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I have to retire from the military next year and I would like to open a Que Joint on Ramstein AB, Germany in the next 2-3 years. My wife and I have been experimenting with cole slaw, potato salad, baked beans and sauces over the last few years. We have a lot of things worked out, but not the sauces and establishment decor. I would love to have my forum members give me their inputs on butt kicking sauces and establishment decor. My wife has seen a few places to eat that are former railroad cars and she loved it. I would like to hear from the Cookshack Nation about places with great atmosphere and great sauce recipes. We all know a good Que joint has a certain atomsphere about it. Any help you give me will be greatly appreciated. Please send me your ideas, recipes and/or photos to papa_pigs@yahoo.com Thanks
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quote:
Originally posted by Papa-Pigs-BBQ-Barn:
Please send me your ideas, recipes and/or photos to papa_pigs@yahoo.com Thanks


Papa,

Good luck with the venture, I'm sure you'll get some great input. As for emaily them to you, I don't think that's fair to the forum. The idea is to post the information here for all to share. Plus you'll get feedback on the ideas.

As far as sauces, for a start, check out the Forum posted sauce thread, there's a document you can download:

Best of the Forum Sauces collection

If there are 5,000 members, there are 5,002 options (some have more than one) so you'll need to develop your own sauce. You won't be able to have it shipped there, too expensive, so you need to develop your own.

I HIGHLY recommend Paul Kirks' book "Championship BBQ Sauces" it will teach you the basics of sauce.

For decor, I don't like the red/white table cloth I think you might do better with a Texas BBQ joint style of place. You'll need to think about marketing it, so marketing "KC style BBQ" probably won't go over in Germany like "Texas style BBQ" would.
Having been stationed in Germany 3 years and traveling extensively on another I would suggest you can't go wrong with the wild west atmosphere. Cowboy movies and all that. As far as sauces, etc., go with what you like the best, but I could keep it simple. Chance are no one will know if your sauce, is really KC, or Texas, or Carolina. We don't know that even up here in Seattle, we just believe what the place says, even if the secret bbq sauce is Cattleman's with a little more molasses and some heat, or the Beans are Bushes with less juice and brown sugar. Probably you also must have chili with beans. I had the owner of a restaurant in Majorca ask how to make the stuff, because sailors thought that he should have it on the menu. Wink
quote:
Originally posted by RendezvousQ:
... Probably you also must have chili with beans. I had the owner of a restaurant in Majorca ask how to make the stuff, because sailors thought that he should have it on the menu. Wink


Chili with beans? beans????

Now that's fighting words to some (I say that as I've been to many a Chili comp and Beans are forbidden)
I like chili with beans. Also, beans provide much needed fiber and are easy to digest. And you can cut down on the amount of meat you use in the recipe; beans are cheaper. I would never make it in a chili cookoff!

Smokin', you and the Missus must come over and eat my chili, I bet you would like it beans and all. Of course, now that we are practically in mid-summer here in Oklahoma we might want to wait until fall, which won't come until December.
Yep,beans are a side dish in most any bbq joint in the country .

Have even been to a few pretty fair chili joints that had frijoles with fresh onions and sliced japs as a side dish.

Go real fine with a couple enchiladas,a tamale,and a cold Shiner's.

Remember Smokin',them beans is what helps make Hormel chili what it is. Roll Eyes

As to antiques,Europe has what our antique hunters dream of.

Might be able to selectively pick out enough to give you a "wild west" theme,which is probably most widely recognized around the world.

I doubt you'll have lots of sauce competitors in your area,so shouldn't need to focus too heavy on sauce.

Areas of SC and Ga market their sauces real heavy and make them the reason folks visit .

A simple sauce from local ingredients is easy.

A sweet and a spicey usually covers most folks needs.

Along the lines of chili could be a brunswick stew type dish.

It allows you to get rid of leftover meats,and potatoes-if you use them as sides.

Also vegetable trimmin's from slaw and beans,i.e. bell peppers,onions,celery,etc.

Your cost then becomes corn and tomatoes,which are local.
Last edited by tom
Thanks for the inputs. I did not expect so many inputs on chili. My wife and I were thinking baked beans, not chili. Smitty's BBQ in Panama City, Florida used to have excellent baked beans and we have tried to copy his recipe. Unfortunately, he sold the place and the new owners cut corners and messed up the beans. We already thought about the trains on the ceiling. As for antiques, I was thinking of having my wife's step-father read the paper in his robe. That would qualify as something both old and unique. This way I could get by with smaller portions because people would not be hungry. Keep the inputs coming.
Actually, I would like to open a BBQ place on a US military base, not on the economy. Ramstein AB is located in Kaiserslautern, Germany. Kaiserslautern is the home to the biggest concentration of Americans living outside of the US. It's kind of like the US has the biggest concentration of immigrants (ilegal aliens) living outside of their country. Only, the Americans are legal. K-Town is the home of the US Army logistics center for Europe. We also have the busiest air base in the USAF. Also, all the troops that get the pleasure to go to the sandbox,(Iraq and Afganistan) pass through Ramstein. You know they will be hungry.
Papa,

Yup, know K-Town real well, landed there many a time. Used to buy my wine from the "wine lady" that everyone on base knew. Lots of good local eateries. Bringing back fond memories of LOTS of deployments through Ramstein.

As one AF guy to another, I'll be happy to help. If I'm out and around I'll take photos of a Q place here in town that has a little (very little) of the atmosphere we're talking about.

Catering to the Americans, hmm? Hamburgers, hotdogs...haha.

What other places to they have there now, competing, that service any style of american food? You might be able to do more than just Q, eventually to draw people in.

Have you checked into sources of meat, will you be able to get ribs, brisket, chicken, pork butts.

Man BBQ and FRESH German Beer? sounds perfect!

For the returning Airman, man that could be special. There is a restaurant outside of the VA in DC that once a week offers a free meal to the families of the folks there at the hospital and recovering. You could probably work with others to set this up.

Having "been there, done that" nothing like a little taste of home when you return.

BBQ, man I just want to be there to help.

What 'cha gonna do for a smoker?

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