What It Takes to Bring Great BBQ to You

At Saddleback BBQ we serve slow cooked food that we make fresh every day – smoked fresh each night, prepped fresh every morning, served fresh to every table. There’s a lot that goes into it, from creative people who love their work to ingredients that meet our very picky standards of great taste, quality and consistency. Our customers are our partners as well. We believe that you deserve to understand the Saddleback BBQ equation. So we thought we’d start by sharing some numbers. Yes, numbers are behind every business and every kitchen. If the numbers don’t work, we cannot keep great BBQ on your plate. Here’s what they looked like for 2016 – our first full year of operation. When we decided to share these numbers, we asked our partners at Matthew Accounting to lay it all out. (If you are looking for accounting services, we highly recommend the folks at Matthew.) At any rate, here’s how the business of great BBQ works.

What It Takes to Bring Great BBQ to You
You’ll see that 2/3 of the cost of every meal goes to people and ingredients. If you’ve dined with us, you’ve probably talked to our chefs, pit masters, cooks and servers. You know the all out dedication and wild BBQ chops that each of them bring to Saddleback. You can also appreciate how they source fresh ingredients at every turn, and every ingredient matters. The rest of our costs are listed, line by line. Each of them a part of what it takes to keep us humming along.

mix these parts for great bbq amount
Quality Ingredients: from Pork to Peppercorns 33%
People: Wages, Benefits, Payroll Taxes 33%
Building & Equipment Costs/Upkeep 10%
Supplies: From Knives to Napkins 3.5%
Heat, Lights, other Utilities 3%
Advertising to Spread the Word 2%
Professional Services 2%

Here are a few things we do different that impact our costs