In a recent post on social media, Brett’s BBQ Shop co-owner and general manager Jacqueline Herrera posed a question to customers and fellow restaurant owners: Why does it seem like diners nowadays are willing to pay up to $80 per pound for beef fajitas at their favorite Tex-Mex restaurant but complain about the perceived high cost of $30 per pound of brisket at their local barbecue joint?
In addition to members of the dining public chiming in with their takes on the subject, several other barbecue joint owners and pitmasters shared their own frustrations with what can be described as the low “perceived value” of barbecue.
They have a point. Let’s look at the numbers.
When you buy a pound of brisket at a barbecue joint for $30, $10 of that goes to paying for the raw ingredients. This is called the “food cost” and is represented by a percentage of, in this case, 33%. In general, restaurants need food cost to be 35% or lower to be financially viable. The lower the food cost, the better.
What about fajitas? To be sure, numbers can vary widely among Tex-Mex joints. But $80 per pound is not unheard of and represents a raw material cost of about $15 for the inside skirt steak that is likely used to make the dish. Add another $5 in cost for beans, rice, onions and tortillas, and the total cost is $20. That’s an attractive 25% food cost.
You might think that the difference between a barbecue joint’s 33% and a Tex-Mex joint’s 25% food cost is minimal. But let’s also factor in the labor needed to cook the meat. Briskets take up to 18 hours of cook time, often with a pit hand (or two) present the whole time. A batch of fajitas might take 15 minutes (not considering any marinade time).
When all the cost factors are included, consumers are technically getting a better value for brisket than fajitas. Which brings us back to the questions of why diners seem happy to pay more per pound for fajitas than barbecue.
According to Herrera, it comes down to nostalgia. Texans grew up eating fajitas at their neighborhood Tex-Mex joint and continue to do so over multiple generations.
“People are going for the experience,” says Herrera, “They’re paying to get together with people they grew up with and go to local places where they are served by the same servers that waited on their parents. They’re happy to pay whatever it takes to relive that experience and be the happiest they’ve been all week.”
I’d also add that the table service found at most Tex-Mex joints (where you are served by a waiter), as opposed to the typical counter service at a barbecue joint, also adds to the higher perceived value of fajitas.
And what about the nostalgia factor of barbecue? Well, it’s a different kind of nostalgia, according to Michael Sambrooks, owner of The Pit Room barbecue joint and Candente Tex-Mex restaurant, both in Houston.
“We grew up going to a barbecue joint and getting a $6 brisket sandwich with our dad,” says Sambrooks. Indeed, there still seems to be something ingrained in our Texas DNA that tells us barbecue should be cheap.
Alas, no more. If you use the food cost calculation represented by fajitas, barbecue joint owners should be charging at least $40 per pound for brisket.
All things considered, the current average price of $30 per pound for brisket is good value.
