BBQ Holdings Profile
BBQ Holdings, Inc. (BBQ) develops, owns, and operates restaurants under the name ‘Famous Dave’s’, ‘Village Inn’, ‘Granite City’, ‘Real Urban Barbecue’, ‘Clark Crew BBQ’, ‘Tahoe Joe’s Steakhouse’, and ‘Bakers Square’.
Additionally, the company franchises restaurants under the name ‘Famous Dave’s’ and ‘Village Inn’. The Famous Dave’s restaurants operating in three countries, including company-owned franchise-operated restaurants. The Clark Crew BBQ restaurant opened in December 2019 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The company has a 20% ownership in this venture.
The company owns various Granite City Food & Brewery restaurants throughout the Midwest and one Real Urban Barbecue restaurant located in Vernon Hills, Illinois. The company owns the Village Inn family restaurant concept with company-owned restaurants and franchised restaurants, and the Bakers Square pie and comfort food concept with company-owned restaurants and four locations where the Bakers Square pies are licensed. The company operates Real Urban Barbecue restaurant located in Oak Brook, Illinois. On October 8, 2021, the company acquired the Tahoe Joe’s Steakhouse brand.
Some of the company-owned and franchise-operated restaurants, are ghost kitchens operating out of the kitchen of another restaurant location or a shared kitchen space.
The company operates casual dining concepts under the names Famous Dave’s, Village Inn, Granite City Food & Brewery, Real Urban Barbecue, Clark Crew BBQ, Tahoe Joe’s Steakhouse, and Bakers Square.
Famous Dave’s
Famous Dave’s restaurants, a majority of which offer full table service, feature wood-smoked and off-the-grill entree favorites that fit into the barbeque category. The company’s prototypical design includes a designated bar, a signature exterior smokestack, a separate entrance for the company’s to-go business and a patio. The Famous Dave’s concept can be adapted to fit various location sizes and desired service styles, such as full-service, counter-service or line-service.
Each restaurant features a distinctive selection of authentic hickory-smoked and off-the-grill barbecue favorites, such as flame-grilled St. Louis-style and baby back ribs, Texas beef brisket, Georgia chopped pork, country-roasted chicken and signature sandwiches and salads. Also, enticing side items, such as corn bread, potato salad, coleslaw and Wilbur Beans, accompany the broad entree selection. Handmade desserts, including bread pudding and banana pudding, are another specialty. To complement the company’s entree and appetizer items and to suit different customer tastes, it offers six regional barbeque sauces: Rich & Sassy, Texas Pit, Georgia Mustard, Devil’s Spit, Sweet and Zesty, and Wilbur’s Revenge. These sauces, in addition to a variety of seasonings, rubs, marinades and other items are also distributed in retail grocery stores throughout the country under licensing agreements.
The company’s Famous Dave’s restaurants are free-standing units, which average approximately 6,000 square feet in size and are typically open from 11:00am to 10:00pm.
Village Inn
Village Inn is focused on family dining and appeals to a large segment of the population. The company is known for serving fresh breakfast items throughout the day, including the company’s Ultimate Skillet meals, made-from-scratch buttermilk pancakes and fluffy three-egg omelets. The company has also successfully leveraged its strong breakfast heritage to establish a well-developed brand platform encompassing a broad selection of traditional American fare for lunch and dinner, at price-points that position the company in the mid-range of the family-dining segment. Village Inn also offers a variety of signature freshly baked pies. The company frequently reviews and updates its menus with the assistance of its team of in-house research and development chefs to enhance the attractiveness of the company’s menu offerings to its customers.
The company’s Village Inn restaurants are predominantly free-standing units, which average approximately 5,000 square feet in size and can seat between 120 and 180 people. The company is typically open from 6:00am to 10:00pm, allowing it to effectively generate revenue in all three-day periods. To improve the company’s efficiency and purchasing power, its menus are standardized throughout the United States, with some variations driven by regional preferences.
Granite City
The Granite City restaurant theme is upscale casual dining with a wide variety of menu items that are prepared fresh daily, including Granite City’s award-winning signature line of hand-crafted beers finished on-site.
The company’s prototypical Granite City restaurant consists of an approximately 9,800 square foot facility conveniently located just off one or more interstate highways and centrally located within the respective area’s retail, lodging and transportation activity. Granite City restaurants have open atmospheres, as well as floor-to-ceiling window systems creating, where designs permit, expansive views of outdoor patio areas used for dining during warm weather months. This window treatment allows activity to be viewed both inside and outside the restaurant and creates a bright, open environment. The company uses granite and other rock materials along with natural woods and glass to create a balanced, clean, natural interior feel. The interiors are accented with vintage photographs of the local area brewing industry, as well as historical photos of the community landscape. The company’s design creates a fun and energetic atmosphere that promotes a destination dining experience. The company’s Granite City restaurants are free-standing units and are typically open from 11:00am to 11:00pm.
In addition to operating the company’s restaurants, it operates a centralized beer production facility, which facilitates the initial stages of the company’s brewing process. The product produced at its beer production facility is then transported to the fermentation vessels at each of the company’s Granite City restaurants where the brewing process is completed. The company holds patents by the United States Patent and Trademark Office for its brewing process and for an apparatus for distributed production of beer.
Real Urban Barbeque
Real Urban’s award-winning menu is served in a comfortable, casual environment built around a line service model that is efficient for operators and convenient for guests. The casual BBQ theme at Real Urban is highlighted by unique custom-designed BBQ-centric decor, roadside signage, and handwritten menus proudly displayed on oversized chalkboards. The interior is designed around corrugated metal, barn wood accents, and a warm color scheme that enhances the dining experience. The casual, neighborhood environment created by the custom decor and comfortable booths creates a local hangout that guests are proud to have in their neighborhood. Guests can find all the BBQ staples, including ribs, brisket, pork, chicken, and sausage. The sizeable menu also includes a variety of side dishes and handmade desserts.
Real Urban or as it is affectionately known to regulars, RUB, differentiates itself by generating revenue from several lines of business. Dine-in, takeout, catering and a robust consumer packaged goods business all contribute to the success of Real Urban. A strategic partnership with Lou Malnati’s Taste of Chicago catalog has allowed the concept to ship large quantities of products nationwide.
The company’s Real Urban BBQ restaurants are in-line or end-cap units, which average approximately 4,500 square feet in size and are typically open from 11:00am to 9:00pm.
Clark Crew BBQ
Clark Crew BBQ launched in December 2019 with great anticipation from the community in Oklahoma City. Featuring premium, slow-smoked proteins, and hand-crafted sides, Clark Crew quickly became one of the top-grossing restaurants in all of Oklahoma. In partnership with the company, the dream to open Clark Crew BBQ was quickly realized when all parties involved had the same goal; and to create an upscale BBQ concept that offers competition quality BBQ to the communities it serves. The company has a 20% ownership interest in this venture.
Tahoe Joe’s
Tahoe Joe’s Famous Steakhouse is a lodge-styled, quality-driven, value-oriented blend of casual and fine dining elements known for its scratch-made, theme-based creations and use of Choice grade beef which has resulted in proven, cross-demographic appeal. Many ingredients are locally sourced and feature, cultured sour dough, almond wood-fired grill, and top graded beef relative to competitors. Lake Tahoe remains California’s premier ski destination, providing a relevant foundation for the brand’s continued success. Tahoe Joe’s price-point uniquely positions itself in the ‘goldilocks’ zone of the steakhouse segment. Additionally, when compared to the high-end steakhouses in the segment, it is one of the most affordable concepts that features Choice grade beef.
The company’s Tahoe Joe’s restaurants are free-standing units, which average approximately 7,000 square feet in size and can generally seat between 160 and 200 people. The company is typically open from 11:00am to 11:00pm.
Bakers Square
The Bakers Square concept began in 1983 when Poppin Fresh Pies restaurants were acquired from the Pillsbury Restaurant Group. The foundation of the Bakers Square concept is the company’s signature freshly baked pies, which traditionally have accounted for 25% of Bakers Square’s sales. The company has extended its offerings to include popular traditional American fare for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Bakers Square offers a variety of multi-layer specialty pies made from premium ingredients, which differentiates the concept from the company’s family-dining competitors. Many of its customers complement their lunch or dinner with a serving of pie, while others purchase whole pies for at-home consumption throughout the year, and particularly around the holidays. As with Village Inn, the company uses its team of in-house research and development chefs to regularly update the Bakers Square menu offerings to attract a wider demographic range of diners and increase repeat business from existing customers.
The company’s Bakers Square restaurants are free-standing units, which average approximately 4,500 square feet in size and are typically open from 11:00am to 10:00pm. As with Village Inn, the company’s menus are standardized across the United States, with some variations driven by regional preferences.
Strategy
The key elements of the company’s strategy are to focus on integrity; manage multiple concepts in geographically diverse locations; provide its guests with maximum convenience by offering an expedient take-out service along with catering and third-party delivery; and provide high-quality food, efficient friendly service, and adequate technology that streamlines the guests ordering experience and its operating procedures.
Marketing, Promotion and Sales
The company’s brands primarily rely on digital marketing, direct marketing, social media, word of mouth and strategic partnerships to acquire new guests.
Franchise Program
As of January 2, 2022, the company had 49 ownership groups with franchise-operated restaurants.
Seasonality
The company’s Famous Dave’s restaurants typically generate higher revenue in the second and third quarters (year ended January 2022) of its fiscal year as a result of seasonal traffic increases and high catering sales experienced during the summer months. The company’s Granite City restaurants typically generate higher revenue in the second and fourth quarters of its fiscal year as a result of warmer weather and increased patio seating in the second quarter and holiday activity in the fourth quarter. The company’s Village Inn and Bakers Square restaurants typically generate higher sales and revenue during the holiday season between Thanksgiving and New Year's due to the high volumes of holiday pie sales during that time.
Government Regulation
The 1990 Federal Americans with Disabilities Act prohibits discrimination on the basis of disability in public accommodations and employment. The company’s restaurants are designed to be accessible to the disabled, and the company is in substantial compliance with all current applicable regulations relating to this Act.
Research and Development
The company’s research and development costs were approximately $121,000 for the year ended January 2, 2022.
History
BBQ Holdings, Inc. was incorporated as a Minnesota corporation in 1994.
