Bar-B-Cutie - Franchise

About Us

Over the years Bar-B-Cutie has become Nashville’s most iconic and longest lasting BBQ franchise, growing to eight locations in the area. The franchise growth has been organic, with businessmen turned regulars opening their own locations. Since opening in 1950, Bar-B-Cutie has grown across four different states, while BBQ has exploded on the national stage as well, becoming more and more popular with folks. This has created an underserved market and pent-up demand for authentic BBQ, without any nationally known chain to dominate the landscape.

Enter Bar-B-Cutie SmokeHouse. This new model, launched in three locations in Texas by the end of 2017, is the result of more than a half century in the BBQ industry. The current locations are winning new customers with ease, as this model is one of the most affordable, sustainable and potentially profitable franchise opportunities to hit the market in a long time.

“I think we’ll easily be the biggest BBQ franchise in the coming years,” Ronnie says. “We didn’t get into the BBQ business as an investment, we did it to earn a living, and it’s been more than good to us. My hope is that people who are passionate about BBQ will join us, because it’s a chance to do what you love and do well for yourself and your family.”

How Do We Support Our Franchisees?

Franchising with Bar-B-Cutie SmokeHouse franchise means you’re never alone in business. Bar-B-Cutie franchise owners are supported from the very moment the franchise agreement is signed. This is how we do it:

• Site Selection: Bar-B-Cutie will help you find the perfect location for your new restaurant, utilizing real estate professionals and key demographic information to determine if a restaurant has the potential to be successful over the long-term. In addition, we help you navigate the complicated letter of intent negotiations with your landlord, while we do recommend having an independent counsel assist you with lease negotiation.
• Build Out: Bar-B-Cutie has an extremely user friendly and simple layout, which can be molded to suit almost any location. We do work with a preferred national architect who will seek bids from multiple contractors and help you oversee construction to ensure your business will be ready to open on time.
• Training: New franchise owners will be sent for 42 days of training at a Bar-B-Cutie SmokeHouse location, where we will teach everything you need to know about your business. We will work with you to coordinate your training schedule while your location is being built.
• Grand Opening: Members of the Bar-B-Cutie team will be on hand during the initial opening of your new business to help ensure a successfully strong grand opening.
• Ongoing Training: Bar-B-Cutie is accessible to our franchise owners at any time no matter what. We will provide ongoing assistance with operations and marketing to ensure that your new business continues to grow.

Who Are We Looking For?

Running a successful BBQ restaurant requires a lot of passion, hard work, the desire to provide exceptional customer service and a commitment to the community at large. While we do not require previous restaurant ownership experience, we do prefer a background in restaurant management.

“If you get out of bed every morning and you love what you’re doing, you’re going to be good at it,” says Ronnie McFarland, CEO of Bar-B-Cutie. “We want people to join us who are as passionate about BBQ as we are. I’m proud that we’ve been able to do well enough to give other folks the opportunity to live the American dream as we’ve lived it. It’s something that we love doing, and to be able to share that with someone else through a franchise model is exciting. We want to keep growing but we want to grow in a good way. After all these years, I still love this business, and I’m excited to meet new people who share that same passion.”

Next Steps

Looking for more information about Bar-B-Cutie? Take a moment to fill out our information request form.