What should I check before buying a BBQ or smokehouse restaurant?

Low-and-slow cooking changes what you are buying. A smokehouse depends on heavy equipment, a lease that tolerates smoke, a skilled cook and a steady supply of meat and wood. A buyer who uses a general restaurant checklist will cover the basics and miss the parts that make this kind of business work or fail. Start with the items below.

The smokers and pits

Ask who owns each smoker, whether any is financed, how old it is, and what has been repaired. Some are built in, some are on trailers, and some are leased. Ask a qualified appraiser or an experienced operator to look at them. The BDC’s note on equipment valuation explains how used equipment is usually assessed.

The lease and the smoke

Read the lease for what it says about cooking exhaust, outdoor equipment, storage of wood and the length of the term left. Ask the landlord, in writing, whether the current setup is accepted and whether the lease can be assigned to you. Your lawyer should review the answer. The BDC’s 13 lease terms is a good primer.

Catering and the people behind the food

Many smokehouses earn a good part of their income from events and corporate orders. Ask which customers are under written agreements, whether those agreements allow a new owner, and how many orders are repeat. Then ask about the pitmaster. If one person holds the recipes, rubs and timing in their head, ask for them to be written down and for that person to stay through a handover. See also what comes with the recipes.

Supply and the statements

Ask where the meat and wood come from, whether suppliers are tied to the current owner, and how costs have moved. Then ask your accountant to read the statements with catering and dine-in split apart, since they behave differently. The BDC’s page on financial statements is a plain starting point.