Dickey’s Barbecue Pit has just hit 185 locations nationwide with the opening of its Miramar, Florida restaurant; becoming the leader of fast-casual barbecue.
In 1941 Travis Dickey started up the restaurant north of downtown Dallas. He rented part of his store’s sign to Dr. Pepper in order to pay for the startup cost. His menu consisted of his own Texas barbecue recipes and everything he made had to be just right. Travis Dickey continued to run his business day in and day out for 26 years. In 1967, Dickey passed away while doing what he loved–preparing great barbecue.
Travis Dickey’s sons, Roland Dickey Sr. and T.D. Dickey Jr. took over the restaurant and began their journey to expand their father’s restaurant throughout the Dallas-Fort Worth area. In 1994, the company began franchising and within 11 years it had acquired 55 locations.
“We just kept increasing the amount of stores right up until the recession,” said Roland Dickey Sr.
During the economic downturn, Dickey’s took a closer look at their business model and made major adjustments. Since this restructuring, the chain has opened stores at an aggressive rate; breaking the barriers that come with any barbecue chain.
“The challenge is that great barbecue takes time and needs to be slowly smoked,” said Roland Dickey Jr., president of Dickey’s Barbecue Restaurants, Inc. “We take our time to make sure that our meats are smoked to perfection and that our customers are getting exactly what they would have gotten in 1941–great tasting Texas barbecue.”
Dickey’s Barbecue is only 15 stores away from its goal of 200 stores by the end of 2011.
“We have happily brought barbecue to people who are miles away from our Texas roots,” said Roland Dickey, Jr. “We plan on continuing our expansion and spreading the joy of great tasting barbecue.”