Good location for Texas BBQ restaurant (Newton, Arlington: leasing, condos, hotels)

[lrfox]

Originally Posted by Bostonian08

I disagree with all of the above. The best place to showcase your cuisine is right in the heart of downtown Boston. Newbury, Boylston, etc.

Well, yeah... of course downtown Boston is the best place to "showcase" ones culinary craft. It's the cultural center of the region and diverse types of food are certainly cultural attractions. I was under the impression that most of us were well aware of that.

However, Texas BBQ is blue collar food and is usually marketed at blue collar crowds. Sure, everyone can enjoy it, but it began and currently exists as good food for the masses. As a result, I can't imagine that the market will be any better for it in downtown Boston than it is in the suburbs or smaller satellite cities (though the market will be good.... attempts at BBQ and smokehouses in Boston/Cambridge have proven successful. look no further than Red Bones) given that this is a cuisine that just about everyone can afford.

It's just that in order to "showcase" ones craft "among the best in the world" in Boston costs a HELL of a lot more in Boston than it does to open a business elsewhere which is the reason for me (and probably others) suggesting that the OP look in the suburbs and satellite cities. It probably costs about half as much to open a restaurant in a place like Framingham or Lowell than it does in Boston. If the product is something like high quality BBQ which is accessible to people from just about every demographic, why not choose the cheaper place to open since the market and demand will be similar to the place that costs more to open? The profit margin will be much higher outside of Boston. If the OP were looking to open a gourmet French Restaurant along the lines of L'Espalier, I would absolutely look to downtown Boston as the "Hobokens" of this state cannot support that type of establishment; but a BBQ place would THRIVE outside the city at about half the cost of operating in Boston. It's common sense. There's a good reason there is no thriving BBQ place downtown (Redbones is in Cambridge) and it's not that no one has thought of it.

Don't get me wrong, it could work downtown, but it would be MUCH more affordable to open outside the city somewhere and it's not the type of business that depends on the high incomes that reside close to downtown Boston. It can thrive off of the middle and working class residents of the 'burbs and satellite cities. Maybe it's just me, but I see a business like this being more profitable outside of the city than IN the city given the cost to operate it/rent or own the property in relation to revenue from sales (and sales volume).

[DreamworksSKG]

Blue Ribbon BBQ - Arlington Center - Arlington, MA

Great BBQ take-out or sit down.
neighborhood atmosphere.

Blue Ribbon BBQ - Catering Boston - Real Pit Smoked Restaurants in Arlington and West Newton, Massachusetts

I love their Brisket :-)

Also, the Bleacher Bar at Fenway Park on Landsowne has a pretty good Corned Beef and Brisket sandwich with a view of Fenway park.

Go in an off day when there's no game and combine the experience with a Fenway park tour for $12/person :-)

:-)

-jeff--
Winchester, MA

[DreamworksSKG]

I would suggest Blue Ribbon BBQ - in Arlington and West Newton
Blue Ribbon BBQ - Catering Boston - Real Pit Smoked Restaurants in Arlington and West Newton, Massachusetts
Arlington And West Newton

Here's a good website for finding BBQ Places as well
Pigtrip.net Directory of BBQ Joints
Pigtrip.net - Reviews
Pigtrip.net BBQ Reviews - Boston, New York, New England, Long Island and the Hudson Valley


other suggestions would include:

Lester's Roadside Bar-B-Q
376A Cambridge St
Burlington, MA
781-221-7427
Lester's Roadside BBQ - Pit-Smoked BBQ - Burlington, MA - Home Page

Village Smokehouse
6 Harvard Sq
Brookline, MA
617-566-3782

SOUL FIRE BBQ - ALLSTON
SoulFire BBQ
Soul Fire BBQ - Allston/Brighton - Allston, MA

REDBONES
DAVIS SQUARE
CAMBRIDGE/SOMERVILLE
Redbones - Davis Square - Somerville, MA
Redbones BBQ


BISON COUNTRY BBQ AND GRILLE
WALTHAM
Bison County BBQ Bar & Grille - Waltham, MA
BISON COUNTY BBQ

Whiskey Smokehouse
Boston
http://www.whiskeysboston.com/
885 Boyloston St.

Midwest Grill Inc
1124 Cambridge St
Cambridge, MA
617-354-7536



Chacarero
426 Washington St
Boston, MA
617-542-0392

Uncle Pete's Hickory Ribs
72 Squire Rd
Revere, MA
781-289-7427

Fire Bull Restaurant
5 Central St
Peabody, MA
978-531-5744


Tennessees Real Bbq
341 Cochituate Rd
Framingham, MA
508-626-7140


Firefly's Bbq Restaurant
235 Old Connecticut Path
Framingham, MA
508-820-3333


Famous Daves Bar-B-Que
1707 S. Willow Street
Manchester, NH
603-668-1220


K C's Rib Shack Barbecue
837 2nd St
Manchester, NH
603-627-7427

Wing Works
201 Elm St
Somerville, MA
617-666-9000

Smokey Bones Barbeque & Grill
1023 County St
Taunton, MA
508-884-9566

American Barbecue
5 Railroad Ave
Rowley, MA
978-948-2626

Road house Craft Beer & BBQ
1700 Beacon Street
Brookline, MA
617-487-4289

Famous Daves Bar-B-Que
535 John Mahar Highway
Braintree, MA
781-849-1900


Sit'n Bull Pub
163 Main St
Maynard, MA
978-897-7232

Famous Dave Bbq
1143 Broadway
Saugus, MA
781-233-1088

Aris Eat Barbecue
Faneuil Hall Marketp
Boston, MA
617-742-2947

Tennessees Real Bbq Real Fast
201 E Main St
Milford, MA
508-634-3902

Blues Diner
361 Broadway
Revere, MA
781-286-9583

Six Twenty-One Tavern & Grill
621 Broadway
Malden, MA
781-397-1990


Wings Etc
393 Main St
Everett, MA
781-397-9464


Billy's Texas Bbq
530 Washington St
Boston, MA
617-288-6161


Pig Roastin
28 Bellview Dr
Mansfield, MA
508-339-3084


Hope this helps.

Sincerely,
Jeff D
Winchester, MA

[DreamworksSKG]

Texas BBQ Company see my review of this joint

309 Main Street (Route 20)

Northboro, MA

(508) 393-4742

Texas BBQ Main Page

[LeavingMA]

The one thing that alot of these bbq places up here don't have is southern potato salad. And then the Texas BBQ place in Northborough serves lots of pork dishes. BBQ pork is more of a Carolina thing, while Texas bbq revolves around beef.

I've had real Texas bbq, real Carolina bbq, and real Memphis bbq, and I haven't tasted any bbq up here that comes real close to any of them. Firefly's in Marlborough has some good pulled pork. I know people mention Red Bones in Somerville, but to me that isn't real bbq. The Tennessee bbq place is only ok also. Not bad to get some of your bbq fix, but nothing like real bbq from the south.

[txbaker27]

Originally Posted by LeavingMA

The one thing that alot of these bbq places up here don't have is southern potato salad. And then the Texas BBQ place in Northborough serves lots of pork dishes. BBQ pork is more of a Carolina thing, while Texas bbq revolves around beef.

I've had real Texas bbq, real Carolina bbq, and real Memphis bbq, and I haven't tasted any bbq up here that comes real close to any of them. Firefly's in Marlborough has some good pulled pork. I know people mention Red Bones in Somerville, but to me that isn't real bbq. The Tennessee bbq place is only ok also. Not bad to get some of your bbq fix, but nothing like real bbq from the south.

Yeah pork really is more of a Carolina thing, here in Fort Worth it is all about the beef and sometimes chicken. Brisket/Ribs, potato salad, baked beans and mamaw's peach cobbler with a scoop of vanilla ice cream is what we call BBQ heaven. Oh yeah and you cant have BBQ without fresh brewed Tea.

[Cart24]

As someone who lived for many years in the South I can tell you that if you bring a Great BBQ place up here I will be a customer for life.

I disagree with whoever said that there is not a serious demand or hunger for real BBQ in Boston. I would definitely not focus on Newbury or anywhere in Back Bay though because of the overhead costs, but a T accessible, just outside of the city location would be ideal (Brookline, Quincy, Newton, etc...)

If you come up here check out the lines at Roadhouse BBQ and Village Smokehouse in Brookline. It is almost impossible to get a seat at Roadhouse on a Friday or Saturday night, and let me tell you the food there is so mediocre it isn't funny, and Village Smokehouse is just plain bad!

The only really good BBQ I have found is Blue Ribbon in Arlington and Newton. The owners are from Virginia and know how to do it right, I would not call it just good Boston BBQ but good cue all the way around by any standard.

[txbaker27]

I think it would be best to start off outside of Boston in an area that is still easily accessible. All of the responses has given us a lot of great ideas to check into location wise. Here is a little teaser for what could be in your future soon

[mw_ch3_ch2_oh]

Originally Posted by lrfox

What type of clientele are you looking for and what type of environment would you want to set up shop in? I can think of a number of places where this would be successful, but they are pretty diverse in their nature.

I think this type of restaurant would be successful in some of the suburban areas on the edges of metro Boston. I could picture it being popular along Route 9 in Framingham, Route 20 in/around Marlborough, or along Route 1 on the North Shore in Saugus or Peabody where it would see a lot of traffic from a wide variety of demographics. These are visible locations and quite highly trafficked. On a much more particular level, there is an old brick firehouse for sale right on the very busy Route 140 in Taunton, MA right next to a large box retail center and restaurants like Olive Garden, Smokey Bones, TGIFridays, UNO Chicago Grill and some other good restaurants. I've always felt that it would make a great BBQ place. It's just a thought, but maybe worth looking into?

I also something like this could be very successful in a more urban setting. Particularly the downtown area of one of the cities in the state seeing a bit of a revitalization. Downtown Lowell, Worcester and New Bedford seem like ideal settings for this type of business. In fact, I know New Bedford has really made a push to be friendly to new businesses by offering expedited permitting and tax incentives to many new businesses. The city has its rough spots (as does any city), but the downtown area is a pretty lively area teeming with restaurants, bars, art galleries, etc all lining cobblestone streets surrounding some nice museums and a national historic park along the waterfront. It seems incentives and support for new and existing small businesses has been very successful here. I have some links on New Bedford that may be helpful in making your decision:
Downtown New Bedford INC: Downtown New Bedford, Inc. - Membership
Official NB City Site: City of New Bedford Official Website
New Bedford Chamber of Commerce: New Bedford Area Chamber of Commerce
New Bedford Economic Development Council (good info on starting a business): New Bedford Economic Development Council
AHA (a group that advocates art, history, and culture utilizing local businesses): AHA! Art • History • Architecture
New Bedford Standard Times (local paper): SouthCoastToday.com - Frontpage - Your link to SouthCoast Massachusetts and beyond
New Bedford Tourism: City of New Bedford - Office of Tourism & Marketing

Again, I'm not sure EXACTLY what you're looking for. If you are looking for something on the more suburban side, Route 9 in Framingham and Route 1 on the North Shore are two of the most highly visible areas in the state. There are also a number of other very visible cites in and around Boston. They will offer high visibility but most likely at a bit of a cost.

If you're interested in my personal opinion, I would say that looking at some of the up and coming small city centers could offer some really high rewards at a relatively low cost. Tax incentives and expedited permitting and licensing are all very helpful for an upstart business. You can find EXCELLENT value here.

My personal inclination would be to look very hard at Downtown New Bedford. It's an excellent location (Right of of I-195- one of the primary routes to Cape Cod, on ferry routes and has a commuter train to Boston coming to town in the coming years) and it's up and coming relatively quickly (even during these tough economic times, it seems like a new restaurant is opening downtown weekly and seeing success). I would consider it a hidden gem at the moment and since it's still "hidden" the costs are going to be much lower than the surrounding areas... PARTICULARLY the Boston area. It's got a great growing community of restaurants and the surrounding area has a diverse population (culturally and socioeconomically)to draw from. And like I said, it seems like they're doing a lot to continue this growth downtown including tax breaks and reduced costs and easier access to necessary liscensing. If successful, you're only 25 minutes from Providence RI, 20 minutes from Cape Cod and under an hour from Boston which is nice for drawing additional clientelle. New Bedford's at least worth paying a visit to on your next trip and making some inquiries. I think it could be a very good investment.

No matter what you end up doing, good luck! I think we need some more REAL BBQ around here.

Not to mention UMass Dartmouth right down the road.

[DreamworksSKG]

Again try Blue Ribbon BBQ in Arlington Or West Newton
I went to the Arlington one, and its superb!

Great Brisket

:-)

- Jeff-
Winchester, MA