Latest / Single Tree Nation Show / Jason Flores | The Story Behind Mr. J's Original & Building a Local Food Legacy

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Jason Flores | The Story Behind Mr. J's Original & Building a Local Food Legacy · Single Tree Nation Show

• 0:01
  Welcome back to Singletree Nation, guys.
• 0:04
  I'm your man, Charlie Evelyn.
• 0:05
  And as always,
• 0:06
  we have our illustrious co-host, Mr.
• 0:07
  Derry Wells, with us today.
• 0:09
  What's up, everybody?
• 0:11
  We have a special guest.
• 0:13
  Twice booked.
• 0:14
  Twice booked.
• 0:18
  Twice booked.
• 0:18
  That's why I brought the sandwich.
• 0:20
  A little makeup gift, right?
• 0:21
  I love it.
• 0:21
  I love it.
• 0:23
  That just means you're doing business
• 0:25
  right.
• 0:25
  That's what that means.
• 0:28
  To jump right in, we have Jason Flores.
• 0:31
  Did I say that correct?
• 0:32
  That's right.
• 0:33
  From Mr. J's Original.
• 0:37
  um i love that if you uh would
• 0:40
  y'all call it a diner or a sandwich
• 0:44
  shop or killer i call it like a
• 0:47
  burger stand slash diner okay okay because
• 0:50
  i'm i check out the the the social
• 0:52
  media and like the interior like looks
• 0:55
  phenomenal like it's got that kind of
• 0:57
  diner vibe to it but it's
• 0:59
  modern but yeah exactly a little more yeah
• 1:01
  exactly the place that was there before
• 1:04
  some people probably have been there the
• 1:05
  hermitage cafe okay okay it's a full-scale
• 1:08
  diner so you try to keep a little
• 1:10
  bit into that you know maintain some of
• 1:11
  that vibe okay diner classic diner good
• 1:14
  for you to to have a follow-up on
• 1:15
  somewhere where where folks have known to
• 1:17
  eat already too so
• 1:19
  yeah i mean there's some shoes to fill
• 1:20
  like they're there thirty years right you
• 1:23
  know you get some people that come in
• 1:24
  and they they wish the old place was
• 1:25
  there but they have a few of these
• 1:27
  sandwiches and and we get them you know
• 1:30
  get them hooked in right yeah very well
• 1:32
  speaking of sandwiches that did that did
• 1:37
  not take long those are just pickle slices
• 1:39
  kind of you know some people feel like
• 1:41
  they go hand in hand so look i
• 1:43
  am a fat kid so can we talk
• 1:46
  about pickles for just a second
• 1:47
  yeah we can talk about he probably knows
• 1:50
  more about pickles i no so hang on
• 1:51
  i i love a pickle serving my sandwich
• 1:53
  yeah and there's a local joint that serves
• 1:56
  a pickle with their burger and we were
• 1:59
  there recently they changed pickles yeah
• 2:02
  it happens and it wasn't that the other
• 2:05
  one was more or less premium than the
• 2:08
  new one
• 2:09
  And ultimately it's a pickle.
• 2:10
  I mean, the flavors similar enough,
• 2:13
  but it was a different pickle and it
• 2:15
  kind of threw me off and I wasn't
• 2:16
  upset about it.
• 2:17
  But what I did notice is even the
• 2:20
  little subtleties of you just throwing
• 2:22
  that little thing in the basket.
• 2:24
  changes you notice that you notice that
• 2:27
  i'm just i wish i wish they had
• 2:29
  smell of vision because the smell that has
• 2:32
  wafted across this room it looks like i'm
• 2:35
  gonna be doing the show while you finish
• 2:36
  all that sandwich so it's pretty good
• 2:39
  y'all give me a minute and that is
• 2:44
  like seriously smell of vision is
• 2:48
  much needed here that is phenomenal yeah i
• 2:52
  did remember i mean they've been sitting
• 2:54
  we did come from nashville got some
• 2:55
  traffic it's all good traffic at four
• 2:58
  thirty in the afternoon what you talking
• 2:59
  about so i'm gonna tell y'all right now
• 3:07
  stop what the hell you doing and go
• 3:10
  get one of these.
• 3:12
  Here's what's funny enough.
• 3:13
  Me and my son don't overlap on a
• 3:15
  lot of social media,
• 3:17
  especially in things outside of a very
• 3:20
  specific category.
• 3:22
  My son follows you.
• 3:24
  And I didn't know it until he started
• 3:25
  popping up that he'd already liked your
• 3:27
  stuff.
• 3:27
  And I was like, this rascal's already,
• 3:29
  you know.
• 3:29
  The young kids know their stuff.
• 3:31
  They do.
• 3:31
  Absolutely.
• 3:32
  And, you know,
• 3:33
  we were talking pre-show about where you
• 3:35
  can start using Google or search engines
• 3:37
  or whatever as formats.
• 3:39
  Right.
• 3:39
  And, like, I'm a high school teacher.
• 3:42
  That's my full-time job.
• 3:43
  Okay.
• 3:43
  And so my students would give me input
• 3:45
  all the time.
• 3:46
  They're like, hey, you talk about this,
• 3:48
  you should do this.
• 3:48
  Why don't y'all do this?
• 3:50
  I have never once stated in my class
• 3:52
  that I do a podcast.
• 3:53
  I just don't think those worlds should
• 3:54
  overlap a whole lot.
• 3:56
  But kids find it because they're good at
• 3:57
  what they do.
• 3:58
  They find it, yeah.
• 3:59
  And they came in and they start this
• 4:02
  and that.
• 4:02
  And what I learned is what we do
• 4:07
  as an older generation,
• 4:09
  anybody born before
• 4:12
  is a lot different than what they do.
• 4:14
  Like I, I use text message.
• 4:18
  I've got friends that are students rather
• 4:21
  that don't know the last time they sent
• 4:22
  a text because it's all through social
• 4:24
  media conversation,
• 4:26
  whether it's a direct message, you know,
• 4:29
  sliding in the DMs, you know, whatever,
• 4:30
  and that kind of whole thing.
• 4:31
  And so that's, that's what they do.
• 4:33
  So, um, kudos to you, at least,
• 4:35
  I mean,
• 4:36
  now my son does go to Nashville a
• 4:37
  lot more than I do.
• 4:38
  That also speaks to that.
• 4:40
  But anyway, you ready?
• 4:43
  We go.
• 4:45
  You got this?
• 4:47
  I got a sandwich and a half left.
• 4:48
  Cause I might eat your hand.
• 4:51
  I will fight you for that.
• 4:53
  Based on the smell.
• 4:56
  People like this stuff.
• 4:57
  They drive from all over Clarksville and
• 4:59
  occasionally, you know,
• 5:00
  like with barbecue, you run out.
• 5:01
  I mean, you don't want to,
• 5:02
  but sometimes the brisket goes or the ribs
• 5:05
  go first.
• 5:05
  You make that in your restaurant?
• 5:07
  We bring it in a brine,
• 5:09
  but we smoke it and we steam it.
• 5:11
  Yeah.
• 5:13
  Heck yeah.
• 5:13
  That is delicious.
• 5:14
  Yeah.
• 5:14
  Hand cut.
• 5:16
  Hand-cut by us every day.
• 5:18
  Is y'all's bread source local?
• 5:21
  No, the bread's like the brand Amoroso,
• 5:25
  the Philly rolls.
• 5:26
  Okay.
• 5:26
  We bring those in.
• 5:27
  Okay.
• 5:28
  We tested a lot when we opened.
• 5:29
  We looked at a couple local bakeries,
• 5:31
  but the one that we liked were these
• 5:33
  Philly rolls.
• 5:33
  They come from Philadelphia.
• 5:34
  Yeah.
• 5:36
  Can't go wrong with getting something from
• 5:37
  the hometown there.
• 5:38
  Yeah, they toast very well.
• 5:39
  They hold the bread like that.
• 5:40
  It's been sitting probably over an hour,
• 5:42
  but it kind of holds it well.
• 5:43
  Yeah.
• 5:44
  So for those people at home,
• 5:46
  and just so I don't mess it up,
• 5:47
  what all is on it?
• 5:49
  Like that sandwich you brought to me,
• 5:50
  what is on there?
• 5:51
  It's a little over half pound of pastrami.
• 5:56
  That's it, just meat.
• 5:57
  We serve it meat and a toasted roll.
• 5:59
  And then occasionally people ask for a
• 6:01
  mustard.
• 6:02
  No sauce?
• 6:02
  Spicy mustard.
• 6:03
  No sauce?
• 6:03
  No nothing?
• 6:04
  No kraut?
• 6:06
  Smoked brine.
• 6:07
  But what's killer about it is it don't
• 6:09
  need it.
• 6:10
  Yeah.
• 6:12
  The meat is so flavorful.
• 6:15
  Y'all seen that dude on TikTok?
• 6:18
  The tendonism?
• 6:20
  You seen that?
• 6:21
  Can you get that, Trent?
• 6:24
  I'm telling you, man.
• 6:25
  Little pickle slice there.
• 6:27
  He likes the pickles.
• 6:30
  do you make these no we get these
• 6:32
  uh i bring them in but they're what's
• 6:35
  your opinion on on house made pickles i
• 6:38
  am and this is i'll be honest i'm
• 6:40
  selfishly asking because i've been
• 6:42
  thinking about making house made pickles
• 6:44
  that does not need it don't mean anything
• 6:48
  pickles more like a little luxury you know
• 6:49
  you sure that it's clean at the end
• 6:52
  maybe but
• 6:54
  that doesn't need a sauce that is that
• 6:57
  holds its own weight right there that is
• 7:00
  delightful so going back to that question
• 7:03
  we try i tried i'm all for stuff
• 7:05
  that's made especially pickles i like
• 7:07
  pickles different ways uh cut different
• 7:09
  ways but i try to limit at being
• 7:13
  you know in the restaurant business i try
• 7:14
  to keep things a little more simplistic on
• 7:16
  our staff
• 7:17
  Yep.
• 7:17
  Just so we can kind of focus on
• 7:19
  output and consistency and say, like,
• 7:23
  perfect the details,
• 7:24
  but also limit the details,
• 7:26
  the number of details.
• 7:27
  So that's kind of I don't want to
• 7:28
  throw too much in there for everybody to
• 7:30
  do because then it just kind of.
• 7:33
  increases the variables of like i love it
• 7:35
  i'm the same way keep it simple and
• 7:36
  just do it better than everybody else yeah
• 7:38
  that is righteous consistent and that's
• 7:41
  that is a hell of a sandwich that
• 7:42
  is absolutely right i can't wait to eat
• 7:44
  the other half we gotta we gotta show
• 7:46
  them i'm glad i missed the first one
• 7:49
  that we had planned because i wasn't
• 7:50
  planning on bringing the sandwiches well
• 7:52
  well done thank you you just became a
• 7:55
  family member
• 7:58
  Right on.
• 7:58
  Yeah, that might be my Thanksgiving meal.
• 8:01
  Genuinely,
• 8:02
  I'm going to sit here and rave on
• 8:03
  it, but that's wild.
• 8:04
  Look,
• 8:05
  I'll be a thousand percent honest with
• 8:06
  you, bro.
• 8:06
  I smoke pastrami myself.
• 8:08
  Yeah.
• 8:09
  That's good.
• 8:11
  Help me, the non-restaurant guy out.
• 8:15
  Visually, pastrami favors brisket.
• 8:18
  It's the same thing.
• 8:19
  It is the same thing.
• 8:20
  It's just what it's brined in and cooked.
• 8:22
  Okay.
• 8:23
  Okay.
• 8:23
  Cool.
• 8:24
  Seeing how it's cooked will change whether
• 8:28
  or not it's pastrami or not.
• 8:29
  Yeah.
• 8:31
  This has a bark.
• 8:32
  Obviously, the bark's different.
• 8:33
  The seasoning is more coriander-based and
• 8:36
  heavy pepper.
• 8:38
  It's also like the navel cut of the
• 8:40
  brisket.
• 8:40
  I'm familiar with that.
• 8:41
  I'm still not an expert on the difference
• 8:45
  between a standard brisket,
• 8:46
  but I know these are navel.
• 8:47
  So there's a lot more...
• 8:50
  fat marbling in there okay if you see
• 8:52
  it you can't see it so much now
• 8:53
  but we before we played them there's a
• 8:55
  lot of marbling in that meat so it's
• 8:57
  it's fatty but like the kind of fat
• 8:59
  you want right right it just looks back
• 9:01
  in towards the point okay okay that helps
• 9:04
  me i know what the point is so
• 9:07
  i'm just a backyard barbecue warrior i
• 9:08
  don't know this kind of stuff so i
• 9:10
  i would have never known this the same
• 9:12
  cut or similar cut with just a different
• 9:14
  brine so that well that'll play into our
• 9:21
  opening
• 9:23
  we are sponsored by toast tab or toast
• 9:25
  POS system.
• 9:26
  Okay.
• 9:26
  Um,
• 9:28
  they are a primary technology partner in a
• 9:29
  restaurant.
• 9:30
  They,
• 9:30
  they partner with us here on the show.
• 9:33
  Uh, amazing company, amazing people.
• 9:36
  The POS system is awesome.
• 9:39
  Um, if you're not using them,
• 9:40
  we can talk about it later,
• 9:41
  but they shout out to toast.
• 9:43
  I'm already using them.
• 9:44
  There you go.
• 9:46
  Um, they're incredible.
• 9:47
  I love,
• 9:48
  I just got back from Boston a couple
• 9:49
  of days ago.
• 9:49
  So they, um,
• 9:52
  but they started doing something.
• 9:54
  Uh, when we, when I first got to,
• 9:58
  excuse me, yeah,
• 10:00
  I got choked up with the pickle there.
• 10:04
  Um,
• 10:05
  They ask everybody what their favorite
• 10:07
  kind of toast is.
• 10:08
  So it's like bread.
• 10:10
  Yeah.
• 10:11
  You're the first one that thought that we
• 10:13
  all thought like your favorite,
• 10:14
  what's your, what's your favorite cheer.
• 10:16
  So, um,
• 10:17
  so we do a segment on the show
• 10:19
  and just ask you what your favorite toast
• 10:21
  is.
• 10:22
  So if you're eating toast,
• 10:25
  what would be your favorite toast?
• 10:27
  My favorite toast.
• 10:30
  I don't know.
• 10:30
  I would say I'm torn between a sourdough
• 10:33
  toast that my wife will make me once
• 10:35
  in a while.
• 10:37
  Or I go to a diner.
• 10:40
  I like just plain white toast with some
• 10:41
  corned beef hash on there.
• 10:42
  Ooh.
• 10:44
  That's an appropriate answer.
• 10:47
  Here's what is funny.
• 10:48
  When we first started the thing about
• 10:50
  toast and different kinds of toast,
• 10:53
  my simple goofy self was like, white?
• 10:58
  I don't know.
• 11:00
  I didn't think about grape jelly.
• 11:04
  I don't know.
• 11:04
  Which, by the way,
• 11:05
  you want to start a fight amongst high
• 11:06
  schoolers?
• 11:07
  Make or choose between strawberry or grape
• 11:08
  jelly.
• 11:09
  That's a fantastic discussion.
• 11:11
  I mean,
• 11:11
  just right at the simple heart of it.
• 11:13
  I'll do that later on.
• 11:13
  Thank you.
• 11:14
  Okay, there you go.
• 11:17
  That's good.
• 11:18
  I think Strawberry wins.
• 11:21
  As a general observation.
• 11:25
  I would take Strawberry.
• 11:26
  I would too.
• 11:27
  I'm a neither.
• 11:29
  Go figure.
• 11:30
  Blackberry Jam.
• 11:32
  black brace where it's at it's just not
• 11:33
  the popular one no if i make a
• 11:35
  picture it's my old soul is what it
• 11:38
  is so if you had a toast to
• 11:42
  give what would be a good toast that
• 11:45
  you would give obviously it needs to be
• 11:47
  appropriate for children and radio are we
• 11:49
  still we're still talking about bread
• 11:51
  toast so now we're talking about no now
• 11:52
  we're talking about cheers yeah salute
• 11:55
  tough one um
• 11:57
  Yeah, I'd probably say salute.
• 11:59
  I keep it short and sweet.
• 12:00
  That's it.
• 12:02
  Salute.
• 12:03
  I love it.
• 12:04
  I love it.
• 12:05
  That'd be probably about it.
• 12:06
  What are you giggling about?
• 12:08
  every time we talk about a toast uh
• 12:13
  i scott spain hour had one from that
• 12:16
  he brought back from uh germany when we
• 12:18
  were in high school and it's not radio
• 12:20
  appropriate but it is hilarious and it's
• 12:22
  what runs through my mind every single
• 12:24
  single time because i can watch him do
• 12:25
  it that's the problem so anyway old high
• 12:28
  school friend who was uh how you said
• 12:30
  rough around the edges and and he he
• 12:33
  he was he was just a big personality
• 12:35
  that's that's the way i tell my mom
• 12:36
  that way it didn't sound bad right he's
• 12:38
  just a big personality mom spanky oh man
• 12:41
  still does absolutely i can't there's a
• 12:43
  few i've thought of but i can't remember
• 12:45
  them right now um something like spanish
• 12:48
  they'd say up down but i i couldn't
• 12:51
  think of them so we'll look it up
• 12:54
  spanish toast remember that we're gonna
• 12:56
  check it out it's outstanding so let's
• 12:59
  let's talk about mr j's for a minute
• 13:01
  so you uh when did you guys open
• 13:05
  uh july of last year july twenty twenty
• 13:07
  four um we opened took about ten months
• 13:14
  of construction renovation on that
• 13:15
  building there the one that's on those
• 13:16
  mugs um yeah i came together we did
• 13:19
  a little grand opening july fifteenth and
• 13:21
  uh kind of just been punching ever since
• 13:25
  so now you had a business prior to
• 13:28
  this as well correct yeah we had a
• 13:30
  business uh well depending on how far we
• 13:33
  go back so we're originally
• 13:36
  My wife and myself, kids,
• 13:39
  we're all from California,
• 13:40
  Southern California.
• 13:41
  So we moved here to Nashville about four
• 13:43
  years ago.
• 13:44
  Like San Diego, Southern California?
• 13:46
  Yeah, like Orange County,
• 13:47
  LA slash Orange County area.
• 13:48
  Okay.
• 13:49
  So that's where we're originally from.
• 13:52
  But we moved here and...
• 13:56
  So going back to the business,
• 13:58
  we had like a shoe care business.
• 14:00
  My wife and I, foot care, shoe care,
• 14:02
  shoelaces, some shoe cleaner.
• 14:04
  We sold products like Nordstrom, Target,
• 14:08
  Staples, and then...
• 14:11
  came change everything it became more
• 14:13
  essential you know essential products and
• 14:14
  stuff so the orders kind of evaporated
• 14:17
  essentially overnight so we kept it going
• 14:22
  Amazon was still useful and everything but
• 14:25
  kind of just wanted to shake off of
• 14:27
  that kind of had always looked at doing
• 14:29
  a restaurant and multiple restaurants why
• 14:33
  would you ever want to work in a
• 14:35
  restaurant
• 14:37
  kind of more preferred managing and owning
• 14:40
  restaurants.
• 14:41
  I mean,
• 14:41
  I don't necessarily love flipping the
• 14:44
  burgers and all that.
• 14:44
  Well, that's what I mean.
• 14:45
  Like, I mean, you go from,
• 14:47
  had you worked in a restaurant prior to
• 14:49
  this?
• 14:49
  Yeah, so going, that's what I was saying.
• 14:50
  I don't know how far back we want
• 14:51
  to go,
• 14:51
  but before the whole shoe care thing,
• 14:55
  you know, basically,
• 14:57
  trying to give you the short version of
• 14:58
  the story, my dad, my grandfather,
• 15:02
  you know, my dad's brothers,
• 15:03
  they started a,
• 15:05
  pretty big tortilla company going way back
• 15:07
  to the eighties.
• 15:07
  Okay.
• 15:08
  Very successful.
• 15:09
  Yeah.
• 15:09
  Then they moved on to a supermarket chain,
• 15:12
  which also was very successful.
• 15:15
  Inside those supermarkets were little
• 15:17
  Mexican restaurants.
• 15:18
  Okay.
• 15:18
  That was kind of where I went in
• 15:21
  and was helping them.
• 15:22
  And I did the buying, you know,
• 15:23
  buying all the meat or all the produce
• 15:26
  and watching, you know,
• 15:27
  cost for plates and stuff like that.
• 15:29
  So I got into it,
• 15:31
  kind of developed a passion for that.
• 15:33
  but then that company sold,
• 15:34
  they sold the business back in California.
• 15:36
  So it kind of was left end up
• 15:38
  from there, more office stuff for them.
• 15:41
  And with some other stuff they were doing,
• 15:43
  we started our business with the shoe
• 15:45
  care, did that for about six years,
• 15:47
  seven years, sold that.
• 15:50
  Um, and then, uh,
• 15:52
  kind of still had the itch for the
• 15:53
  restaurant, you know,
• 15:54
  and I didn't really get my fix with
• 15:56
  them.
• 15:56
  Kind of, I was just starting to hit,
• 15:58
  we were doing like online ordering.
• 16:00
  This was back in,
• 16:02
  kind of it's not where it's at it
• 16:03
  wasn't where it's at now you know now
• 16:04
  you can open something build a website in
• 16:06
  two minutes and do online it wasn't like
• 16:08
  this we had a nice thing built but
• 16:10
  right after right when we got everything
• 16:11
  going catering some nice boxes uh they
• 16:14
  sold it so right when i was kind
• 16:15
  of getting in the groove we were doing
• 16:17
  some good stuff over there um it ended
• 16:19
  so i kind of didn't get my fix
• 16:22
  and i wasn't i wasn't done i barely
• 16:24
  started so
• 16:27
  Let us out here, Tennessee,
• 16:30
  a lot of opportunity, just growth.
• 16:32
  And it was kind of intriguing to us.
• 16:34
  So let's, let's stop there.
• 16:35
  Cause if I'm in LA,
• 16:39
  I'm not throwing a dart at a map
• 16:40
  and hitting Nashville.
• 16:41
  Right.
• 16:43
  So how did we get from LA?
• 16:45
  Cause I got,
• 16:45
  I have multiple buddies in LA.
• 16:47
  Yeah.
• 16:48
  and and they joke all the time that
• 16:50
  they're gonna move here but see if we
• 16:54
  have the same story so i mean if
• 16:58
  you can't hear that's his wife in the
• 16:59
  background her idea you know uh we would
• 17:04
  take our trips so the boss said we're
• 17:05
  moving to nashville
• 17:07
  Kind of, but no, I wasn't for it,
• 17:09
  though.
• 17:09
  I mean, yeah, she wanted to,
• 17:11
  but we would take our little trips,
• 17:13
  but we would kind of butt heads because
• 17:15
  I was a California palm trees guy,
• 17:17
  and I could never see myself.
• 17:20
  In boots and a cowboy hat.
• 17:21
  just you just leaving california it wasn't
• 17:23
  going to happen arizona texas it wasn't
• 17:25
  going to happen gotcha yeah so i would
• 17:27
  come here and have our trips but i'm
• 17:28
  like it's cool for vacation but i'm not
• 17:31
  gonna live here i'm not leaving cali you
• 17:33
  know um but the more we started coming
• 17:36
  i kind of changed my perspective a little
• 17:39
  bit i would see this the growth you
• 17:40
  know la was just kind of getting difficult
• 17:43
  at that time to really do anything to
• 17:45
  open a restaurant or try to go in
• 17:46
  there
• 17:47
  it's crazy it's crazy so it was almost
• 17:49
  like an impossibility but you'd come out
• 17:51
  here we touched down we'd be driving
• 17:53
  through new areas um and it's just new
• 17:56
  restaurants and there was a fire here that
• 17:59
  i hadn't seen in a long time right
• 18:01
  now and that's what kind of changed my
• 18:03
  my lens a little bit and as soon
• 18:06
  as i started looking at it like from
• 18:07
  a different perspective is when
• 18:10
  Okay, I guess I don't need California.
• 18:12
  I saw a new thing here that was
• 18:14
  more exciting, you know,
• 18:16
  intriguing to just go for it, you know.
• 18:20
  So we kind of basically sold the house,
• 18:21
  sold that business,
• 18:23
  came over here and just kind of with
• 18:25
  our three daughters and just kind of the
• 18:28
  intention of putting roots down here.
• 18:32
  They're older.
• 18:32
  Sixteen's the youngest.
• 18:35
  Nineteen and then twenty-two.
• 18:36
  So they were old enough to object.
• 18:38
  Yeah.
• 18:41
  kind of yeah that's that was the hardest
• 18:43
  part we were nervous because you got
• 18:44
  teenage right right that's gonna be the
• 18:47
  hardest their whole friend base is built
• 18:48
  around right yeah i always said like if
• 18:51
  my parents would have said told me when
• 18:52
  i was we're moving to tennessee i'd be
• 18:54
  like it wouldn't have been easy you know
• 18:58
  sure um but they they went they trusted
• 19:01
  us now you're you're you're
• 19:04
  Adult children right there.
• 19:05
  Nineteen twenty twenty two.
• 19:07
  So I said, yeah Did are they here?
• 19:11
  They're here.
• 19:12
  Yeah.
• 19:12
  So the first one cuz she kind of
• 19:13
  got the head the oldest one Went to
• 19:16
  Lipscomb.
• 19:17
  Okay,
• 19:17
  so she was actually technically here
• 19:19
  before we were Dormed kind of got the
• 19:22
  head start.
• 19:22
  So he would take trips just because we
• 19:24
  were visiting her We go out started
• 19:27
  looking at homes.
• 19:28
  She kind of liked it because her mom
• 19:30
  and dad were coming to town Sure frequent,
• 19:32
  you know,
• 19:32
  yeah
• 19:33
  and she had kind of made some of
• 19:34
  her own roots too so she's starting to
• 19:36
  kind of yeah she already kind of start
• 19:38
  making friends and you know working
• 19:40
  getting internships and stuff so she
• 19:42
  started to feel feel the city a little
• 19:44
  bit and uh then the kids would cut
• 19:46
  the other two would come with us that
• 19:47
  you know we're going to nashville again
• 19:49
  kind of so kind of like warmed them
• 19:51
  up to it a little bit it wasn't
• 19:52
  like too much of a sudden transition i
• 19:55
  think for anybody um
• 19:59
  You didn't drug them to put them on
• 20:00
  the U-Haul and just say, here we are,
• 20:02
  right?
• 20:03
  Here's some Benadryl.
• 20:04
  See you all in the morning.
• 20:05
  That's right.
• 20:06
  Take another dose.
• 20:07
  Thirteen hours later, we'll get there.
• 20:10
  We knew we had to get them to
• 20:11
  love it, you know?
• 20:11
  Yeah, sure.
• 20:12
  And they do.
• 20:12
  Now they have more friends here.
• 20:14
  They have more –
• 20:17
  work and stuff and we still have a
• 20:18
  lot of family back home sure you know
• 20:20
  we definitely got to get back and visit
• 20:21
  and stuff uh but they love it here
• 20:24
  and they got it worked out because they
• 20:27
  were the x factor there right right so
• 20:28
  you moved here with the intentions of
• 20:30
  opening a restaurant yeah initially it was
• 20:33
  jersey mike's okay so i was going back
• 20:36
  and forth with jersey mike's i was just
• 20:37
  going to do the franchise thing yeah and
• 20:39
  uh they gave me well they had talked
• 20:42
  about giving me uh some areas between here
• 20:45
  and memphis
• 20:46
  And I was just like,
• 20:47
  that's just too far.
• 20:48
  Nashville had apparently been already
• 20:51
  tapped in or whatever.
• 20:52
  So we came up with a new concept.
• 20:54
  And it wasn't, I mean, not difficult.
• 20:57
  I mean, in the back of my head,
• 20:58
  I always wanted to do my own thing
• 20:59
  anyway.
• 21:00
  We all usually do at some point, right?
• 21:03
  So we just kind of created the branding,
• 21:04
  the concept.
• 21:05
  My wife came up with the name.
• 21:07
  I thought it was pretty good.
• 21:08
  Now, are you Mr. J.?
• 21:13
  Okay.
• 21:13
  And I'm assuming Mr.
• 21:14
  J original is it's original recipes.
• 21:18
  yeah i mean it's original recipes but also
• 21:21
  that a sense of like classics you know
• 21:25
  original like some great burger places and
• 21:27
  stuff that but we try to bring it
• 21:29
  back home where the food kind of tastes
• 21:31
  like you know the burgers like something
• 21:32
  your dad made in the backyard when you
• 21:34
  were you know you know or something mom
• 21:36
  made your burger on the on the griddle
• 21:39
  at home yeah it's just classic we're not
• 21:41
  trying to do too much still add we
• 21:43
  have have toppings and stuff like that but
• 21:45
  i like the uh
• 21:47
  The simplicity makes things easier just
• 21:49
  like that sandwich, you know,
• 21:50
  it's doesn't eat a lot It just if
• 21:52
  you do it the right way,
• 21:54
  it'll be appreciated.
• 21:55
  It's great.
• 21:56
  Let's take a quick break and then we'll
• 21:58
  come right back
• 22:01
  Welcome back to Singletree Nation, guys.
• 22:03
  I'm your man, Charlie Eblen.
• 22:04
  And as always,
• 22:05
  we have our illustrious co-host, Mr.
• 22:07
  Derry Wells, with us today.
• 22:11
  And we have a special guest from Mr.
• 22:16
  J's original...
• 22:17
  Felt like he got stuck in the intro
• 22:18
  again, right?
• 22:19
  Okay.
• 22:19
  I paused for a little bit longer than
• 22:21
  I wanted to, but...
• 22:23
  but I saw his face change and then
• 22:25
  start giggling.
• 22:26
  And so I just rolled with it.
• 22:28
  It was just kind of funny.
• 22:29
  I'm not upset by it.
• 22:30
  It just caught us off guard.
• 22:31
  You know,
• 22:32
  we can't do anything consistent around
• 22:34
  here.
• 22:34
  It's always gotta be something off the
• 22:35
  bar.
• 22:37
  Oh my Lord.
• 22:38
  Uh, goodness gracious.
• 22:41
  All right.
• 22:41
  So Jason, we were talking about, um,
• 22:44
  you moving to Nashville and throwing darts
• 22:46
  and just found a place.
• 22:48
  Um, so
• 22:52
  you got to decided that franchise wasn't a
• 22:57
  thing.
• 22:57
  I've always felt like franchise made it
• 23:00
  felt like it wasn't,
• 23:01
  I wasn't really an owner.
• 23:03
  Yeah.
• 23:03
  Like, yeah,
• 23:04
  you're the owner and you get to keep
• 23:06
  all the profit,
• 23:07
  but somebody else can come in and tell
• 23:09
  you what to do.
• 23:10
  Doesn't really make me feel like an owner.
• 23:11
  Right.
• 23:13
  So how much,
• 23:15
  just real quick for when you are
• 23:17
  franchising something like that,
• 23:19
  how much is the,
• 23:21
  How much leniency do you have as the
• 23:26
  franchisee to shake things up that you
• 23:29
  want to?
• 23:30
  Zero.
• 23:31
  Yeah.
• 23:31
  I mean, it's OK.
• 23:32
  I mean,
• 23:33
  I'm not saying like that you would ever
• 23:34
  change the menu or stuff like if you
• 23:36
  want to.
• 23:37
  So great example,
• 23:38
  some of the local places that I'm thinking
• 23:40
  of,
• 23:40
  like they they'll bring in like some of
• 23:42
  the local high school football helmets or
• 23:44
  something.
• 23:45
  they'll hang the local university jersey
• 23:46
  on the wall or stuff like that.
• 23:48
  Is that just written in that, hey,
• 23:50
  you can do the local school and that's
• 23:52
  it?
• 23:52
  Or is it like, did they,
• 23:54
  I don't know,
• 23:55
  y'all may not know the particulars,
• 23:56
  but I'm just saying it's going to be
• 23:58
  extremely limited, right?
• 24:00
  From what you're allowed to do.
• 24:02
  I have a friend of mine who that's
• 24:04
  all he does is franchising.
• 24:05
  Okay.
• 24:07
  So he would take a Mr. J's,
• 24:08
  a single tree, busters, whatever.
• 24:12
  Turn them into a franchise.
• 24:13
  Okay.
• 24:15
  Whatever that franchise wants is what
• 24:18
  you're allowed to do.
• 24:19
  Okay.
• 24:19
  So he may say,
• 24:21
  I care less what the interior looks like,
• 24:23
  but you're going to make every recipe
• 24:24
  exactly the same.
• 24:25
  Right.
• 24:25
  No questions, period.
• 24:26
  End of discussion.
• 24:28
  He may say, I may go,
• 24:31
  everything has to be look just like this.
• 24:35
  the recipes for the core menu have to
• 24:36
  be the same but you can do whatever
• 24:37
  special you want okay right but it can
• 24:40
  only be a daily special whatever or i
• 24:43
  can say no you have to do exactly
• 24:45
  what i do every single day and if
• 24:46
  you don't then i can pull your franchise
• 24:49
  agreement okay so it's up to the business
• 24:50
  i guess to decide it's up to the
• 24:52
  it's up to whatever business so jimmy john
• 24:55
  subway mcdonald's whatever
• 24:58
  company you want to go into,
• 25:00
  they will all be different.
• 25:01
  Sure.
• 25:02
  It was an interesting experience, though,
• 25:03
  because I did get,
• 25:04
  I don't want to say too far,
• 25:05
  maybe halfway,
• 25:06
  they required you to talk to three other
• 25:08
  owners.
• 25:09
  And they give you this long database,
• 25:12
  like, ten pages of all these guys.
• 25:14
  And some have two, some have, like,
• 25:16
  thirty-something locations.
• 25:18
  So it was good talking to some of
• 25:19
  them, you know, just getting some insight.
• 25:21
  I remember one guy said,
• 25:23
  Just remember,
• 25:24
  it's going to take you eighteen months
• 25:26
  from to get open from you find find
• 25:28
  a place to opening doors.
• 25:30
  And I thought he was crazy.
• 25:31
  And then when we got to this, Mr.
• 25:33
  Jays, you knew right there.
• 25:37
  How much did even though you wound up
• 25:38
  not going with the franchise part,
• 25:40
  how much did that give you some experience
• 25:43
  or some wisdom?
• 25:45
  as you ventured off into your own uh
• 25:47
  like you said the eighteen months were
• 25:49
  there other elements of that that's like
• 25:50
  man i remember you know so-and-so said
• 25:53
  that or was it just kind of a
• 25:54
  good have in the back of your mind
• 25:57
  Um, yeah, just that I don't,
• 25:58
  I don't remember too much.
• 25:59
  I mean,
• 25:59
  maybe a few discussions on like debt
• 26:01
  services and things like that,
• 26:02
  that they would kind of point out like
• 26:04
  advice.
• 26:05
  Um, but that was pretty much it.
• 26:07
  I mean, they were all pretty nice,
• 26:08
  friendly people, um, busy.
• 26:11
  I mean,
• 26:11
  I think that guy I'm talking about,
• 26:13
  he was the second largest, um, franchisee.
• 26:18
  Oh, wow.
• 26:18
  It was currently at that time was already
• 26:20
  in the, literally he says,
• 26:22
  I'm opening four more.
• 26:23
  They're in the process, you know?
• 26:24
  So he was,
• 26:25
  obviously he loves that concept and doing
• 26:29
  pretty good with it.
• 26:30
  Yeah,
• 26:31
  but then we ended up doing this thing.
• 26:34
  And I'm happy, obviously, with the choice.
• 26:36
  I think there's a lot more legwork and
• 26:41
  long-term planning, I think,
• 26:43
  because their brand is essentially
• 26:44
  turnkey.
• 26:46
  This thing,
• 26:47
  we got a long road to get the
• 26:49
  name out there.
• 26:50
  So that's the downside.
• 26:51
  There's gives and takes.
• 26:52
  Sure.
• 26:53
  Well, I'm just,
• 26:53
  I'm thinking about when you have,
• 26:55
  you know, a one-off an original, you know,
• 26:58
  place of your own, I mean,
• 27:00
  you're developing menus,
• 27:01
  you're developing recipes,
• 27:01
  you're developing all the advertisement
• 27:04
  logos, you know, whatever,
• 27:05
  then you step into the restaurant design
• 27:08
  layout, you know, all that stuff.
• 27:10
  And you haven't even touched anything
• 27:12
  towards trying to put a employee in place
• 27:17
  or, you know,
• 27:18
  I can't imagine the amount of taxes.
• 27:21
  And that's where some of the franchise
• 27:22
  stuff comes in handy.
• 27:23
  Sure, sure.
• 27:24
  Because they have the support system.
• 27:25
  Exactly.
• 27:27
  The playbook is written for you.
• 27:29
  Right.
• 27:30
  Well,
• 27:32
  I'm trying to think about those two
• 27:34
  aspects as somebody that's not in that
• 27:36
  world.
• 27:37
  And I think I go back to what
• 27:38
  you said, though.
• 27:39
  Like, I still want to be mine.
• 27:41
  I still want to be able to have
• 27:43
  the local acoustic night or, you know,
• 27:45
  have some of those,
• 27:47
  some of those brands will allow you to
• 27:48
  do stuff like that.
• 27:49
  Okay.
• 27:49
  Right.
• 27:49
  Like you could have a, you know,
• 27:51
  you could buy a Chili's franchise for an
• 27:55
  example, just a name.
• 27:57
  And then if you wanted to have live
• 27:59
  music, you could probably do that.
• 28:01
  Okay.
• 28:01
  Right.
• 28:01
  Where, you know, the, uh,
• 28:06
  Applebee's may not let you do that.
• 28:09
  It just depends on what it is.
• 28:12
  But at the same time,
• 28:15
  You still, somebody can come in and go,
• 28:17
  hey, you're not doing that right.
• 28:19
  Fix it.
• 28:22
  Again,
• 28:22
  I think the advantage is they have that
• 28:24
  name built in.
• 28:24
  That's what I would think.
• 28:25
  It's almost like not instant,
• 28:27
  but more rapid sales flow and traffic,
• 28:31
  which is kind of the key to the
• 28:32
  game.
• 28:33
  Yeah, built-in marketing and built-in.
• 28:34
  Yeah, built-in base.
• 28:36
  Built-in base support, all the things.
• 28:38
  There's people you can call when you have
• 28:39
  questions.
• 28:41
  Right now, if I have a question,
• 28:43
  I call Derry.
• 28:46
  I was a secret shopper one night.
• 28:48
  He's like, Hey,
• 28:49
  I'm not in town or whatever.
• 28:50
  It was like, you run by for me.
• 28:51
  I was like, are you serious?
• 28:52
  And I was like, do you care?
• 28:53
  I was like, no, I don't care.
• 28:55
  I just didn't know.
• 28:56
  So right.
• 28:58
  Nothing crazy.
• 28:59
  No, no, it was all good.
• 29:01
  It was funny.
• 29:02
  I only fired three people.
• 29:03
  Yeah.
• 29:04
  But what was great about it?
• 29:06
  I looked up, I called him.
• 29:06
  I was like, Hey,
• 29:08
  there another guy and i described that was
• 29:10
  he doing the same thing it's like yeah
• 29:11
  so he stood out i don't know i
• 29:13
  probably stood out too but um anyhow that
• 29:16
  said kind of rolling into you say the
• 29:18
  franchises have a built-in like the
• 29:20
  advertisement that kind of stuff you've
• 29:22
  done a really good job with your social
• 29:24
  media uh now i've just got you on
• 29:26
  instagram but like for example
• 29:30
  you had mentioned something about the
• 29:32
  sandwich right before the show aired and
• 29:34
  you were like yes what's in that box
• 29:36
  and then literally it's below what you
• 29:39
  have pinned that you're like third one
• 29:41
  yeah and like it just like it looks
• 29:43
  righteous and so um so good but that's
• 29:48
  one of those sandwiches i know i'm
• 29:49
  interjecting myself here but
• 29:52
  my wife's not a big sandwich person i'd
• 29:55
  get her to try that she might try
• 29:56
  that because i like that right there
• 29:58
  that's good now i know what she's going
• 29:59
  she's going to put ranch on it don't
• 30:00
  hold it against her but like because
• 30:03
  that's not you it's her but she is
• 30:05
  it's all good she's like she's she's the
• 30:10
  guest that you just bring a gallon of
• 30:12
  ranch to at the beginning of the service
• 30:14
  yeah
• 30:14
  So she's probably very particular with –
• 30:17
  she can point out they have good ranch
• 30:18
  or not good ranch, right?
• 30:20
  Always them.
• 30:21
  Oh, yeah.
• 30:21
  She doesn't just love any ranch.
• 30:23
  She can tell you the brand.
• 30:25
  Yes, she can.
• 30:26
  I was stoked to take her to his
• 30:28
  joint.
• 30:28
  I'm talking him up, right?
• 30:30
  And we get over there,
• 30:31
  and she gets a little bit of ranch.
• 30:33
  She looks at me, and I was like,
• 30:35
  what?
• 30:35
  She's like –
• 30:36
  And I was like, don't be like that.
• 30:38
  And she goes, it's probably hidden Valley.
• 30:40
  He busted out laugh.
• 30:41
  And I assume it still is.
• 30:42
  It's like a year and a half ago.
• 30:43
  And he was like, yeah, like that.
• 30:45
  I just pulled out like she knows she
• 30:47
  absolutely knows,
• 30:48
  but I'm a barbecue joint.
• 30:49
  We don't make rent.
• 30:50
  That's what I told her.
• 30:52
  He's not supposed to have it there, babe.
• 30:54
  Like I got Alabama white sauce all day
• 30:56
  long.
• 30:56
  I was like, they have a ranch alternative.
• 31:00
  No, I may as well just cuss.
• 31:01
  So I had somebody, he's good.
• 31:05
  speaking of speaking of that i had
• 31:07
  somebody tell me the other day that they
• 31:09
  y'all they said hey can i get can
• 31:12
  i get the other ranch we don't like
• 31:14
  this one oh yeah i said i said
• 31:17
  i said do you want the white sauce
• 31:20
  or actual ranch and they were like
• 31:22
  no yeah oh we want the white sauce
• 31:24
  yeah and i was like yeah because that's
• 31:27
  whatever it's hilarious but backing up
• 31:30
  though to y'all got some fun events going
• 31:33
  on you got like a cruise in happening
• 31:35
  uh speaking of sauces you got a full
• 31:37
  page of all the sauces listed and stuff
• 31:38
  so um just i mean you were talking
• 31:41
  about the advertisement with the built-in
• 31:43
  stuff from a franchisee standpoint how
• 31:45
  much time effort have you poured into
• 31:48
  the social media,
• 31:49
  knowing that that makes a difference.
• 31:51
  Cause I mean,
• 31:51
  you've got some big notoriety here from
• 31:53
  some of the local places around national
• 31:54
  Nashville scene has made a couple of
• 31:56
  comments opposed and some different
• 31:57
  things.
• 31:58
  So how much does that help when you
• 32:00
  think, well,
• 32:00
  the franchise would have done this,
• 32:02
  but then you still get the local flavor.
• 32:04
  uh well it helps a lot you gotta
• 32:05
  i gotta be involved and push as much
• 32:07
  as i can with all of them thank
• 32:09
  god they're all people like especially
• 32:11
  like you two willing to you know reach
• 32:12
  out and we can connect and do something
• 32:14
  because i need every little bit of it
• 32:15
  you know because of that main component
• 32:19
  that
• 32:20
  jersey mics or a firehouse subs they have
• 32:22
  that built an audience that takes five ten
• 32:24
  years to build in their case maybe thirty
• 32:26
  who knows right and so we all you
• 32:28
  know we all want to get there as
• 32:29
  soon as possible to that so in retrospect
• 32:33
  I mean I don't really think about them
• 32:34
  anymore jersey mics and that whole
• 32:36
  situation right right unless I'm getting a
• 32:37
  sandwich there now it's just building our
• 32:41
  brand and working with these guys we do
• 32:44
  like a lot of Instagram stuff.
• 32:46
  Uh, what was it like Nashville scene,
• 32:47
  that burger week thing they did, uh,
• 32:49
  that led us to a connection with a
• 32:51
  lightning one hundred,
• 32:52
  which is a local radio station in the
• 32:54
  city over there.
• 32:55
  And those are some great guys.
• 32:56
  They've helped us.
• 32:56
  We're,
• 32:57
  we're do little spots with them on their
• 32:59
  show.
• 33:00
  uh good people there um and just more
• 33:03
  stuff like that you know i just try
• 33:04
  to but like how you said the beginning
• 33:06
  just authentic i mean just try to i
• 33:08
  mean and everybody we've encountered is is
• 33:10
  good people yeah so it makes it easy
• 33:12
  to do this stuff it makes you know
• 33:14
  hopefully we have a little fun in the
• 33:15
  in the process and uh do you find
• 33:19
  tennessee easier than california
• 33:22
  And not in a personal sense.
• 33:24
  And you said it kind of has started
• 33:26
  getting harder in California.
• 33:28
  Yeah, I mean, it's easier.
• 33:30
  I don't want to say anything bad about
• 33:31
  all my people in California.
• 33:32
  No, no, no, no, no.
• 33:33
  We are strictly talking business licenses
• 33:37
  and just operating.
• 33:40
  It's easy.
• 33:40
  I didn't get to an actual restaurant with
• 33:42
  permits and all that stuff, you know,
• 33:44
  in California, to be fair.
• 33:47
  But here I was...
• 33:49
  Not that it was easy because they give
• 33:50
  you a long list of all kinds of
• 33:52
  stuff.
• 33:52
  I've heard all the nightmare stories.
• 33:54
  It's a little daunting.
• 33:55
  But when it came to the people,
• 33:59
  inspectors,
• 34:02
  all of them from every department,
• 34:03
  they were all very cool.
• 34:05
  They worked with us.
• 34:05
  It was still hard,
• 34:06
  but it was more stuff that was on
• 34:08
  our end.
• 34:09
  You have to fix that.
• 34:10
  You have to do that.
• 34:11
  So it's not really them.
• 34:13
  Fire department, inspectors over there,
• 34:16
  everybody was great.
• 34:17
  Tougher because it's an old building also?
• 34:21
  I think so.
• 34:21
  Yeah, for sure.
• 34:22
  Because there was some new new ones that
• 34:24
  we looked at.
• 34:25
  There would be a lot less headaches.
• 34:27
  Of course,
• 34:28
  I end up picking the most challenging
• 34:30
  option.
• 34:31
  But I looked at it like, you know,
• 34:33
  you learned all that.
• 34:34
  So in the next one, you know, sure,
• 34:36
  maybe it'll be a little easier.
• 34:37
  Sure.
• 34:38
  But who knows?
• 34:39
  Probably, you know,
• 34:39
  there's always something right comes up.
• 34:41
  Well, you threw that out there,
• 34:43
  so I want to go ahead.
• 34:44
  Are we talking the next one is,
• 34:46
  I mean, I have to,
• 34:47
  I I'd like to,
• 34:48
  but I'm not there yet because, you know,
• 34:51
  I just,
• 34:51
  I think we've got a little bit more
• 34:53
  work to do at the current location.
• 34:54
  Sure.
• 34:55
  That base building that audience.
• 34:57
  Um,
• 34:59
  but definitely got to do a few more.
• 35:02
  We've had some guests on in the past
• 35:04
  and you could tell some of them have
• 35:06
  that hesitancy to grow because they've got
• 35:08
  a check mark of, hey,
• 35:09
  I want to be here before I do
• 35:10
  it.
• 35:11
  And we've had two or three that just
• 35:12
  pull the trigger early and they're like,
• 35:14
  hey, let's go now.
• 35:16
  And the part that I find unique between
• 35:20
  all of them
• 35:21
  is none of them are right none of
• 35:22
  them are wrong yeah like it literally just
• 35:24
  kind of has to fit for where they
• 35:25
  are and i know like even with with
• 35:28
  talking with charlie sometimes it's just
• 35:29
  if the opportunity's there yeah like i
• 35:31
  mean if the right thing walks in the
• 35:33
  door like i'm not gonna let it go
• 35:35
  but at the same time i'm not gonna
• 35:37
  chase a rabid dog down the street we
• 35:38
  always say that i'm not trying to do
• 35:40
  it fast i'm not trying to do it
• 35:42
  slow i'm trying to do it right right
• 35:43
  Okay.
• 35:44
  And, and it may be,
• 35:46
  I could open three locations in the next
• 35:47
  two years.
• 35:49
  I could open no more locations in the
• 35:51
  next two years.
• 35:52
  Right.
• 35:52
  It's, it has to be the right fit,
• 35:54
  right time.
• 35:55
  Cause if it's not the right fit at
• 35:56
  the right time,
• 35:58
  you're not going to have the right people
• 35:59
  in place.
• 35:59
  And if you don't have the right people
• 36:00
  in place,
• 36:01
  you're not going to have the right,
• 36:02
  right restaurant.
• 36:03
  Right.
• 36:03
  Doesn't matter how good you are.
• 36:04
  Yeah.
• 36:04
  You got to have people to back you
• 36:05
  up.
• 36:06
  Cause once you get past one,
• 36:08
  you can't do it all anymore.
• 36:09
  Yeah.
• 36:10
  One, you can do all.
• 36:11
  Yeah, that's one thing I've heard too.
• 36:12
  At one, you can just be there.
• 36:14
  But now once you get to two,
• 36:16
  now you have to divide up all that
• 36:17
  time into two places.
• 36:19
  Look,
• 36:19
  it's one of my favorite things about my
• 36:23
  career.
• 36:23
  I've been fortunate enough to be in
• 36:24
  executive level roles where I had ten,
• 36:27
  twenty, thirty restaurants underneath me.
• 36:29
  And the more you get,
• 36:32
  the more people you have to have.
• 36:35
  It's not a more people you would like
• 36:36
  to have.
• 36:37
  It's more people you have to have.
• 36:39
  Cause you can't,
• 36:40
  you can't be in two places at one
• 36:41
  time.
• 36:42
  So, you know,
• 36:43
  your truck orders are going to be due
• 36:44
  at the same time.
• 36:46
  Payroll is going to be due at the
• 36:47
  same time.
• 36:48
  They're open at the same time.
• 36:49
  You can't manage this restaurant's
• 36:51
  operation and that restaurant operation at
• 36:53
  the same day, same time.
• 36:54
  Right.
• 36:54
  It's just impossible.
• 36:55
  So now where you don't have to have
• 36:57
  a GM in your current location because
• 36:58
  you're there seven days a week from
• 37:00
  opening clothes, busting tail,
• 37:01
  doing everything you can,
• 37:02
  making sure it's clean,
• 37:04
  serving sandwiches like that.
• 37:06
  You're going to be a very famous man.
• 37:10
  And all that's great.
• 37:11
  But the next one,
• 37:14
  you got to clone everybody in that
• 37:15
  restaurant and put them in the second one.
• 37:18
  And if you can't do that.
• 37:20
  then it's not the right time.
• 37:21
  And it's hard enough even having the
• 37:23
  current team.
• 37:24
  That's exactly what I was about to ask.
• 37:26
  With just your current staff,
• 37:29
  because I'm sure there's turnover and
• 37:31
  there's ups and downs and you find that
• 37:33
  one that you don't want to let go.
• 37:35
  I looked up last night and I have
• 37:37
  spent over twelve hundred dollars in the
• 37:39
  last forty days for ad placement for
• 37:42
  employees.
• 37:42
  That's the worst.
• 37:44
  I was complaining about that the other day
• 37:45
  to her.
• 37:46
  And then half of them don't even show
• 37:47
  up to the interviews.
• 37:49
  Nope.
• 37:50
  Is that a generational thing,
• 37:52
  or is that current situational society
• 37:55
  thing?
• 37:56
  Is it just a blend of it all?
• 37:58
  I think it's a combination of things,
• 38:00
  right?
• 38:00
  They say some people,
• 38:02
  for what's that reason,
• 38:03
  they just have to say,
• 38:04
  prove that they have an interview for
• 38:05
  something.
• 38:07
  So they do that, I guess.
• 38:09
  Your corrections officer?
• 38:10
  What is that?
• 38:10
  I don't know.
• 38:12
  uh unemployment yeah okay employment's
• 38:14
  another one so you're trying any
• 38:15
  government benefits okay if you're if you
• 38:17
  are unemployed and trying yeah if you're
• 38:19
  unemployed and getting government benefits
• 38:21
  then you have to prove to them that
• 38:22
  you're looking for a job i can't imagine
• 38:24
  making an appointment not showing up just
• 38:26
  on a whim of just uh just because
• 38:28
  that's not what i would tell you man
• 38:29
  today's world has changed a lot um from
• 38:33
  uh uh employment standpoint sure
• 38:38
  And I don't think it ranges from what
• 38:41
  employment it is,
• 38:42
  whether it's a dishwasher, a GM,
• 38:44
  or a CEO.
• 38:45
  I think it's all the same.
• 38:46
  People have changed.
• 38:48
  COVID was a big part of it, right?
• 38:50
  That changed the whole landscape in
• 38:51
  restaurants.
• 38:53
  it didn't change the we do but it
• 38:55
  changed the pay scale and what people
• 38:58
  realized what they could get paid and how
• 39:03
  much less work they had to do to
• 39:04
  get paid that yeah so i'm glad you
• 39:07
  brought that up because i read
• 39:11
  a article the other day that the ceo
• 39:14
  of mcdonald's maybe cfo one of them he
• 39:17
  had letters uh he right he said said
• 39:21
  that lower income people are eating at
• 39:24
  mcdonald's less
• 39:26
  And the comments just lit him up.
• 39:29
  Well, let the comments up.
• 39:30
  No, they weren't directed to him,
• 39:31
  but it was just,
• 39:32
  and because the thing was, you're right.
• 39:34
  Because for my family of three to go
• 39:36
  to McDonald's now is.
• 39:38
  Thirty-three, thirty-four dollars.
• 39:40
  And I can go to the local Mexican
• 39:41
  joint for two dollars more sit down.
• 39:43
  And so, you know,
• 39:44
  they were showing that diversity.
• 39:46
  And I think, you know,
• 39:48
  from an aspect of,
• 39:50
  you said it changes that pay scale,
• 39:51
  it changes what's going on.
• 39:52
  And it did all the way down,
• 39:53
  even to the fast food,
• 39:54
  the convenience of going to grab that.
• 39:57
  But, you know,
• 39:58
  some of my students come in,
• 39:59
  they're talking about, man,
• 40:00
  I make sixteen,
• 40:01
  seventeen dollars an hour working at the
• 40:02
  drive-thru.
• 40:03
  And I'm like,
• 40:03
  you still got my order wrong.
• 40:05
  Like, you know, just that kind of thing.
• 40:06
  You know, you see what I'm saying?
• 40:07
  And just because that did change that
• 40:10
  element.
• 40:10
  But
• 40:12
  Some of it's relative, too.
• 40:15
  You talk about our first jobs.
• 40:17
  My first job,
• 40:18
  I was making five-something dollars.
• 40:20
  We are not trying to make us look
• 40:22
  that old.
• 40:23
  But the point is this.
• 40:25
  If you go to my father and say,
• 40:26
  hey,
• 40:26
  how much money did you make at your
• 40:27
  first job?
• 40:27
  He's going to be like,
• 40:28
  I made seventy-five cents an hour.
• 40:31
  Back in my day,
• 40:31
  we walked up the hill both ways to
• 40:33
  school in the snow with no shoes.
• 40:34
  My first raise was a dime.
• 40:37
  But that's, but that's my point.
• 40:39
  Right.
• 40:39
  I know.
• 40:40
  I'm just saying some of it is relative.
• 40:42
  Right.
• 40:42
  And,
• 40:42
  and I'm not saying that the restaurant
• 40:44
  didn't need to true up.
• 40:45
  The restaurant industry didn't need to
• 40:47
  true up.
• 40:47
  I'm sorry.
• 40:48
  But, but y'all,
• 40:48
  could you imagine going up to one of
• 40:50
  your employees?
• 40:50
  Hey,
• 40:51
  you've really been busting it over the
• 40:53
  last six months.
• 40:54
  Here's a dime.
• 40:55
  Like they walk out the door before you
• 40:59
  can finish the sentence.
• 41:00
  I feel like they would.
• 41:01
  We're not supposed to do that.
• 41:04
  I'm sure they think it was a joke
• 41:05
  for sure, right?
• 41:06
  They wouldn't take me seriously.
• 41:07
  Right, right.
• 41:08
  I mean, I went from five,
• 41:09
  fifteen to five,
• 41:09
  twenty five because I learned the new
• 41:11
  computer system first.
• 41:13
  And they're like,
• 41:14
  we really appreciate your help.
• 41:16
  But that's interesting, though,
• 41:17
  how you said the new generation where
• 41:19
  they're at and how you said,
• 41:21
  because if you think back to what our
• 41:23
  grandfathers were doing in there when they
• 41:25
  were eighteen for eighteen, nineteen.
• 41:27
  And then think about what your dad was
• 41:31
  doing at eighteen, nineteen for work.
• 41:33
  And then what we were doing,
• 41:35
  it's kind of changed.
• 41:36
  It's not that they weren't,
• 41:37
  my dad wasn't doing the same level of
• 41:38
  work, not to say he wasn't,
• 41:40
  but it was different kinds of work.
• 41:41
  Sure.
• 41:41
  Oh yeah.
• 41:42
  Sure.
• 41:42
  Over those generations.
• 41:43
  And now my kids or your kids at,
• 41:46
  at, at eight to nine, what's that work?
• 41:48
  Then the new generation,
• 41:49
  it's something we have to kind of,
• 41:50
  it's inevitable.
• 41:51
  We have to kind of adapt to it.
• 41:52
  You know, my, my son stayed blue collar.
• 41:54
  My kids are doing the exact same thing
• 41:55
  I was doing.
• 41:56
  Yeah.
• 41:57
  My mind actually is working for some
• 41:59
  buddies of mine who we all started out
• 42:01
  together back in the day.
• 42:02
  So,
• 42:03
  but he stayed in that blue collar route
• 42:04
  and stuff.
• 42:05
  And he thought for a while, I said,
• 42:06
  Hey, I'm going to switch trades.
• 42:07
  And he goes back.
• 42:08
  He said, I really liked where I was.
• 42:10
  And he has very much.
• 42:14
  understood that pride of work and and what
• 42:17
  he does and no matter if anybody else
• 42:19
  sees it that's my work that's out there
• 42:22
  and and that's not to say that
• 42:24
  generationally that some of these kids
• 42:26
  aren't there or people aren't there but uh
• 42:29
  you know like you said i look at
• 42:30
  what my dad was doing and it is
• 42:32
  not that and you know like and i
• 42:34
  was not doing what he did if you
• 42:37
  look at it like my literally my
• 42:39
  nineteen-year-old works for me
• 42:41
  He does the same thing that I did
• 42:42
  when I was his age,
• 42:44
  worked in a restaurant.
• 42:46
  And the hourly wage that he makes,
• 42:48
  comparative to what I made,
• 42:51
  is crazy.
• 42:53
  I mean,
• 42:53
  he's a salaried manager comparative to
• 42:55
  what, like he was,
• 42:56
  he's making GM salary for when I was
• 42:58
  his age, working in a restaurant.
• 43:01
  Twenty-seven years ago.
• 43:03
  Easy.
• 43:04
  I think that's what makes it hard to
• 43:06
  hire people too because, I mean,
• 43:09
  they have these expectations of salary or
• 43:12
  hourly wage and it's just,
• 43:14
  there's only so much you can do.
• 43:16
  Only so much you can do.
• 43:17
  Well, speaking of dining at places...
• 43:21
  We have a segment on our show called
• 43:23
  Table for Two.
• 43:23
  Okay.
• 43:25
  And in this segment,
• 43:28
  if you could have dinner with anyone,
• 43:33
  past, present, or future,
• 43:36
  who would it be and why?
• 43:39
  Like not my wife included.
• 43:40
  That's not, is that, I mean, that's,
• 43:43
  that's, y'all got to ride home.
• 43:44
  I don't know.
• 43:45
  I'll be honest with you.
• 43:46
  I already have the answer.
• 43:49
  I'll be, I'll be honest with you.
• 43:52
  My, my need,
• 43:53
  my deed knee jerk reaction was one thing.
• 43:56
  And then I thought about it a little
• 43:57
  bit more and I think I've settled on
• 43:59
  Jesus.
• 44:00
  Like I think that would be an epic
• 44:02
  dinner to be able to, to have and,
• 44:05
  and probably change the world,
• 44:07
  let alone just my little old piddly life.
• 44:10
  You know what I mean?
• 44:11
  But, um, but everybody answers,
• 44:13
  everybody answers it differently.
• 44:16
  And, and if it was, you know,
• 44:18
  you want to have dinner with your wife
• 44:19
  and Hey, that's, that's on you.
• 44:21
  No, I would, I would say I would,
• 44:22
  I was going to say the same thing.
• 44:24
  It would be Jesus probably first,
• 44:26
  you know?
• 44:27
  Um,
• 44:30
  You know what the first question you'd ask
• 44:31
  him is?
• 44:34
  I'm getting deep now.
• 44:35
  Getting deep now.
• 44:36
  First question I'd ask him if I'm sitting
• 44:37
  here.
• 44:39
  Here, I'll give you a second.
• 44:40
  What do you ask Jesus?
• 44:41
  You got one question.
• 44:42
  What are you going to ask him?
• 44:45
  I thought you was going to ask me
• 44:46
  what my grandfather, like, yeah, like my,
• 44:49
  would be my, my mom's dad, uh,
• 44:50
  to skip back to that part.
• 44:54
  I just not to say that Jesus didn't
• 44:56
  awesome answer.
• 44:57
  I just remember him.
• 44:58
  I was only, I know.
• 45:01
  I'm just saying.
• 45:01
  Yeah.
• 45:02
  Right.
• 45:02
  But he,
• 45:06
  It was a trick question, right?
• 45:08
  I failed.
• 45:09
  All right.
• 45:09
  Well,
• 45:10
  that's why he doesn't want me to hang
• 45:11
  out.
• 45:11
  That's right.
• 45:12
  No,
• 45:14
  but my grandfather died when I was six
• 45:16
  and the, the, like the,
• 45:17
  the very minimal memories I have of him.
• 45:19
  Yeah.
• 45:19
  But then all the stories that all the
• 45:21
  family keeps saying, yeah,
• 45:22
  like that'd be a heck of a dinner
• 45:24
  and it'd be simple and it'd be like,
• 45:27
  like just for it to throw it back.
• 45:30
  he used to chew bull of the woods,
• 45:32
  chewing tobacco.
• 45:33
  And it was a bar.
• 45:33
  It was real tough.
• 45:34
  Like it was, it's not pleasant.
• 45:36
  It's not what anybody today would do.
• 45:38
  And in high school and college,
• 45:39
  I was like,
• 45:40
  I'm going to be like my grandfather and
• 45:42
  I'm going to chew bull of the woods.
• 45:43
  And I bought a piece of that stuff.
• 45:45
  And about,
• 45:47
  Three minutes and seventeen seconds later,
• 45:51
  I pulled over at the corner of Highway
• 45:53
  nine.
• 45:53
  I know how.
• 45:54
  Why?
• 45:54
  Because I left Brent Robinson's house
• 45:56
  driving down Highway ninety six and I had
• 45:58
  to pull over and I knew right where
• 46:00
  I was going and I'm talking didn't even
• 46:01
  get out of the car.
• 46:02
  There it all went.
• 46:03
  And so, uh,
• 46:06
  My grandfather was cooler than I am.
• 46:07
  So I guess, I don't know, but, um,
• 46:10
  but as,
• 46:11
  as far as the question to ask Jesus,
• 46:13
  I just, um, that's a, that's a,
• 46:17
  that's a left field, right?
• 46:18
  It is.
• 46:19
  Cause like you could literally go
• 46:21
  somewhat,
• 46:21
  you could go with what you think
• 46:23
  historically or biblically you'd go with.
• 46:24
  Do you make it personal?
• 46:25
  Do you go like,
• 46:27
  why not this or that?
• 46:29
  And I think I would just have to
• 46:30
  settle on.
• 46:34
  ultimately what's it like knowing that you
• 46:38
  already knew the end and still subjecting
• 46:40
  yourself to it I mean but because great
• 46:49
  answer he spent thirty three years knowing
• 46:53
  what the end was I was gonna say
• 46:55
  my question would be like can I offer
• 46:56
  you a pastrami sandwich
• 47:01
  Another great answer.
• 47:05
  Do you like pastrami?
• 47:06
  Do you like pastrami?
• 47:08
  Where's that from?
• 47:08
  That's amazing.
• 47:09
  That's outstanding.
• 47:15
  What would you ask Jesus?
• 47:17
  Do you like pastrami?
• 47:20
  Do you like it?
• 47:20
  Do you want a pastrami sandwich?
• 47:21
  Sorry, sorry, sorry.
• 47:22
  I screwed up.
• 47:26
  FYI, yes, I think Jesus would.
• 47:28
  He'd take that.
• 47:29
  He'd take that.
• 47:30
  Oh, a hundred percent.
• 47:30
  Yeah.
• 47:31
  Cause that's phenomenal.
• 47:32
  Gotta eat.
• 47:33
  Gotta eat.
• 47:35
  What's the old Clint Eastwood?
• 47:38
  Bugs gotta eat same as birds.
• 47:39
  I mean, that's, you know,
• 47:41
  I just aged myself a whole lot.
• 47:43
  I guarantee as people only who Clint
• 47:44
  Eastwood is anymore.
• 47:45
  So yeah, it's valid.
• 47:48
  Valid.
• 47:49
  So, all right.
• 47:51
  Mac and beans.
• 47:54
  You got a Mac and beans?
• 47:55
  I do based on your Instagram page.
• 48:01
  And I feel like I know your answer.
• 48:02
  Well, let me see.
• 48:04
  Mac or beans is our,
• 48:05
  this or that segment.
• 48:06
  Okay.
• 48:07
  You go to Charlie's or any barbecue
• 48:09
  restaurant.
• 48:10
  Okay.
• 48:11
  Here's your protein macaroni and cheese or
• 48:15
  the barbecue baked beans.
• 48:18
  It's usually barbecue baked beans.
• 48:21
  But I love mac and cheese,
• 48:22
  but I tend to order the beans more.
• 48:24
  Yeah.
• 48:27
  All right.
• 48:28
  Every week I wish we'd kept track.
• 48:30
  Beans is on a great streak right now.
• 48:31
  Beans is on a good streak.
• 48:33
  It is.
• 48:33
  I think it's like the last three or
• 48:34
  four.
• 48:35
  Yeah, we're right.
• 48:39
  But that being said,
• 48:41
  based on your Instagram page,
• 48:43
  you've got a phenomenal pastrami sandwich.
• 48:46
  And I can speak to that.
• 48:47
  Yeah.
• 48:47
  But you got some great little burgers on
• 48:49
  there.
• 48:51
  So you walk into the restaurant.
• 48:54
  It's slow enough,
• 48:55
  you're gonna take a moment to eat you
• 48:56
  get the pastrami you get a burger.
• 48:59
  Tough one, man.
• 49:00
  That's a tough one.
• 49:04
  It changes.
• 49:04
  It varies, man.
• 49:05
  We got a good hot dog and all
• 49:06
  beef hot dog.
• 49:07
  We got our fried chicken sandwich.
• 49:09
  Like when people come up a customer will
• 49:10
  ask,
• 49:11
  You know, what do you recommend?
• 49:12
  Obviously, I say the pastrami.
• 49:13
  That's kind of our specialty.
• 49:14
  But they'll ask me that question.
• 49:16
  Like, if you were here right now,
• 49:17
  what are you going to eat?
• 49:18
  I'm like,
• 49:19
  they're all like my kids up there.
• 49:20
  I don't really put.
• 49:22
  You don't want to make them all feel
• 49:23
  bad?
• 49:23
  I don't want to make them feel bad.
• 49:25
  And they're all,
• 49:25
  you'll be happy with all of them.
• 49:26
  Sure.
• 49:27
  But I switch it up.
• 49:28
  You know,
• 49:28
  sometimes you can only eat so many,
• 49:30
  the same thing every day.
• 49:30
  So pastrami, next day I'll have a burger.
• 49:34
  But honestly,
• 49:35
  I can't eat every day hot dogs and
• 49:37
  burgers and pastrami sandwich.
• 49:38
  Right.
• 49:39
  So I switch it up.
• 49:40
  I eat the fried chicken.
• 49:42
  sandwich once in a while.
• 49:43
  The burgers are good because we're making
• 49:45
  them.
• 49:45
  I see them going out.
• 49:46
  We got this cowboy burger with onion
• 49:48
  rings, barbecue sauce,
• 49:50
  and bacon and cheddar cheese.
• 49:52
  I can go ahead and tell you right
• 49:53
  now that's the one I'd order.
• 49:53
  I don't even know which other ones you
• 49:55
  got on the list,
• 49:55
  and that's the one I'd order.
• 49:58
  bacon avocado that's a good one and then
• 50:00
  the bacon jalapeno burger that's that's a
• 50:03
  new one that's popular you know we chop
• 50:05
  up the jalapenos grill them with the
• 50:07
  grilled onions and uh it's a good looking
• 50:09
  burger all right uh i may have to
• 50:11
  walk back that cowboy burger real quick
• 50:12
  because that bacon jalapenos like i said
• 50:15
  they're all you enjoy them we keep it
• 50:16
  simple the meats you know the fresh
• 50:17
  patties a little bit of a thicker not
• 50:19
  like a smash burger yeah a little thicker
• 50:23
  I mean, they're damn good.
• 50:24
  You know, some people,
• 50:25
  they cringe on the price a little bit.
• 50:26
  I don't think we're that expensive,
• 50:27
  but like, you know, we're,
• 50:30
  we're serving super quality, fresh stuff.
• 50:33
  And it's just, you know, listen,
• 50:35
  I've learned from a price point.
• 50:36
  I used to be when I was younger,
• 50:39
  before I had my own money to do
• 50:41
  things with, I was looking at every like,
• 50:44
  well, I don't want to go there.
• 50:45
  I, you know, it's going to be twenty,
• 50:46
  twenty five dollars.
• 50:47
  It's going to be fourteen,
• 50:48
  fifteen dollars, whatever.
• 50:48
  Yeah.
• 50:49
  Now that I've gotten to the point where
• 50:51
  there is a significant difference between
• 50:53
  your local fast food joint and walking in
• 50:56
  and getting a burger at your place or,
• 50:58
  you know, barbecue his,
• 51:00
  I'm going to pay that.
• 51:01
  Like, I don't have a problem with it.
• 51:02
  Now that said, I also,
• 51:04
  there's a local place that apparently has
• 51:06
  five cooks in the back and I still
• 51:09
  think theirs is wildly expensive and that
• 51:11
  there's a balance in there somewhere.
• 51:13
  You know what I'm saying?
• 51:13
  I mean, like just,
• 51:14
  and so there's gotta be a balance for
• 51:16
  sure.
• 51:16
  Right.
• 51:16
  And, and, but I love your,
• 51:18
  I had somebody asked me the other day
• 51:19
  about his, his joint and like,
• 51:20
  is it expensive?
• 51:21
  And I was like, first of all,
• 51:23
  barbecue's expensive.
• 51:24
  Like you just don't render and yield a
• 51:26
  bunch off of what you get.
• 51:28
  Yeah.
• 51:28
  And my response to him was, well,
• 51:30
  it's not barbecue expensive, but you know,
• 51:32
  it's a good fair meal for what you
• 51:34
  get.
• 51:34
  Yeah.
• 51:35
  I'd tell people and like his barbecue,
• 51:37
  while I love it,
• 51:37
  it's not even my favorite thing.
• 51:39
  I'm going to get one of his two
• 51:40
  burgers or his wings, all smoked,
• 51:42
  all has elements,
• 51:42
  got the brisket on the burger.
• 51:44
  Like, you know, so like,
• 51:45
  we're not taking away from what his
• 51:47
  restaurant is.
• 51:48
  if you need to save a dollar go
• 51:50
  get a burger if you want to sit
• 51:51
  down for a barbecue meal there's something
• 51:53
  for you there too and so that that's
• 51:54
  what i would like as soon as you
• 51:55
  said the hot dogs i'm like i'd go
• 51:57
  there for a hot dog just go grab
• 51:59
  lunch but then if i want to sit
• 52:00
  down i used to be a really big
• 52:03
  price person when it came to pricing my
• 52:05
  menu and i have i have completely changed
• 52:08
  my train of thought
• 52:11
  Number one,
• 52:13
  we didn't start businesses to not make a
• 52:15
  profit.
• 52:18
  The number one rule of business is to
• 52:20
  stay in business.
• 52:22
  That's your number one job every day is
• 52:24
  just open up tomorrow.
• 52:26
  So you got to do whatever you can
• 52:27
  today to stay open up tomorrow.
• 52:29
  If it costs you,
• 52:32
  if the food cost costs you more than
• 52:34
  thirty percent,
• 52:36
  then you're not going to be in business
• 52:37
  tomorrow.
• 52:38
  Because by the time you get your labor
• 52:40
  cost at another thirty percent,
• 52:41
  you get all your supplies and utilities
• 52:44
  and insurance and mortgage and rent and
• 52:46
  all the things.
• 52:47
  You know, there's another fifty percent.
• 52:49
  Well,
• 52:50
  now we're at like one twenty and we
• 52:53
  hadn't paid ourselves yet,
• 52:54
  but we're twenty percent in the hole.
• 52:57
  So restaurants are the finest margins of
• 53:00
  any industry in the world.
• 53:03
  We work harder than almost any other
• 53:05
  industry in the world and we make the
• 53:07
  least amount.
• 53:08
  So you have to be able to find
• 53:10
  different ways to do things.
• 53:13
  And I realized that.
• 53:16
  If you focus on producing the highest
• 53:18
  quality food you can and produce an
• 53:22
  undeniable hospitality.
• 53:23
  Yeah.
• 53:24
  Yeah.
• 53:24
  Right.
• 53:25
  And get people to come back because your
• 53:27
  service is that damn good.
• 53:29
  And the food is just as good.
• 53:32
  You'll be fine.
• 53:33
  Yeah.
• 53:33
  It doesn't matter what you charge for.
• 53:35
  I walked into a burger joint in this
• 53:37
  town and paid seventeen dollars for a
• 53:40
  burger.
• 53:42
  It was me, my wife and two kids,
• 53:44
  my two youngest children,
• 53:46
  and we got four burgers and twelve wings
• 53:52
  and one side of fries.
• 53:54
  And it was eighty something dollars.
• 53:58
  That's crazy.
• 54:00
  Where was that at, you said?
• 54:02
  Here in town.
• 54:03
  Just a spot here in town?
• 54:04
  Just a spot here in town.
• 54:05
  All right.
• 54:07
  It's crazy.
• 54:08
  But I love that place.
• 54:10
  And I always go back because I love
• 54:12
  that place.
• 54:14
  It's not about the price.
• 54:15
  It's the fact that when I go there,
• 54:17
  I know I'm going to get great service.
• 54:18
  The food's good.
• 54:21
  It's crazy.
• 54:22
  It's expensive.
• 54:22
  And I know it,
• 54:23
  but I keep going back.
• 54:24
  How much of that though?
• 54:26
  Like if I say, Hey,
• 54:27
  I'm cruising through Nashville,
• 54:29
  I stop at Mr. J's.
• 54:31
  i've already made my decision where i'm
• 54:32
  eating i didn't pull up and like oh
• 54:34
  well he's got three dollar signs next to
• 54:36
  his google search you know like you know
• 54:37
  what i'm saying and so i've already
• 54:39
  decided where i go now if i get
• 54:40
  inside and i decide oh it's a little
• 54:42
  cheap i may find my way through the
• 54:44
  menu you know what i'm saying but
• 54:47
  ultimately i think a lot of people like
• 54:48
  what you've said you've got three reasons
• 54:50
  you go somewhere right and and it's
• 54:52
  convenience and the destination i can't
• 54:55
  remember the last one
• 54:56
  somebody you know yep you go to eat
• 54:58
  somewhere because okay now we know jason
• 55:00
  we're going right we're not going to eat
• 55:02
  at jason's because of the pastrami now
• 55:05
  we're going to eat well it's a it's
• 55:08
  a double it's a double-edged sword now
• 55:09
  right but we know him yeah right so
• 55:12
  we want to help support him so we're
• 55:13
  going to go eat there right you know
• 55:16
  we can make a pastrami sandwich anywhere
• 55:18
  That's, that's not the point.
• 55:19
  We want to support him.
• 55:20
  So we're going to go help support him.
• 55:22
  That's why we're going to go there.
• 55:23
  This pastrami is just a double edge,
• 55:25
  right?
• 55:25
  That's just, oh my goodness.
• 55:27
  But it's either that there's a specific
• 55:30
  item on the menu that you're looking for,
• 55:32
  like one of his burgers, the pastrami,
• 55:34
  whatever, right?
• 55:35
  You may not know Jason,
• 55:36
  but you've seen that and had that and
• 55:38
  it's delicious.
• 55:39
  So you want to go back and get
• 55:40
  it or it's a convenience.
• 55:42
  Yeah.
• 55:43
  There's a reason why McDonald's is in
• 55:44
  business.
• 55:45
  Yeah.
• 55:45
  right cardboard on a cardboard bun isn't
• 55:49
  delicious it's just not right so to
• 55:53
  accomplish the brand that they have is
• 55:58
  simply because they have built the
• 56:01
  convenience to be able to go and get
• 56:02
  it
• 56:03
  Correct.
• 56:03
  Well, I just – that's what I'm saying,
• 56:05
  though.
• 56:05
  Once I'm already in,
• 56:06
  like I knew I'm going to Mr. J's.
• 56:08
  Yeah.
• 56:08
  I'll find my way through whatever it is.
• 56:10
  I'm not worried about that.
• 56:12
  I'm going to Charlie's.
• 56:13
  I'll find – like if I went, oh,
• 56:15
  I didn't want to spend eight bucks on
• 56:17
  a half rack ribs.
• 56:18
  Oh,
• 56:18
  but he's got a burger for twelve bucks.
• 56:20
  He's got a side of wings for whatever.
• 56:22
  So we're going to work our way through
• 56:24
  that.
• 56:24
  And I just – that's why I think
• 56:26
  when people say price point –
• 56:28
  Unless it's just outrageous.
• 56:30
  I mean, you know, you're good.
• 56:32
  I mean,
• 56:32
  because I know I'm going out to eat
• 56:34
  for that reason.
• 56:36
  Jason, if people are trying to find Mr.
• 56:38
  J's original, how do they do that?
• 56:41
  Find us on Google.
• 56:43
  If you want to come down,
• 56:44
  Forty-Five Hermitage Avenue or Instagram.
• 56:50
  It's at Mr. J's Original is the handle.
• 56:53
  Are you on TikTok, Facebook,
• 56:54
  any other ones?
• 56:55
  Yeah, TikTok, Facebook, same handle,
• 56:58
  at Mr. J's Original.
• 57:01
  And, you know, Mr.
• 57:01
  is like just abbreviated M-R-J-S,
• 57:04
  original.
• 57:05
  And then you got the website spelled the
• 57:06
  same way, mrjsoriginal.com.
• 57:10
  Online ordering on DoorDash, Uber Eats,
• 57:13
  and all that stuff.
• 57:15
  And you use Toast as well, right?
• 57:17
  Yeah, we're with Toast.
• 57:18
  So you can order straight through your
• 57:19
  website?
• 57:20
  Yep.
• 57:20
  Yep.
• 57:21
  Straight through website.
• 57:22
  So order straight through his website.
• 57:24
  If you like DoorDash, you can.
• 57:25
  Order straight through his website.
• 57:28
  Help a brother out.
• 57:29
  Help him out.
• 57:30
  For those of you who don't know, DoorDash,
• 57:32
  Uber Eats,
• 57:32
  and all them take thirty percent of our
• 57:34
  revenue.
• 57:35
  yeah it's brutal so order through his
• 57:37
  website I remember the first time he told
• 57:38
  me that I said what'd you just say
• 57:40
  he's like thirty percent man what's the
• 57:42
  point crazy gosh anyway yeah open seven
• 57:45
  days a week seven days a week yep
• 57:48
  breakfast from ninety we open at nine a.m.
• 57:51
  close at eight thirty p.m.
• 57:53
  every day breakfast is nine a.m.
• 57:55
  to eleven thirty every day breakfast
• 57:58
  burritos real good breakfast burritos kind
• 58:01
  of a classic like diner
• 58:03
  Breakfast,
• 58:03
  you can get eggs and hash browns and
• 58:05
  stuff, pancakes, breakfast sandwiches,
• 58:07
  and then lunches all day.
• 58:09
  I love that.
• 58:11
  What time do you close?
• 58:13
  Eight-thirty, eight-thirty p.m.
• 58:14
  Nice.
• 58:15
  Every day.
• 58:16
  I'd be that guy walking in to order
• 58:18
  a burger at nine a.m.
• 58:19
  though.
• 58:20
  I'm just saying.
• 58:20
  It happens.
• 58:21
  The frustrating thing is when somebody
• 58:23
  orders chili fries at like nine-thirty.
• 58:27
  Stuff's got to heat up.
• 58:27
  I love it.
• 58:29
  Don't order chili fries at nine-thirty.
• 58:32
  Wait till ten thirty.
• 58:33
  We'll be good.
• 58:35
  You can even wait till eleven.
• 58:36
  It'll be all right.
• 58:37
  That's right.
• 58:38
  That's right.
• 58:38
  You got a Friday.
• 58:39
  Feel good.
• 58:40
  I do in a wild world that we
• 58:42
  live in.
• 58:43
  Here are some simple life improvements.
• 58:46
  Stop responding immediately to everything.
• 58:49
  Text emails, requests.
• 58:51
  Some of them need to take time.
• 58:53
  Think, respond intentionally,
• 58:55
  sometimes not even at all.
• 58:57
  Meet responses,
• 58:58
  train people that you're always available
• 59:00
  and you're not.
• 59:01
  So act like it.
• 59:02
  Y'all know what to do.
• 59:02
  Find somebody you know,
• 59:03
  tell them you love them.
• 59:03
  Why do I feel like you're talking to
• 59:05
  me?
• 59:05
  Look, man, it hits everybody right now.
• 59:07
  Tis the season.
• 59:10
  Jason,
• 59:10
  we appreciate you coming to hang out with
• 59:12
  us today.
• 59:12
  I appreciate the sandwich, man.
• 59:14
  That is killer.
• 59:14
  The sandwiches were outstanding.
• 59:17
  The coffee cup's going to be used shortly.
• 59:21
  I got a whole lot to get through.
• 59:22
  I'm delivering a caterer order at two AM.
• 59:26
  I'm not doing that.
• 59:27
  I'll be,
• 59:27
  I will literally be using it shortly.
• 59:29
  Perfect.
• 59:31
  We appreciate you very much for coming to
• 59:34
  hang out with us.
• 59:34
  It's going to be awesome.
• 59:35
  Appreciate the invite.
• 59:36
  Yeah.
• 59:36
  Thanks Jason.
• 59:37
  Do it again at some point.
• 59:37
  Yeah.
• 59:39
  Guys, you know what to do.
• 59:40
  Please make sure that you like share and
• 59:41
  subscribe to the YouTube channel.
• 59:43
  We air every Saturday morning on ESPN,
• 59:45
  ninety four point nine from eight until
• 59:47
  nine a.m.
• 59:48
  If you want to get involved,
• 59:49
  please feel free to reach out to me.
• 59:51
  You can email me at Charlie at Singletree
• 59:53
  BBQ dot com or you can call me
• 59:55
  at six one five three zero seven zero
• 59:57
  one two zero.
• 59:58
  And until next time, we'll see you then.
• 1:00:00
  I'll be good.