs to be written here except that you should make the trip, particularly if they have a beef rib on special (but be prepared to pay for it). I’ll also reiterate how glad I am that Garren and Kelly finally opened their store and are doing it their way.

Chopped pork from Rick’s Smokehouse (review)

Rick’s was the favorite of my new Lexington discoveries as part of my recent Lexington barbecue quest, landing just below my co-favorites Lexington Barbecue and Bar-B-Q Center.

Pork, ribs, and chicken from Southern Smoke BBQ (review)

Not too much more to add from my recent review other than Southern Smoke was my absolutely favorite new barbecue I’ve tried this year. I’ll repeat myself from my review: “Do yourself a favor and find time to make the trip like I did. You won’t regret it.”

What should I try in the second half (or what’s remaining of it) of 2020? Leave a comment with your recommendation.