SIMPLE OFFERINGS, SIMPLY GOOD
One thing a customer will not find at Character’s Famous BBQ is a pretentious, confusing menu. The offerings are basic, the whole menu fitting neatly on one side of a sheet of typing paper. “I do it my way,” Character says. His way means four meats: pork, chicken, beef, and ribs. The sides are traditional fare: baked beans, cole slaw, potato salad, and chips. Plate meals come with a drink, two slices of bread, and a wedge of frosted pound cake.
Character uses only one BBQ sauce, his own recipe, believing that many restaurants compensate for the inferior quality of their meat by smothering it with a wide selection of sauces. To emphasize his point, he insists: “If you’re doing it good, you don’t even need BBQ sauce.”
He works hard to please his customers, to keep them coming back, but he knows people are very particular about their BBQ and tastes vary. He says, “Pleasing ten out of ten is like finding a unicorn.” Still, he has his fans, both customers and competitors. He has gotten calls from as far away as Fiji and Australia. Character is generous about helping other cooks with tips about the restaurant business, but he becomes cagey when asked about his recipe. He explains, “A lot of cats know me and call for advice. I help them all I can, but I don’t give out my recipe.”
The restaurant hours are simple too. Wednesday through Friday, 11 AM to 2 PM; Saturday, 11 AM to 4 PM. However, regular customers know better than to wait too close to closing time to show up, lest what they want to eat is sold out.