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Well, the cats out of the bag. If you haven't heard yet, we are opening a restaurant in Fredericksburg, TX.
We have been struggling with the decision to move from Houston for over 6 months and finally pulled the trigger last week. It was a very difficult decision but had many factors that played into it both personally and business wise.
When we started Eaker Barbecue in September 2016, our plan was to open a restaurant in Houston. Since we knew little about the food industry we decided that a food truck would be the best way to crawl before walking. It was not the best decision financially but what we learned along the way would be invaluable. Part of that lesson is that Houston is just two expensive to open a barbecue restaurant. Cost of property and ever changing building/health code requirements made it impossible for us to fund the venture alone.
Before my father passed I had mentioned to him that we were considering moving to New Braunfels or somewhere in the Hill Country to open a restaurant. My dad was always supportive in whatever I decided but this time he showed his opinion emphatically that this was a great idea. We even discussed the move the last time we saw him over lunch.
Fredericksburg came to be an idea from our friend and Barbecue Writer from the Houston Chronicle, Chris Reid. I asked him specifically where he thought would be a good location in the Hill Country and he was quick to respond with a single word Fredericksburg. And so our focused search begun.
At this point it felt like an act of God. After 3 years of struggling to push boulders up hill it seemed that everything started coming to us.
Our biggest challenges would be to sell our house in Houston, find a place to live, find available restaurant space and a quality pit builder that could execute in time. Trust me when i say, these were going to be extremely difficult but they ended up just happening.
Our house sold very quickly without listing. There are very few homes for rent in the city but our friend Darla stepped in and offered our family a temporary place to stay. There was ZERO restaurant space on the market for lease, we found one unlisted that was perfect. A barbecue restauranteur told me I needed to reach out to Cen-Tex as their wait might be less; they had an open spot that fit our timeline. As an added bonus, our good friend and customer, Curtis Lawson of Shepherd Construction Advisers, stepped in to help us with so much I can't even list.
The property has so much charm and potential, we can't wait to share our new home and backyard with you,
Thank you so much, we love you guys!
Lance & Boo Eaker
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