<\/p>\n
Rollin’ Smoke is located inside Chalmers in East Austin at 1700 E. Cesar Chavez St.<\/p>\n
Kyle Stallings\/Provided by Rollin’ Smoke<\/p>\n
The numbers were not what Kyle\u00a0Stallings wanted to see.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
It was a Sunday, and for once, the owner, manager and\u00a0pitmaster of Rollin’ Smoke BBQ<\/a> was trying to take the day off. But he checked the restaurant\u2019s sales<\/a> anyway.\u00a0The first hour was already in the red.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n A refund for a forgotten sausage had put the day at negative $5, and\u00a0Stallings decided there was little reason left to soften the reality. He posted the numbers to Instagram<\/a> alongside a plea to Austin.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are not \u2018killing it\u2019 as some assume,\u201d he wrote. \u201cWe are dying. Wake up Austin and come get some while you can.\u201d<\/p>\n The message was unusually blunt for a barbecue joint that has spent more than a decade building a following around smoked meats. But the pressures facing\u00a0Rollin’ Smoke are familiar across the restaurant industry: beef prices have climbed<\/a>, customers are spending less on dining out, summer has been slow and the economics of running a meat-heavy barbecue operation have become increasingly difficult.<\/p>\n Now, the longtime Austin barbecue spot is asking customers to come through the doors at its\u00a0Chalmers location at 1700 E. Cesar Chavez St. before the numbers force a decision about what comes next.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cIf things continue this way, for sure,\u201d\u00a0Stallings said when asked whether the restaurant is in danger of closing.\u00a0<\/p>\n Rising costs, changing dining habits are squeezing Rollin’ Smoke<\/p>\n A mural at Rollin’ Smoke inside Chalmers.<\/p>\n Kyle Stallings\/Provided by Rollin’ Smoke<\/p>\n Rollin’ Smoke began around 2012, when a couple of friends started the operation as a late-night weekend food truck in Austin\u2019s Warehouse District. Stallings had recently moved back to town and began working there part time.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Eventually, the barbecue operation landed at Chalmers. It first operated there as a food truck before taking over the bar\u2019s kitchen about a year and a half ago. The move initially seemed like the right one. For the first year, Stallings said, business was good.<\/p>\n \u201cI think probably a lot of it\u2019s just the economy,\u201d he said. \u201cBeef prices are through the roof and briskets are big sellers, so that kind of puts a damper on profits.\u201d<\/p>\n Brisket is the backbone of Texas barbecue<\/a>, but it is also one of the ingredients most capable of eating into a\u00a0pitmaster\u2019s margins. Rollin’ Smoke is not selling one inexpensive dish that can be scaled easily. The menu includes several different proteins, along with sides and other items, all of which require labor, preparation and hours around the pit.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Stallings said he first noticed business slowing around February, when he and the Chalmers owners began talking about ways to bring customers back through the door. By summer, the slowdown had become harder to ignore.<\/p>\n Summer is traditionally a difficult season for restaurants,\u00a0Stallings said, with people traveling and children out of school. But this year felt particularly slow.<\/p>\n \u201cI just don\u2019t think a lot of people this year have the money they had in the past to go out to eat and spend a bunch of it on food,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n That shift matters in a city where dining out has become both increasingly competitive and increasingly driven by novelty. Austin diners have no shortage of new restaurants to try, and\u00a0Stallings said customers often seem willing to wait in line for the newest place in town rather than walk into a restaurant where they know they can get a good meal without the wait.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n \u201cSome reason, that doesn\u2019t pay at all,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n A top 50 barbecue spot without the lines to match<\/p>\n The brisket at Rollin’ Smoke.<\/p>\n Kyle Stallings\/Provided by Rollin’ Smoke<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n