04/13/2026
Howdy! I’m spending a couple hours of my Monday morning at the Dodge service department waiting for my truck to get some warranty work done so here’s a lil bbq update:
A good amount of yall keep asking me about the pork chops. So here’s some additional information.
I understand why you’re asking. Those things are great! They sell very well. Id like to do them as a special every week, but they’re surprisingly hard to source in the price range I need in order to keep them at the price we sell them at. Let me explain.
So we cut the pork chops from a larger cut called a pork rib roast (usually 8 rib bones attached to the rib section of the loin, with a little fat cap still attached). I don’t like the bones frenched. It’s basically the same cut as prime rib, but pork instead of a beef.
Our normal purveyors don’t carry that cut, and it’s hard to find in the wild outside of certain times of year. A lot of families serve it as a centerpiece sort of entree around Christmas, Easter, and New Years. That’s why we only have the chops around those holidays.
We also had a person kind of question the price ($15). So I’ll explain that one while we’re here.
Double cut pork chops aren’t a bbq restaurant thing. They’re a steakhouse thing, and they usually sit on a steakhouse menu price wise right below the steaks. $39, $40, $48 (including ~2 sides) at the 3 Akron restaurants I checked. Those are all portioned significantly smaller than the 24oz average that ours are.
We aren’t a steakhouse, and our whole thing is batch smoking relatively huge volumes of meats, so we can produce that item significantly cheaper than a steakhouse that is grilling them to order can. We can also sell way more of them due to our (unfortunately) tableless setup, which helps us keep the price down even more.
Even after adjusting for the 2 sides (let’s say $12), and ignoring the size difference (ours are 50%ish bigger) we’re still coming in 45-60% cheaper than those other restaurants. That pork chop is a SCREAMING deal at $15.
I’m working on getting them consistently. Pls be patient.
In other news: You’ve probably seen a few new faces on the line when you order your bbq. We’ve hired 2 new people for the front (Maddi on register and Katie on sides) and trial shifted a handful more. That brings us up to 7 employees plus myself. That sounds like a low number, but it honestly doesn’t feel that way work wise.
We’ve upped our brisket, chicken, and cookie production significantly. Cam has done some work figuring out how to get the Mac and cheese cooking more like how it cooked in the trailer. We started doing the meatloaf sandwich AND the burgers every day instead of alternating the days. We test batched like 18 coleslaw recipes and I didn’t really love any of them…😅
…We’re also still waiting on equipment for our other super secret new/old menu item. I can’t wait for that one. It’s my favorite. 😇
Oh, and Thursdays should be coming soon.
That is all. Let me know if yall have any questions. I hope yall have a nice week! We’ll see ya Friday.
