Today we’d like to introduce you to Jaime Elizondo.
Hi Jaime, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
My wife (Maria De Leon) and I started out doing pop-up events at local breweries and outside other businesses in 2018. After multiple sold out events we decided to purchase our custom made food truck. We did several festivals before opening our own restaurant and beer garden in June 2019. I am a registered nurse and my wife works full-time at a local college and we would operate our restaurant after we got out from work. The pandemic started 6 months after we opened and it’s been a struggle but we had a ton of support from our community/ guests. We offer outdoor dining, online ordering, and curbside pick-up which really helped us stay in business during the height of the pandemic. We also began hosting a free drive-in movie night in an empty lot next door. Families could park next door and watch a family friendly movie on a 20′ movie screen while we broadcasted the audio to their car stereo via an FM transmitter. We now have 7 full-time employees and are open Wed-Sat 12pm-9pm and Sunday 9am-2pm (Brunch).
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Its been a pretty rough road. We started this business while we were both working full-time. Me as a registered nurse and my wife as a Dual Credit Academic Advisor at a local College, so we could only open evenings and weekends at first. The pandemic was the biggest obstacle to date. We were faced with shortages and rising costs on food, fuel, and paper goods. We also found it difficult to hire employees and open more hours.
We’ve been impressed with Smoke Crafters BBQ, but for folks who might not be as familiar, what can you share with them about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
We are a BBQ restaurant and beer garden. We specialize in craft BBQ and make everything in house including several different types of sausages, sauces, desserts, and beef fat flour tortillas. We’re set apart from others by our exceptional customer service with a 4.9 Google review rating out of 257 reviews, as well as 5 star Facebook, and 5 star Yelp ratings. We provide a family friendly environment and offer covered outdoor dining, air-conditioned indoor dining, relaxing firepit area, and yard games for the entire family. We also have a great selection of craft beer, original beer cocktails, and live music.
Do you have recommendations for books, apps, blogs, etc?
The Serving leader book, the motivated mind podcast, the entreleadership podcast
Pricing:
- Most plates are around $10
- Prime brisket is currently $24 per lb
- Most expensive plate is $15
- Craft beer pints are $6
Contact Info:
- Website: www.smokecraftersbbq.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/smokecraftersbbq
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/smokecraftersbbq
