Sonny's BBQ Restaurant Policy

[MikeBjerum]

Another side of the franchise agreement, Jumbo, is that he has had the franchise for over 20 years.  Things have changed, and Things change in that period.  We are all guilty of renewing without realizing by our own lack of research what the new standards are.  Sometimes we even agree to things based on hoping they will let it slide or based on the handshake of an area rep. that this is corporate policy, but it won't be enforced on someone like you.  The story doesn't say if this is the case, but it is just a possible as the assumption that he signed on for this 20+ years ago.

This view comes from someone that changed jobs just over 10 years ago, because what I was being told and expected to do had changed from what I signed on for five years previous.  Corporate America does not discuss with individuals - they rewrite the rules and send you a new book.  The closest to this is the little envelope you get from your credit card company, bank or insurance company every year with the new rules of dealing with them.

[dipisc]

Hello to all;

     one way to accomidate both sides is to do what other "chain" companies post and advertise within their corporate advertisements   -   "at pertisipating stores" only. That would solve the beer/wine - booze problem.  A predominate sign displayed within the sight of all entering the building could state - "we the employees and management proudly believe in God and Country".  This would give any customers the opportunity to decide if they wish to continue to patronize the business.


We need spell check here   " pertisipating" ?   I do not have a dictionary handy (lol).

[Timothy]

Participating.....

[Hazcat]

Sonny's food sucks anyway.  Slow cooked meat that they toss COLD bbq sauce on AFTER it's cooked.  Never understood calling that bbq.  I guess it's a Southern thing.

[Hazcat]

Hello to all;

     one way to accomidate both sides is to do what other "chain" companies post and advertise within their corporate advertisements   -   "at pertisipating stores" only. That would solve the beer/wine - booze problem.  A predominate sign displayed within the sight of all entering the building could state - "we the employees and management proudly believe in God and Country".  This would give any customers the opportunity to decide if they wish to continue to patronize the business.


We need spell check here   " pertisipating" ?   I do not have a dictionary handy (lol).

Check out ie spell http://www.iespell.com/  free and it works.

[Sponsor]

[Johnny Bravo]

Sonny's food sucks anyway.  Slow cooked meat that they toss COLD bbq sauce on AFTER it's cooked.  Never understood calling that bbq.  I guess it's a Southern thing.

IT IS AND WE LIKE IT!! We bbq different ways but that's only one of them. We also like iced tea and we put beans in our chilli !  

[Hazcat]

IT IS AND WE LIKE IT!! We bbq different ways but that's only one of them. We also like iced tea and beans in our chilli ! 

Don't you mean 'Sweettea'? 

[tombogan03884]

 Chili without beans is just "food". Add beans for hours of fun, and a meal LONG remembered  

[PegLeg45]

That isn't really the point. The point is that for whatever reason, maybe the Owner just didn't want to attract drunks to a restaurant that was already doing well with out the hassle, He chose NOT to be dictated to by some corporate bean counter.
GOOD FOR HIM !

From what I understand, that is pretty much it in a nutshell. Corporate is changing (i.e. the alcohol) and the t-shirt thing was just the proverbial 'straw'. Bill says that he has no animosity or hard feeling towards Sonny's in general and that the last 22 years were great. He just doesn't hold with their corporate viewpoint. Sonny's 'changed horses in the middle of the stream' in order to progress with the 'current trends'. He chose to make a stand rather than a compromise his principles.

My overall opinion of Sonny's and the personal decision not to patronize their facilities in the future wasn't as much based on Bill's situation as much as it was on finding out their corporate position on the patriotic shirts and the PC standpoint on religion brought up in their letter to him.


He does own the building and property and is in the process of re-opening under the name of "The Smokehouse". I believe he will do well because he can custom tailor his menu the way he wants to.

I agree completely. If I wanted to run a kosher deli, I wouldn't buy a McDonald's franchise. If you wanted to sell Jeeps, you wouldn't buy a Ford dealership.

Chain restaurants have an interest in maintaining a uniform appearance, ambiance, and menu in their restaurants. That's how customers can walk into a Wendy's in any city in the country and know what they'll get.

Personally, I'd rather patronize a local restaurant than a chain, and I certainly support anyone who opts to run his own business as he sees fit. But I also recognize that the thing that makes a franchise worthwhile is the fact that every restaurant in a chain has the same characteristics.

Consider - what would your reaction be in you walked into a Bass Pro Shop or Gander Mountain and discovered that since the franchisee was a vegetarian, he'd eliminated hunting and fishing gear from the store's inventory?

Very valid point, bbb, and to a great extent I agree.
This situation here was a little different in that it was an established business that didn't sell alcohol originally and then up and changed after 22 years and the owner simply differed in opinion with the change...... because it was, to him,  drastically opposite of what his idea of a 'family style' restaurant was.

To use your McDonalds theme, it would be like opening a new McD's franchise and then 5 years later they tell you that you had to start selling booze, porn, and putting condoms in Happy Meals....or anything else that was drastically different, ideally, from what you believed in and had been doing since day one. Then you have to make a choice.

[PegLeg45]

That isn't really the point. The point is that for whatever reason, maybe the Owner just didn't want to attract drunks to a restaurant that was already doing well with out the hassle, He chose NOT to be dictated to by some corporate bean counter.
GOOD FOR HIM !

From what I understand, that is pretty much it in a nutshell. Corporate is changing (i.e. the alcohol) and the t-shirt thing was just the proverbial 'straw'. Bill says that he has no animosity or hard feeling towards Sonny's in general and that the last 22 years were great. He just doesn't hold with their corporate viewpoint. Sonny's 'changed horses in the middle of the stream' in order to progress with the 'current trends'. He chose to make a stand rather than a compromise his principles.

My overall opinion of Sonny's and the personal decision not to patronize their facilities in the future wasn't as much based on Bill's situation as much as it was on finding out their corporate position on the patriotic shirts and the PC standpoint on religion brought up in their letter to him.


He does own the building and property and is in the process of re-opening under the name of "The Smokehouse". I believe he will do well because he can custom tailor his menu the way he wants to.

I agree completely. If I wanted to run a kosher deli, I wouldn't buy a McDonald's franchise. If you wanted to sell Jeeps, you wouldn't buy a Ford dealership.

Chain restaurants have an interest in maintaining a uniform appearance, ambiance, and menu in their restaurants. That's how customers can walk into a Wendy's in any city in the country and know what they'll get.

Personally, I'd rather patronize a local restaurant than a chain, and I certainly support anyone who opts to run his own business as he sees fit. But I also recognize that the thing that makes a franchise worthwhile is the fact that every restaurant in a chain has the same characteristics.

Consider - what would your reaction be in you walked into a Bass Pro Shop or Gander Mountain and discovered that since the franchisee was a vegetarian, he'd eliminated hunting and fishing gear from the store's inventory?

Very valid point, bbb, and to a great extent I agree.
This situation here was a little different in that it was an established business that didn't sell alcohol originally and then up and changed after 22 years and the owner simply differed in opinion with the change...... because it was, to him,  drastically opposite of what his idea of a 'family style' restaurant was.

To use your McDonalds theme, it would be like opening a new McD's franchise and then 5 years later they tell you that you had to start selling booze, porn, and putting condoms in Happy Meals....or anything else that was drastically different, ideally, from what you believed in and had been doing since day one. Then you have to make a choice.