Back to the orignial quesiton. Why would it take any longer or be more of a hassle to get a sample of BBQ than it would take to do anything else?? Just curious, we get the same thing and it doesn’t seem to be a problem and the cost is figured in as a part of the pig cost.

BBQ potato? What the devil is that? Do you put in the pit? They do that in Memphis. Just curious.

V960

BBQ plate with red/bbq slaw and baked beans or a bbq potato.

Raine: I have been very close to your place several times on my return trip back to Knoxville VIA 74E from Fayetteville, NC. Traffice and red lights are usually horrendous late in the evening on 74[}:)] I recall passing Indian Trail Rd.

Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

Raine,
I’m coming to eat at your place. I am a Charoltte native but havee moved to the Kannapolis area. I usually go east on 152 to Wadesboro but will make an exception.

Better be good to suffer Charlotte traffic…just joking…but only a little bit. What is your recommended first lunch at your place?

Located just a few miles outside Charlotte in Indian Trail. Would love for y’all to stop in.

633 Indian Trail Rd S
Indian Trail, NC
704-821-6958

Closed Sun & Mon
Tue & Wed 11-3
Thur-Sat 11-8

Buffet from 11-2 a & 5-8

Raine: Where are you located in Charlotte. I get through there pretty often. I think V960 is located near there.

Personally I have driven many miles for good BBQ.

Paul E. Smith
knoxville, TN

We get asked for samples, because there is so much bad bbq around.
Just about everyone who eats it or samples it, says it is the best bbq they have ever eaten. We hear that everyday.

Some even thank us for saving them a drive to Lexington.

Bushie took RickF and myself to a huge BBQ place east of round rock about 20 miles and they give samples to every customer every time they come through whether they ask or not. Real good practice as far as I am concerned. It made me order more than I would have originally.

Bushie informed me that they had been doing it for years.

Paul E. Smith
Knoxville, TN

We get asked all the time for samples of our bbq, brisket, slaw and sauce. I have never heard of asking for samples in a restaurant until we started one.

quote:

Originally posted by Bushie

At Louie Mueller’s in Taylor, TX, they have always given "samples" of their brisket to those in line. When it’s your time to order, Bobby takes a tray, covers it with butcher paper, then cuts off a chunk of brisket (usually a burnt end) and slaps it on the tray.

Nice, and it is one of their "signatures".

Exactly, and I’m sure those samples spur sales of meats that were not originally going to be ordered. Worked on me! [:p]

ok,
there is one sample we consistantly give out and it has increased both our sales and the manufacturers. we give out samples of pellets. now i know this sounds strange but follow the bouncing ball. we have an FEC100 smoker that runs on pellets. after much experimentation i found that the wood blend produced by bbqr’s delite was the most suitable both in contest and commercial mode for our use and stated so in two bbq forums (my exact words being "we will use no other"). while placing an order the manufacturer asked if we would be interested in giving out samples and displaying their banner. while we recieve no payment for this it has resulted in a rather interesting symbiotic relationship. people see the free samples and come up to get them. my wife then gives a short description of how to use them. normally she gets asked a technical question at which time she calls for me (she keeps me in the back as she says i am too much like garth blackstock on the pbs chef series) and i answer whatever it is. upshot is 90% of the time they buy at least a sandwich and then peg asks if they would like a taster of brisket and lets them know we were number 2 at the state bbq championships (by the way brisket is our big profit item and by the pound goes for 12 bucks) again in 50% of the cases we sell at least 8 oz. so while we never hand out bbq samples we do use samples to increase our sales and the sales of our pellet manufacturer.
jack

My opinion is that samples should be handled by management. We should be better at selling and promoting than servers. Sample requests should be relayed to management who collects the sample and then delivers it. "Would you like a pound of Q to take home?, how about a side ordeer?"

I am a salesman. A request for a sample is an opportunity. Four out of five times I’ll sell something extra when asked for a sample.

We give out samples of our BBQ if anyone questions its taste or has never had it and orders other foods off the menu. We want to give them a reason to order it and/or come back to order it. It ALWAYS pays back in the end – advertising AND good will. Too much bad BBQ out there and we have to prove ours is worthy.

Drsmoke,
All of the topics you have asked about are legitimate exasperating problems faced by most if not all restaurants. I have dealt with these same problems for the last 4 years of owning my restaurant. I think that the answer for most of these situations can be found by asking yourself ONE question- DO I NEED REPEAT CUSTOMERS TO SURVIVE?
Your answer to this question will determine your approach to resolving the restroom dilemma, the free samples, & the myriad of other frustrating situations in this business.
You very well may not depend on consistent repeat business. It sounds as if you have a high volume of traffic daily. I, on the other hand, run a restaurant in a small rural community 10 miles away from I-80. I NEED every possible customer I can grab to survive on a daily basis. Any potential customer that is dissatisfied with my service WILL NOT return and will assuredly tell 10 others about the HORRID treatment they received. Fair or unfair, this is the reality that most of us face.
I resolve these situations with 2 simple rules 1) The customer is always right & 2) When the customer is wrong, refer to rule 1.

On my menu I list the top ten reasons for eating at my establishment. The #1 reason: SATISFACTION GUARANTEED.