In this episode, we are joined in-studio by Eloy Garcia, Owner of Carnivores Steakhouse and Carnivores Meat Market, to talk about what it really takes to build something big in a small town setting. We dive into how Eloy is working to elevate the local food scene and why he refuses to settle when it comes to quality and the pursuit of his ultimate goal….Freedom.
This episode of The Fort NOT Lost in the Woods Podcast is sponsored by Security Bank of Pulaski County, Nexthome Team Ellis, TK’s Pizza in St. Robert, and Sugar Creek Farm. The Fort NOT Lost in the Woods Podcast is a production of O’Quinn Media. For guest or sponsorship information, email tracy@oquinnmarketing.com. To leave a voice mail for the show, call 417-650-6057.
— Automated Transcript —
**Intro**
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This is Mike Dunbar with Security Bank of Pulaski County. Trends change, technology changes. But one thing hasn’t changed, our commitment to this area. For decades, Security Bank has been right here making decisions locally and putting people first. Because when your bank knows your name, your goals matter more. Security Bank of Pulaski County. Local then, local now. Member FDIC Equal Housing Lender. Online at SBPC.com.
Around here, home means something different. It’s Friday night lights, early morning heading to post, neighbors who become family, and the comfort of knowing you belong. That’s why at Next Home Team Ellis, real estate has never been just about buying or selling houses. It’s about people. Hi, I’m Lisa Ellis, broker owner of Next Home Team Ellis, and I’ve spent nearly three decades helping families across Fort Leonardwood, Waynesville, Saint Robert, and surrounding communities move forward with confidence. As a retired military spouse, I understand tight timelines, unexpected orders, and the importance of having someone in your corner when life changes fast. Whether you’re selling a lifetime of memories or searching for a fresh start, you’ll have innovative marketing, expert negotiations, and honest guidance every step of the way. Because here, reputation travels faster than advertising. And trust is earned, one family at a time. Call Next Home Team Ellis at 573-774-4101 or visit us at buy Fort Hood homes.com. Next Home Team Ellis, moving forward with confidence.
**Interview**
Thank you for joining me for another episode of the Fort Not Lost in the Woods podcast. So excited today to be joined by Eloy Garcia, owner of Carnivore Steakhouse and also Carnivore’s Meat Market. I have so many questions for you because I’ve kind of watched the way you’ve you’ve grown and I think anyone in business can really respect what you’ve done. And I can’t wait to hear all the things about your story and how you got started and all that. So Eloy, tell me, first of all, where are you from?
Eloy: So I’m from a small town in South Texas called Del Rio, Texas, right on the border with Mexico. Uh, I would visit my grandparents in Mexico by going on a bike ride from my US house to my grandparents home in Mexico. So.
Tracy: And how did you end up here?
Eloy: Uh,
Tracy: I’m sure there’s a lot in between that and this, right?
Eloy: Yes. Yes, uh, so I joined the Army Reserve um in 2009 and uh, I came here to Fort Leonardwood and I promised that I would never come back.
Tracy: Like so many people.
Eloy: Yes.
Tracy: And then you come back, and not only do you come back, but you invest a whole bunch of money and you just stay here, right?
Eloy: Right.
Tracy: There’s like no in between.
Eloy: So I ended up having to I switched jobs in the Army reserves and uh, I ended up coming back here every year to to instruct. And uh,
Tracy: Okay.
Eloy: The last time I came, I came for a school, and they said I did really good and they kind of volun-told me, so to speak, to uh, to stay. Uh, and so I ended up coming back here for what was going to be a year-long mission. Uh, and it turned uh, you know, we’re still here, so.
Tracy: Wow. And, all right. So it was going to be a year-long mission, you’re still here. And then at what point did you decide, I want to be a business owner. And not only that, a restaurant business owner.
Eloy: Yeah, so that was never a goal. It was never on the books. I never,
Tracy: I can so relate to that.
Eloy: Never wanted to uh, own a restaurant, so to speak, because I I my family in Mexico owns uh, food service businesses and stuff like that.
Tracy: Oh, okay. So you were familiar?
Eloy: I was familiar growing up, very young. Uh, you know, they cooked all night and then at 6:00 AM when the uh, factory workers would get ready to go into shift, they had all the food ready prepared, so they would buy stuff. So it was like an all-night affair and I hated whenever I would stay over at my grandparents or my uncles would be cooking in the kitchen and working and making the salsas and I’m like, no, this sucks. Like this is slave labor.
Tracy: I don’t want anything to do with this. Yeah.
Eloy: So, yeah. No, but that that kind of leads a little bit into kind of my background. So on the civilian side I’ve done a few different things and um, before I came here, I was the chief executive for a marketing firm in Erie. And so we did business uh, social marketing, uh, social media marketing, connecting influencers to products and brands. Um, and before that I was in um, tech marketing. Uh, I was a VP of national sales uh, guy for uh, firm in New York. Uh, and then before that I was in uh, international business. And so I did business development and stuff and I kind of always had uh, a goal to own my own business of some kind and and kind of grow that. And so, um, the opportunity kind of landed in my lap unexpectedly. I was kind of on a different direction.
Tracy: Yeah.
Eloy: Uh, and it just I was like, well, you know, it’s an opportunity, I might as well just see where it takes me.
Tracy: Were you a regular customer of Carnivores?
Eloy: Before, yes. So I came in, I want to say I came in 2020. Uh, it was one of the first times that I was introduced to the restaurant. Uh, and it was a great, you know, environment and vibe, great food. Uh, comparatively to some of the other places that I had tried out in Missouri. You know,
Tracy: Yeah.
Eloy: Yeah. And so I was like, okay. I was like, this is good. And then I ended up coming um, back for school again and and some of my classmates kept recommending to come here. I was like, oh yeah, you know, I’ll I’ll give it a shot. And like I said, they just the cocktails, the the steaks, I was like, I mean, this is the spot. So,
Tracy: Yeah.
Eloy: That’s how I ended up getting acquainted with the the former owner and stuff like that.
Tracy: Well, that is so cool. So family life. We didn’t talk about that. Married, kids? Yes, no?
Eloy: Uh, so I have been with the same woman since 2009.
Tracy: It’s a long time.
Eloy: Yes, so 2009 and we have uh, two daughters.
Tracy: Awesome.
Eloy: Um, 15 and 13, going on 30.
Tracy: I understand that. Are they part of the business? Do they are they did they spend a lot of time there?
Eloy: Yes. In fact, I kind of require them to do at least one shift in either the meat market or the restaurant so that they can understand, you know, just regular work ethic and things like that.
Tracy: That is great. That that’s in short supply these days with young people and I don’t want to be one of those old people that are like, oh, these young people these days, but oh my gosh, it’s the truth.
Eloy: Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It really is. The the ethics behind it. I grew up very similarly. I um, uh, every summer I spent, I have four uncles on on my dad’s side, uh, that uh, and an aunt. And so every summer we kind of rotated a little bit of who worked where and you know, every one of my uncles has had a different um, uh, skill set, like, uh, like I worked the summers as a mechanic and I I learned how to change my oil, brakes and things like that.
Tracy: Oh yeah, that’s invaluable. That kind of experience.
Eloy: My dad was in construction, and so like, I worked there for when I didn’t want to work.
Tracy: Yeah. You worked there a lot.
Eloy: Yeah.
Tracy: You learned what you didn’t want to do, right?
Eloy: Right, right. So I kind of do the same with the girls. In fact, this summer, um, my youngest wants to be a business entrepreneur kind of mindset. And so, I was like, well, I’m going to teach you accounting and you’re going to kind of learn it like in real world kind of thing.
Tracy: We’re going to get into how you’re scaling your business and how it’s how you’re growing it. But what do you think is something, when I talk to people that don’t have a business about business, there are things that I’m always I’m very aware that they don’t realize. Um, what are some of the things that you think or one of the things that you think people would be surprised to find out about being a business owner?
Eloy: I would say it’s like the iceberg concept. Like 80% of your work, no one ever sees.
Tracy: Yes, that’s so true.
Eloy: No one ever sees. And 20% is, you know, face time with other customers, clients and uh, sales or or public engagements. But 80% of the work, I I do, you know, I wake up every day about 6:00, 6:15 and I do my run. I come back, I shower, I change and then I’m on my computer till about 10:30 before the first person even comes in kind of thing.
Tracy: There’s a lot a lot of behind the scenes and a lot of off hours that people don’t realize.
Eloy: Yeah. It’s 24/7.
Tracy: Yeah.
Eloy: I’ll be on vacation and get a text that,
Tracy: I can so relate to that. Oh my gosh. If one more person calls in sick to work, I’m going to blow up. I always love to talk to business owners about the challenges and things like that, but I am aware that that can come across kind of negative, you know? What are the positives about owning your own business?
Eloy: So, freedom, I would say of being able to do what you want to do uh, and like shape a brand. Like for me, like that’s a big passion of mine, like shaping the brand uh, and taking it to places that maybe I don’t even know exist, right? But seeing that come to fruition, you know, slowly and and people recognizing the brand from a long distance. For me, it it’s it’s a passion, right? But in terms of positive, like it’s just it’s like seeing your child grow, right? So you see them have positive characteristics when you’re not around and then people talk about them positively. I think that’s probably the biggest benefit you can get from owning your own business.
Tracy: When you bought the business, it was already established, I assume doing pretty well. Did you immediately come in and start to make changes or how did you kind of grasp what the business was and what you wanted it to be?
Eloy: So from when the idea started materializing, you got to know a little bit about my background in terms of um, uh, I was in manufacturing, international sales and manufacturing.
Tracy: How did you do so many things at such how old are you?
Eloy: I’m 37.
Tracy: I was going to say, you look really young. How did you get all of this experience packed in? I totally just took this another direction. Well, I guess we’ll talk about that in a minute. Go ahead.
Eloy: Yeah. I was in international sales and I was able to kind of see how manufacturing worked and and I’d never been in manufacturing sales before, so I I kind of took myself to school in the company. I was like a $50 million company in Warren, Pennsylvania. Middle of nowhere, very small town, very large company. But they produce polyurethane uh, tires for applications across many different uh, spectrums. And so I worked with engineers. I worked with floor hands and tried to understand, you know, raw product, how it comes in, how it’s manufactured and I literally kind of put myself through the school of that company. And I ended up becoming one of the the supervisors for international sales because I took that time to learn. And so that really kind of left a big imprint on me. And so when I this opportunity came up, uh, one of the stipulations with the former owner was that we would do 90 days left seat, right seat. I would understand how it works.
Tracy: I love that. Yeah.
Eloy: How it how it moves and stuff and so everything was contingent on me like learning and he would help me learn uh, because he didn’t want to see his, you know, his uh, project, so to speak, fail, you know? Uh, and so I I was like, all right, I’m going to take on the project and and just kind of execute uh, as they’re executing. Um, and, you know, before buying, we looked at, you know, the numbers, the PNLs and things where I was already thinking, like, okay, raw product, we can drop prices here without sacrificing quality. And so I was looking at it from a manufacturing standpoint as a business, not a restaurant with food service kind of thing. It was more like raw products and then process and then final product. Uh, and so I had an idea of what I wanted to do first, but I needed to learn first how the people were working, right? Because it’s a people business more than anything.
Tracy: Yeah.
Eloy: So once I understood the people, the process and the product, then I could start making those changes.
Tracy: Was there anything surprising during that process?
Eloy: Routine. So for me, like routine, again, that that time I was full-time active duty here.
Tracy: Yeah, oh yeah, full-time. Yeah.
Eloy: So yeah, so I was full-time active duty and then at evenings I was full-time at the restaurant. So it was uh, double shift for about two and a half years uh, seven days a week. Uh, learning, growing, developing and people. Uh, the surprising uh, prior to coming here, I’d probably hired maybe, I would say about 300 people uh, just because I’ve been in a position to to be the hiring guy uh, in like the last 10 years and maybe fired like 10 or 15 people or just we’re not performers. Since coming here,
Tracy: That’s the worst.
Eloy: And and running the restaurant, I probably done the same uh, in the very shorter amount of time.
Tracy: Wow. Oh my gosh. That’s the worst part of it for me. The firing is the worst. But I even hate hiring. How do you break through the okay, everybody who’s ever hired anyone knows what it’s like to sit down with someone and think, you know, I think I’ve got somebody special here. I think this person’s going to be really good. And then fast forward a month and you’re like, who is this person? This is not who was in the interview with me. How do you break through that?
Eloy: So I I developed a little bit of philosophy, which a lot of, you know, um, I read a lot of books, by the way. So I I look at,
Tracy: When do you have time? I have so many questions.
Eloy: Uh, and so, you know, hire slow, fire fast.
Tracy: Hire slow, fire fast. Oh, I like that. Okay. I mean, I don’t like that part, but you know what I mean.
Eloy: Yeah.
Tracy: I like that saying.
Eloy: It’s it’s slow understanding uh, because the one thing you can’t develop is character, right? And you have to understand the character before you can fully commit to them. So, uh, I’ve developed a system of stagging. Stagging is a term that we use in the food service industry as like an internship, so to speak. So they work a couple four-hour shifts in different tasks, and we give them a set list uh, set list of tasks to accomplish. We watch how they they cut onions, so to speak. We watch how they move. We watch how they’re always cleaning. We watch how they’re developing and then we also watch how they interact with the team. Uh, if it’s a good fit at the end of the shift, we give them a meal, whatever they like. We have a sit down conversation. We kind of see what they noticed, how they noticed it, and then we kind of tell them our feedback. And then at the end of like two or three shifts, we say, hey, you know, so do you think it’s a good fit for you? If it’s a good fit for us, then we offer them that position at that time. If it’s not a good fit, we’ll let them know like, hey, you know what? You have a lot of skills stuff, but we still need to work on this part. Uh, you know, after six months, you have an opportunity to come back and give it another shot. Um, and then kind of go from there. And then if they do get put on board, we do have 90 days of probation up front uh, where they have like two shots of either coming in late or, you know, just missing the boat on something. Uh, so it’s, you know, we’ve made it more robust than what it used to be, just because of the the quality of the team that I’m trying to build.
Tracy: Right. Are you always building a team? Like, are you always working on that?
Eloy: We’re always looking for good talent. Uh, this town has uh, a lot of good talent, which is,
Tracy: That’s good to hear you say.
Eloy: It it is. You know, it has to do with like the the melting pot that Fort Leonardwood is and it brings people from all around the world with all kinds of experiences. I have had I have had a a uh, up-and-coming artist uh, in in like the music industry, like on published albums and stuff, be one of our servers.
Tracy: Yeah.
Eloy: I’ve also had a a Las Vegas bartender come in. Uh, you know, we’ve had uh, a whole bunch of just people that you would never expect to be here with culinary degrees or in the military that have culinary degree and so it’s it’s just about finding like the diamond in the rough and that’s why we have like a a pretty good process of getting people in.
Tracy: That’s amazing. That’s awesome. I love hearing that kind of thing about an establishment or business here in Pulaski County because a lot of people think that, you know, and and it’s the whole premise of this podcast. I feel like I say that so much, but it is, you know, we are not lost in the woods because of people like you. Because of of of bringing people in that are from outside the area that and and keeping them here, giving them meaningful employment, allowing them to use their skills and their talent, helping them build their skills and their talent. Um, I just love that we have that available here in the area because of people like you. And, uh, it sounds like you are just kind of building your own little empire over there, which I think is super cool. And I want to talk more about that. But first, back to your team. How many employees do you have and, um, you know, tell me about your core your core team. Who do you have on board that that, you know, your your core people that we can expect to see when we come to carnivores?
Eloy: So, I have a team of about 23 people right now, between the steakhouse and the meat market. Uh, we have a couple butchers. Um, my managing partner, which I brought in from Atlanta. Again, talent that uh, came to town to help us grow. Uh, he was the executive chef at Buya in Atlanta, which was renowned as the number one tapas restaurant in the country. He he they’ve even gotten awards from the President of Spain as the most authentic in the United States.
Tracy: Oh, that’s so cool.
Eloy: Uh, and so he I had met him through another chef that I had employed and he was, you know, came in to kind of help consult that chef. So that’s kind of when I knew he was like not just good, but like really good. Uh, and he had a lot of good things to say and a lot of like, uh, and I didn’t know it’s at the time, but he had always wanted to have of like a steakhouse, like to grow it and where he was, he was in a corporation that had over 300 locations and so he could not kind of break the ceiling of the C-suite. And so I was like, okay, I was like, well, look, we’re at a ground level here, so we’re bootstrapping everything. I was like, but I’ve I’ve done something like this before, um, not in the food service, but in in a bootstrap type of startup. I was like, if you’re willing to take a shot with me, you know, we can go. He’s like, well, let me think about it, you know, it’s a big pay cut from where he was to come in out here.
Tracy: Yeah.
Eloy: He’s like, yeah, but the cost of living in Atlanta.
Tracy: I was going to I was going to say, yeah, that’s a a big drawing right there.
Eloy: And so he he he was on the fence for like a month or so and then uh, the opportunity with the meat market came up. And I was like, you know, I’m just going to jump on it and see what happens. And um, I I ended up buying the meat market, called him back. I was like, hey, so do you know anything about butchering? He’s like, what are you talking about?
Tracy: That’s his that’s not a question you hear every day.
Eloy: And he’s like, yeah, he’s like, I was a butcher for a long time. I was like, oh, this is perfect. So I just bought a meat mark. He’s like, are you kidding? Fly me out. I was like, no, I’m serious. He’s like, I want to see it. I was like, okay.
Tracy: Oh, that’s awesome.
Eloy: So I flew him out, he checked it out and he you know, we shook hands. He’s like, all right, give me 30 days. I’ll be here. And uh, since September.
Tracy: How relieving for you to hear that.
Eloy: Oh, it was great. It was so great.
Tracy: So let’s talk about the meat market. How did that opportunity arise? I mean, you you you’ve bought the restaurant, right? And then and then how long was it before it was this light bulb came on that you might want to buy the meat market?
Eloy: So, again, opportunity came out of nowhere. I bought the restaurant in 23 April, and last year, 24 July, um, I reached out to the what it was closed and I had not really visited the meat market too much. Uh, I think it was like one time like years ago before I even bought the restaurant I visited. And um, I was like, okay, I mean, not, I didn’t have all the things that we I was used to in Texas. Coming from Texas is like you have six meat markets in a very small town. And each one of them kind of has like, you know, this one does jerky, this one does brot wars, this one like they’re all like very niche. And I was like, oh, that’s not what I was expecting. But I was like, okay, well, you know, if I want to get big pieces of beef, I can I can do it here. Uh, and so I reached out to the owner and she was selling uh, for, you know, I think it was like a small I thought it was kind of a small amount, but then I realized like, oh, it was only for a certain section of it. And so I was like, all right, well, let me see if I can can work a deal to just put it all together and and make it make sense. Uh, and so when I started looking at the numbers and PNLs and stuff and I was like, okay, so I can become a very serious purchasing power to the vendors that we have in the area. Yeah. And I have an inlet to bring in local beef from the local area. Uh, and then within seven days transfer that right to the steakhouse, so I can be farm to table in 10 days. And I was like, okay, so there’s a new thing. And so I started looking up how many restaurants do that in Missouri. There’s only like seven. I was like, okay, there’s a value proposition that we have here at the community. I was like, so that’s pretty high. We can get more marketing for that. I was like, and then the last step in the supply chain would be me to buy a farm and have my own branded cattle to then transfer through.
Tracy: Wow.
Eloy: And I was like, okay,
Tracy: I love that. I love the way your brain works. I’m fascinated.
Eloy: So, yeah, we ended up uh, shaking hands, making a deal and, you know, I I I did uh, I bought it in July. Um, we started overhauling it, we tore down some some old like, not supporting walls, but just like walls that were there that didn’t need to be there and, you know, just reshaping it, painting it, developing it into what it is today.
Tracy: So, do you do you buy a farm?
Eloy: Not yet.
Tracy: That’s the next thing.
Eloy: Yes.
Tracy: Oh my gosh, that’s so cool. Do you already have a brand in mind?
Eloy: I do. I do have a couple.
Tracy: I figured with your marketing line you’ve already know what that brand is going to be.
Eloy: Yes.
Tracy: Do you have any farming experience?
Eloy: So, growing up young in South Texas, uh, my family uh, worked in farms in Mexico. Because my whole fam, well, the majority of my family comes from Mexico and then, uh, you know, my my dad’s like white, red-haired, freckled, uh, from Spain, right? So we have a bit of a mix there. And so we grew up in in in Mexico and we did uh, a lot of uh, herding and moving cattle and stuff like that when I was very young. And then and I was in high school, we worked in a farm that we did uh, same thing, but we also took care of Greyhounds, uh, racing Greyhounds and, uh, in South Texas, there’s actually roosters that fight and this was back when it was legal. Um, so I worked and took care of all that. So I had some experience in, you know, on horseback and things like that, so.
Tracy: Do you ever get tired?
Eloy: Uh,
Tracy: Because you don’t seem like someone who gets tired. Like, do you ever just sit down on the couch and get some popcorn and watch TV?
Eloy: Uh, Sundays I have been able to now take at least one day off the week and those are my Sundays.
Tracy: But do you actually chill out or are you still in business mode?
Eloy: Uh, I find it very hard to chill.
Tracy: I figured, yeah, I know, I know. It’s hard.
Eloy: Because if you like when I go on vacation, like uh, it was like two years ago we went on a a road trip all through the we went from here to Mount Rushmore to Yellowstone, to the Redwoods, to Sequoia.
Tracy: Oh, I want to do that so bad.
Eloy: Um, it was it was incredibly cheap. It was great and it was all like there’s no hotels. Let’s put it that way. It was all like camping. I don’t have a camper. It was like primitive camping.
Tracy: Yeah.
Eloy: No no lighters. It was like and I was teaching the girls how to start it from scratch, like fires and stuff.
Tracy: Oh, that’s cool.
Eloy: And I was able to fully disconnect uh, at that point and, you know, just be, you know, we went horseback riding in Yellowstone and, uh, the girls like, they hated it for the first two days.
Tracy: They’ll always remember it, though.
Eloy: Third day, they started getting into it, about the 10th day, they were the ones starting the fire before I said anything. They’re starting the fire, getting the food ready. And then I was sitting back, you know, with my my bourbon just chilling and watching. And, uh, disconnecting was like, oh my god, it was connection back to like, you know, just the environment, the atmosphere. It was great. And then coming back, having to get back into the rhythm of like, go, go, go. I was like, oh my god, it took me like three weeks to get back into sync. And it you know, it was hard. It was very hard just mentally just being able to just veg and come back. So, well, I do kind of lower the amount of productivity that I do on Sundays to very very minimal. Like I can’t fully disconnect because I know that pain coming back is a little bit hard.
Tracy: Yeah, if I fully disconnect, it’s going to be more painful to reconnect, right? I totally understand that and I I’m quite a bit older than you, but I get that how hard it is to disconnect, but I can tell you from experience it is just so so important. It is so important for your mental clarity, for everything. But I know exactly what you mean about how hard it is to reconnect as well. We’re going to take a really quick break, and then when we come back, I’ve asked Eloy what three things are that people might be surprised to learn about him. So we’re going to find out what that is. We’re also going to find out more about the meat market. I want to know what your favorite menu item is at Carnivores and wherever else we see this conversation leading because we just never know. And we’re going to have you spin the wheel before you leave as well. So we’ll be right back with Eloy Garcia from Carnivores in just a moment.
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**Interview Part 2**
Tracy: Back with Eloy Garcia from Carnivore Steakhouse and also Carnivore Meat Market. Let’s talk more about that. Tell me about the meat market and what it offers for the community.
Eloy: Yeah, so the meat market uh, the original kind of goal for me was to bring a little bit of Texas into the community, so to speak. So having it to just focus on on like, I’m going to go grill this weekend, one stop shop. I can get my charcoal, I can get my seasonings, I can get my my produce, limes, tortillas, chips, uh, and beef. Uh, if I’m smoking something, I got brisket there, things like that. And so I didn’t really see anything like that in the area outside of like your big box stores and stuff like that. So I wanted to do that. And so we’ve been able to accomplish that so far. Uh, my next goal is to bring in uh, like smoke meats, like bringing in jerky, creating jerky, I guess I I should say. Uh, creating smoke sausages, gourmet type sausages, things of that nature. Currently, we offer halal chicken, uh, halal lamb, halal goat. Uh, we have uh, we can do like whole hogs. Uh, we’ve taken down a number of beef, full beefs uh, that we take down. And so we can offer, you know, half beef, quarter beef, whole beef, uh, sales if you want to stock up your freezer.
Tracy: How crazy is beef right now on pricing. It’s insane.
Eloy: Uh, yes. It is going to.
Tracy: Do you think it’s ever going to go down? I mean, it has to at some point, right?
Eloy: It will. It’s it’s always an influx. I I think it’s another three months before it starts to see its down downturn, but yeah, it’s pretty significant. And, you know, I’m buying uh, you know, I can’t just buy cal for the restaurant by itself, so I have to supplement with box beef. And so in order to kind of quell that, we were able to bring in uh, a radius purchasing area. So all the beef that we have is more no more than 150 miles from here.
Tracy: That’s excellent.
Eloy: And so, uh, that is excellent. However, it’s a little bit more expensive because of that. Uh, not by much, but it’s still, you know, an added cost. But I was like, you know what? Uh, if I can if I can execute that, then it’s another value proposition that again, you don’t really get everywhere in in in this area. And so, uh, you know, our our focus right now is we’re creating because it’s grill season. At least for me, like if I wasn’t working as much, I would be grilling every day. Like I have a little bit of an outdoor kitchen I set up and, you know, I have my smoker, my grill, my my black stone and, uh, I’d be grilling every day, you know, trying new things, smoking different things. Uh, and so I know that there’s a lot of people out there, you know, that do the same thing this time of year. So I was like, I’m creating bundles that are like, hey, pick up and go and they’re already pre-seasoned, marinated, ready to go. You just drop it. So it saves a lot of the headache. Especially for like the military community, you know, I remember kidding off work at like four or five and I’m like, man, I’m tired. And it’s Friday and it’s a beautiful day and I just want to grill, but I have to prep, I have to go to Walmart, or I have to go to wherever to pick up the stuff and so taking that stress out of the that equation, just I know it’s going to help. And so like we we do like pre-rolled jalapeno poppers. Like you got to do is put them on the grill and grill them, you know.
Tracy: Oh, yeah. Yeah. Making it easy.
Eloy: Yeah.
Tracy: For sure. Well, I love I love it. I love all of it. Where do you think the future is going to lead for you? I mean, you don’t seem like a guy that’s just going to be content with what you’ve got going on. You want to keep building, right?
Eloy: Yeah. So my goal is to open a carnivores outside of every military training base as a two-front location. You get the steakhouse on one end and then the meat market on the side, so to speak. Uh, because like, from what I’ve heard, understood, uh, from a lot of like the industry leaders, like even like the corporations they were talking about that have multiple, you know, hundreds of locations. Their focus outside of different concepts is to go back into uh, urban area because that’s what’s been not developed, but is growing in in the United States. Um, because of the rising cost, people don’t want to live in the city, you know, they go out to the suburbs and stuff like that. And so to make it convenient for them, a lot of the big box uh, shops have set up, but they’re not successful because they’re too big. So there’s an in-between gap that I’d like to kind of live the niche in. But with the concept of carnivores where warriors feast, right? Uh, all of that, I I want to stick to the community that I’m that I belong to, that I’m a part of, right? So, um, I was in law enforcement as well as a first responder and so,
Tracy: Where do you have all this time? It’s like there’s five of you living one life, you know? What else have you done? Have you ever been like a rodeo clown or anything? If you said yes, I was just going to be like, okay, I don’t know. I was starting to think of something that there’s no way you’ve done. So if I say, yeah, have you ever ridden a bull? If you said yes, I’d just be like, all right, I don’t know what to say about this guy.
Eloy: But um, yeah, so I want to open up uh, outside of military bases, uh, using the same concept, you know, copy and paste, put it outside of, you know, like Fort Sill or or uh, something like that. I don’t know, Oklahoma, which is what one of the targets that I’m looking at and then expanding beyond the army and going to the Marines, going to Air Force and things like that. And so getting, um, the new service members kind of familiar with the brand as soon as they graduate, uh, would help us at, you know, phase four when we’re opening in just normal bases and things like that. So like, oh, they have brand recognition, I remember this one and then follow through that.
Tracy: That’s your seeds planted that just grow. You know, you don’t you don’t even have to have a lot of people that have brand recognition if they have a good experience with it and they can kind of spread that word and help those seeds grow, right?
Eloy: Yeah. Absolutely.
Tracy: So I asked you to list three things that people might be surprised to learn about you, and one of them was that you’re still serving while building business, and it says most people think you choose one lane. I’ve been balancing military leadership, entrepreneurship, and family life all at once. What’s your secret to doing that and being successful and and not going crazy?
Eloy: Well, success is relative, right?
Tracy: Well, that’s true. That is a good point.
Eloy: Uh, I I would say, uh, I give like 100%. Whatever I do, I do it 100%. And if there’s any chance that I can’t reach 100%, then I won’t even start it. Like it’s got to be 100% or don’t.
Tracy: Oh, I like that. Yeah. It’s really good that you have that end goal in mind, like, I love to build, but if I can’t do it at 100%, if I can’t do it exactly right, then I don’t want to do it because a lot of times it’s so fun and exciting to build something, but if you don’t look ahead to that end goal, it’s just going to fall apart. So that probably is a is a one of the key reasons that that you are successful at what you do.
Eloy: Yeah. I want to see it all the way through. Uh, you know, when one of the biggest, I guess to go on a little tangent, um, the challenge when I was a police officer, I would work on the border in in Del Rio. As a drug task force officer and seeing, you know, I would bust a whole lot of um, drug paraphernalia off the street. Uh, I would, you know, I that was like my goal. That was like my own personal report card of like, I’m doing something to change. And change, you know, where my kids are growing up. At the time I only had one. Um, and so, you know, I would turn around three weeks later and like, you know, you you cut the head off, but three more grew and things like that and I was just on the border closer to like cartel land, so to speak, where there’s a lot more violence. Uh, I was like, man, I I feel like I’m just pedaling water here. I’m not moving forward. And so like that was my, I guess, biggest challenge. You know, I couldn’t see the project, so to speak, start, middle, and finish. It was just never ending and I didn’t I didn’t particularly like that. I felt like I wasn’t doing enough. After about three years in that realm, uh, I ended up moving to Pennsylvania where my wife is from.
Tracy: Wait a second, how do you just move to Pennsylvania from all the way down there?
Eloy: So I met my wife here at Fort Leonardwood.
Tracy: Okay.
Eloy: And, uh, she was from Pennsylvania.
Tracy: Okay.
Eloy: And so we moved back home where she’s from. That’s where I started using my business acumen and went into business after that.
Tracy: What part of Pennsylvania?
Eloy: Uh, Warren, Pennsylvania, uh, specifically Russell, which is a small out town of Warren, right on the border with the New York and Jamestown, New York, about an hour east of Erie, Pennsylvania.
Tracy: I went to Pennsylvania a few years ago. Well, I guess it’s been about six years ago now, a few, but we went to the Gettysburg area, well, all around the area. We drove around and and went to did a lot of things. It’s so beautiful. I loved it. I loved Pennsylvania. One thing I noticed about that area is how well-kept every property was. Even if it wasn’t a big fancy property, it was like people took pride in their property. And then the closer, I mean, I love Missouri, don’t get me wrong, but the closer we got back to home, I was just like, I it was very noticeable to me that that they didn’t just throw buildings away. They repaired them and they kept them and they were they were really old and, you know, and then they kept their properties up and it and it didn’t matter if it was just a tiny little house or if it was a, you know, a really expensive property. It just seemed like there was a lot of pride in it. I just loved that about the Pennsylvania area that we were at anyway. I’m sure the whole state’s probably not like that, but where we were is one thing I noticed.
Eloy: Yeah, there’s a lot in that town. The first time I drove in, I was like, I feel like I’m going in back in time like 100 years.
Tracy: I know, yeah.
Eloy: I was like, wait a minute.
Tracy: I loved it, though.
Eloy: I’m not.
Tracy: So Carnivores started out as more than a restaurant idea, is the second thing that you told me that people might be surprised to learn about you. And you said that you wanted to create a place with energy, identity, and pride and something that the area would remember. So, do you feel like you’ve accomplished that, or do you still feel like that is a a work in progress?
Eloy: Definitely a work in progress. Uh, definitely a work in progress. I mean, uh, it’s a it’s like I said, a people business, right? And the team is ever-changing. Um, a lot of times for good, you know, military spouses move in.
Tracy: Sure. Yeah.
Eloy: They work with us for three years and then they move again.
Tracy: Don’t you hate that?
Eloy: Uh, yeah. Uh, it’s it’s I mean, but you know, we appreciate the time that they they helped us, as well. Uh, and so even the service members themselves that work in in the organization, like, you know, I I know they have a time limit. And I’m like, all right, so when I sit down and talk to them, I’m like, what do you want to get out of this? Because I know, you know, this is not like a long-term career. Um, and so I I kind of identify what we can help with them with and then give them like a step-by-step, like, here’s how we accomplish that. In fact, I have two employees right now that are working because their goal is when they retire is to open another restaurant.
Tracy: Well, that’s cool.
Eloy: And so we’re giving them like a full, you know, three months in this section, three months in this like full, well-rounded operator mode. Uh, and then the last month they spend with me, left seat, right seating. So as if they would take it over. So I can show them like, here’s where you have to be careful, here’s where you can do stuff like that. So I think, uh, I think that we’re getting there. I think that we’ve come a very long way in a very short amount of time. Um, both financially in terms of, you know, the profitability of a restaurant, specifically steakhouse profitability, which is one of the hardest um, across any industry, but specifically this one.
Tracy: I bet.
Eloy: Uh, the meat market truly helped us um, last year. In fact, uh, it was very, very fruitful in terms of keeping us moving through the furlough that lasted forever. So.
Tracy: Yes.
Eloy: It really helped us and and dropped our our our purchasing costs down because of the scale and volume that we purchased at.
Tracy: How much did the furlough affect your business?
Eloy: We lost about 60% of our daily recurring revenue uh, within three weeks of it happening. And so we had to adapt, right? Adapt. So we launched meal prep. We launched different kinds of uh, smaller menu items. Uh, we looked at catering. We, you know, and we we knew it was going to be bad. We just didn’t think it was going to be that bad. And so we had prepared for it, you know, just financially to maintain stasis. Uh, I didn’t necessarily plan for the meat market because I didn’t know how that was working. And I ended up launching it October 10th right after the furlough launched. So opening a new business in the middle of the worst furlough in history.
Tracy: Makes my chest hurt.
Eloy: Was uh, very stressful time. I will say. But, um, you know, thanks to the team that we we had at that in that time frame, you know, we were able to adapt, you know, I was wearing more more hats than I normally wear to make sure that we could balance the equation on labor and things like that. But, uh, I think it, you know, I will say this, if I hadn’t moved forward and like took a bold move of purchasing like a new business and executing, I think the restaurant would have been in a worse situation because of that balance that we were able to generate.
Tracy: It all worked out.
Eloy: Yeah.
Tracy: You say number three that you’re wired to build, not coast. Even when things are going well, your mind’s already on how to grow it, improve it, turn it into something bigger. So my question is, I get that. I I totally relate to that. When do you know that you’re there, though? Like, when do you say, okay, now I’m satisfied with this. This is how I want it. Do you think that will ever happen?
Eloy: So it’s an interesting um, way of phrasing that. I would say when I was younger, I would say no, there’s no end, right? It’s always grow, grow, grow, grow always and always.
Tracy: Yeah.
Eloy: But now, you know, after some of the stuff that I’ve been through and what I’ve seen, I think, uh, there is when you achieve like freedom of what you want. Like, uh, when I say like I’m always growing and developing, that doesn’t necessarily mean like the same business or group of businesses. But helping people, right? And so I think you get to a point once you have achieved, you know, the the ultimate, you know, percentage profitability margin on this business and this one. That’s, you know, very rare, very hard to get, but you’re executing. Um, and you you’re in all intensive purposes squeezing that lemon as far as you can. In any business, what do we do then? Uh, I think for me as as an instructor here for for the civilian school as an example, like I’m always imparting my knowledge. And so in order for me to continue feeling that growth, um, is to help grow other people. So maybe like I as long as I can have like a farm, uh, and and have the brand cattle. Like I’ll finish the supply chain, uh, and like I would love to spend more time and and doing that. Uh, and that would be considered like that freedom point while I’m still able to consult and help other restaurants achieve the same stuff. Maybe they’re not even my restaurants, but like other restaurants of other people helping them with their challenges that we face. Like every restaurant faces three main challenges every time. It’s the moving target that you can’t necessarily pinpoint and forecast, right? How many people are coming in, your cost of labor and your cogs, your your prime cost overall. So food goes up and down every week, quite literally. So we have to reverse engineer that outcome. I think if I can do those two things, I I would be fine.
Tracy: I’m going to put you on the spot with a question that just as I’m listening to you talk, I’m curious as to what your answer will be to this because I know over time my answer has changed. Is the customer always right?
Eloy: No.
Tracy: Thank you. Yes. So happy to hear you say that. I used to believe that. I used to preach that. I used to live that when it came to customer service of any type of business. But people have changed and sometimes they’re not saying and they’re not reasonable. And I also believe that the customer is not always right.
Eloy: Yeah, you know, it’s it’s been one of those things where, you know, again, coming from sales and service background, you know, you learn like some people you can never satisfy for sure. Like they’re it’s not standards are too high or anything like that. It’s just like it’s not enough. It’s never going to be enough. You know, I don’t I don’t say this often, but there’s a point where you have to fire the customer, so to speak. Like if you don’t like X, Y, Z, whatever it is,
Tracy: Why are you coming back? Why are you coming back? Yes, yes.
Eloy: Why do you consistently come back? And request the same thing over and over. If that is the way we cook it to standard, two food specs, like perfectly done, but you don’t like the flavor. Like it doesn’t make sense.
Tracy: I love my mother more than anyone on earth. However, the other day, she asked me if I would go get her a chocolate long John. She really wanted a chocolate long John. All right, you know what a chocolate long John is?
Eloy: I do not.
Tracy: It’s a donut and it’s got like a chocolate icing on it. Okay. It’s shaped like this. It’s got like. Anyway, I don’t know. These are regional or what, but anyway. So I bring her a chocolate long John and she says, oh, it tastes like chocolate.
Eloy: Okay.
Tracy: Okay. You wanted, she literally will eat something and say, I don’t I don’t I don’t like this. And I’ll say, why not? It’s got a taste to it. Mom, it’s food. It’s supposed to have a taste to it. So, my mother’s proof that the customer is not always right. But, you know, I I am so glad to hear you say that. It’s refreshing because as I said earlier, I’m older than you, but always heard this the customer’s always right. The customer’s always right. But it’s a different time. This is a different time. It some people you just can’t make happy. And in addition to that, when they walk through your door, it brings down morale, it costs you money because they’re not going to be happy. And it’s just maybe better that they don’t come back. So I know what you mean. So that’s refreshing to hear you say that.
Eloy: And they usually and this is like a fact like we were looking at at numbers just one instance that we’ve had that is repetitive or had been repetitive for it some time. Uh, the the tip percentage was like $5 on like a $100 ticket. And when I say we gave them like all ultimate service, like I checked personally in with them like five times. They acted like everything was perfect. Everything was fine. This was great. This is like they ordered cocktails. I was like, okay, cool. We like, we got it. Like, there’s no way. And then they leave. Five, five.
Tracy: $5 tip on 100, yeah.
Eloy: $5 tip. I’m like, oh my god. Okay. I was like, well, you know, we win some, we learn some.
Tracy: Exactly. Exactly. Well, I asked you what your favorite thing about the Pulaski County and surrounding area is. You said a community of like-minded individuals and fishing. Okay, like-minded individuals. What do you mean by that?
Eloy: So, I had never been in a part or in a community, you know, I’ve lived in a few different places. I’ve done a few different things. And, um, where the military mindset is so like forward, whether with veterans, retirees, or still in the service. Um, and like the goal is like not just like fitness, but constant improvement, right? Like a little bit of Kaizen, like continuous improvement. And, uh, seeing that here is is is unique to me because, you know, even in like when I lived in Pennsylvania, there there was a veteran community there, but they weren’t as active or or overt about it and like the mindset was just like relax and like my own small sphere world kind of thing. Here, everyone’s kind of like helping each other out. Um, you know, I left active duty last year in April. Um, and I went straight into reserves. And after I got out, I had so many people still reaching out to me for either help or questions or or mentorship. And I was, you know, I’m still active like working. They they didn’t even know that I had left. And I was like, yeah, I was like, no, I haven’t been there for, you know, a few months. They’re like, oh, I didn’t know. I was like, yeah, no, he’s like, oh, I’m on a bar. I was like, no, don’t worry. He’s like, if I’ve got the answers, I’ll give them to you.
Tracy: Feels good to help people.
Eloy: An open book. Um, even, um, civilians who took like the furlough like out kind of thing, so they had the 10 month uh, buyout or whatnot that I worked with, you know, they they reached back out to me and they’re like, hey, would you want to do this project for for the city? Or do you want to do this? I’m like, you know what? Yeah, I’ll get involved. And so like I’ve been doing stuff with the the the Parks and Recs community. I’ve been doing stuff for the Centennial that’s coming up and,
Tracy: It’s exciting, isn’t it?
Eloy: And again, the people that work there, very like-minded. Like, yeah, we just want better for the community. We want to get people together and stuff like that.
Tracy: How much does it affect you seeing negativity on social media? You mentioned the Centennial and I’ve seen a few comments here and there about like the Neon Park and who cares about Route 66. And I think I’m on the the tourism board and I see the numbers. People do care. We have so many people that are planning overnight stays in our community now instead of it just being a drive-through community where they don’t even stop. They might stop for lunch or they might stop at the tourism office or but now they’re choosing to stay so that they can go to the Neon Park at night. So with what does that mean? That means, well, maybe they arrive around lunchtime and they eat here. And then maybe they do some shopping and then guess what? They go to the Neon Park and then, oh, now we’ve we need to have dinner. And oh, we’re going to stay overnight. So there’s a hotel stay. And, well, we’re still here the next morning. So we’re going to have breakfast. And maybe, maybe they even catch a lunch before they leave. And all of that brings money to the community. And so when I see people that just don’t get it, it’s hard to keep my mouth shut. I do because I don’t want that fight. But it’s hard sometimes. How do you how do you feel about the things that you see on social media? How does that affect you?
Eloy: So before I answer that, I to your point, I personally have shaken hands with at least 15 guests this month that have driven out or driven through specifically to see that Neon Park. And eat at our restaurant. And they’re like, we love.
Tracy: You see it firsthand. And how many come that you don’t even know that that’s why they’re here?
Eloy: I see it firsthand. And to be fair, I think the community people that think it’s like negative or not a good thing, it’s it’s because they don’t see that. They they only see the.
Tracy: They don’t want to, though. They if they wanted to really understand what it was all about, it’s very easy to do. You can find out very easily. I think it’s just they don’t want to understand. They just want to be negative, maybe.
Eloy: I think uh, you know, part of it is like the education side. Uh-huh. You can show somebody facts. You can you can show them, you know, why it makes sense. You can show them, uh, where it’s going to be affect sense overall. But if they don’t see that immediate return, then it doesn’t make sense for them regardless. And and that’s just a few people that I’ve again, talked to personally. Uh, but to your point, you know, the negativity online, I I really try not to spend calories on on the negativity. Yes, yes. You know, we’ve been on social media a few times. Uh, not in a positive light, so to speak.
Tracy: And you can’t you can’t tell people that. I mean, you can’t go on and and say the experience that you had with that person because they were your employee. So it’s just like take the high road. That’s what I tell. Take the high road, Tracy. I tell myself this all the time.
Eloy: Yeah, I mean, and and it’s like a lot of times it’s stuff that is out of our control, you know, like uh, like stuff that changed, like we we had to change our hours because the light pole got hit behind our restaurant and we had to close for four hours. The like things like that. I’m like, oh my god, like I can’t control it. And like just going on and explaining it gives credit to what’s not.
Tracy: Absolutely.
Eloy: So to speak. And that’s not saying that we don’t make mistakes. Like we we’ve made some mistakes, you know, we we’ve messed up some steaks here and there. We’ve we’ve made some mistakes, don’t get me wrong.
Tracy: Oh, sure. Sure. It happens.
Eloy: But it’s it’s one of those things like when it’s out of your control or like what they’re saying is way off what actually happened. And I’m like, that’s not at all what happened. But why would we like give them any merit. Like, no, just like let it die and just move on.
Tracy: Yeah, that’s the way that I like to handle that, too. You like to fish. What do you like to fish for?
Eloy: Anything. Anything I can catch.
Tracy: Like ponds, lakes, rivers?
Eloy: Uh, I’ll do like Honey River on post. I’ll do that. I’ve recently started checking out the Gasconade. Uh, a couple of areas. I don’t have a boat. So I’ve been just kind of walking and kind of getting into spots that I’m afraid I might step on a snake kind of thing.
Tracy: Yeah, yeah.
Eloy: But, uh, I haven’t been out this year. I’m hoping to go out this year. My daughters recently have a new affinity for fishing. Oh, that’s cool. So I’m like, oh, cool. I can do this with them.
Tracy: I love to fish, too, and my dad is the one that that gave me the love of it. So that’s really cool that you do that with your daughters. I always just assume that people know where things are, and they obviously do not. So tell everyone where Carnivore Steakhouse and also the Meat Market is located and then your hours.
Eloy: Yeah, so Carnivore Steakhouse is at 220 Marshall Drive in Saint Robert, Suite 8, uh, in the Hidden Valley Plaza, right on the corner. And then the Meat Market is at 240 Marshall Drive. So literally across the parking lot. Maybe 100 meters, not even from front door to front door. Uh, right across the parking lot, right behind Papa John’s.
Tracy: And your hours?
Eloy: For the steakhouse, we are open on evenings, Monday, Tuesday from 4:00 to 8:00. Wednesday and Thursday, we’re open from 11:30 till 9:00 PM. And then Friday, we have a small lull in the middle. So 11:30 to 2:00, and then we reopen for dinner at 4:30 till 9:00. Saturday, we’re open all day. So we include brunch. Saturday and Sunday, we open at 10:00 AM for brunch, and then we close Saturday at 9:00 PM, and then Sunday we close at 8:00 PM. Uh, so we’re open seven days a week. It was something we were able to accomplish this year.
Tracy: You get an A plus for remembering all of that.
Eloy: And then the Meat Market, we open seven days a week. Again, we were kind of on the fence between seven or six days a week. Uh, so now that it’s grill season, we went ahead and did all seven days a week. From 10:30 AM till 6:00 PM all week, except Friday and Saturday, we’re open until 7:00 PM. And then Sunday, we open from noon to 5:00.
Tracy: Do you have a website or is Facebook the best way to keep up?
Eloy: Yeah, both uh, locations have their own websites. Uh, the steakhouse is carnivoresmeatsanddrinks.com, and the meat market is carnivoresmeatmarket.com. They both have their own Facebook pages, as well. So that’s where we kind of update anything that’s kind of happening in real time, a little bit better. So recommend that you join that. And then we also have a rewards program that kind of goes hand in hand because they being that I was able to get both businesses under the same kind of roof. We were able to develop a rewards that works at the steakhouse and at the meat market. So you can earn at either one and you can spend at either one.
Tracy: Oh, cool. That’s great for the customer and for the business.
Eloy: Yeah. Yeah, it brings people in, especially like we had a gentleman buy a half beef the other day. It was like $400 in rewards points. So that, you know, essentially makes this purchase way cheaper. And he brought his whole family to the steakhouse and like for like, you know, we can get them.
Tracy: Oh, that’s so cool. You might be rethinking that for just a second. But, like, was this really a good idea?
Eloy: Like, was this really a good idea? Oh, my gosh. Like, was this really a good idea?
Tracy: All right, before you go. Give that a spin and let me know what it lands on.
Eloy: Okay.
[Spinner sounds]
Tracy: Oh, oh my gosh. I can’t believe that you got that one. All right, he landed on best burger in town. Let me guess. You got a pretty good burger over there.
Eloy: We do. I like it. It’s uh, called a Texas cheeseburger.
Tracy: Oh, that sounds so good.
Eloy: So the Texas cheeseburger is like, uh, not just your traditional burger, but we added jalapenos. It’s got bacon in it. Um, again, beef, all local. We grind it ourselves. We do everything from scratch. And, uh, that’s probably my favorite burger. Uh, just brings like a little bit of Texas and everybody.
Tracy: I didn’t I was going to ask you and didn’t, what is your favorite menu item?
Eloy: Um, right so.
Tracy: So.
Eloy: It’s hard to say because every three months we change the menu.
Tracy: Oh, wow. That’s a lot of work.
Eloy: It’s a lot of work, but it’s so worth it because things that aren’t in season become in season and I don’t want to have a location that’s like the same constant monotonous food. And so we we keep our staples, don’t get me wrong. We keep our steaks.
Tracy: I was going to say if you have a favorite, you know, and that, but that’s good. So you keep those.
Eloy: So we keep the staples, um, and so every like last, I would say for the longest time we have this rib eye. It’s called a Samoan rib eye. It’s 21-day aged rib eye, aged for another 24 hours in juices and spices and marinade. So we call it Samoan because it’s our take on a Hawaiian style rib eye. So it’s got pineapple juice, teriyaki, onions, peppers in the brine that we marinated it in. And so when it comes out, it’s like a it’s like a meat starburst, so to speak. Delicious. But in this new menu that we just launched in April, April 1st, it’s the beef ribs. So short beef ribs marinated in tamarindo sauce that we make from scratch. Again, uh, it’s like 24, 48-hour marinade in that. And so when you order it, it comes out with a corn puree with paprika oil on top. It’s very, very good. And, uh, again, my my father would love these beef ribs. And like, when my my father passed away recently. And, uh, it was like one of his like go-to. Every time we had a cookout, like nobody ate the beef ribs except for him. And so like of all the things that came out in this next menu, I was like, yeah, let’s try some beef ribs. And, uh, our chef Tony made them really good. I was like, oh my god, like,
Tracy: Oh, that’s so cool. You’re like Dad would love these. Yeah. Yeah. Well, that’s so cool. Well, Eloy, thank you so much for doing this. It’s been really cool to learn about your background and your business and this guy is the limit for you. Like I I am excited to see what you do next and and how things grow and I’m really glad that you chose this community to grow your business because um, it’s just one of one more thing that makes this area super cool and different and, uh, I’m glad that you chose to invest your time, money, and energy into this community. So, thank you so much for being here and and doing this interview and you’ll have to come back. I have a feeling things are going to happen for you so quickly that you should probably come back often because you’re going to have things to update us on.
Eloy: Yeah, well, hopefully, uh, I don’t know if you know, but we just launched the 66-ounce steak challenge on.
Tracy: Oh, no, tell me about that.
Eloy: So, you know, being a part of the Centennial committee and we’re looking at all the things that, you know, we’re happening. Uh, this year and I was like, it’s a Centennial 100 years of Route 66. How do I how do I help and kind of push a little bit of marketing that way. The big Texan in in Amarillo, Texas, right? 72-ounce steak challenge. 300,000 people tried it and failed, 10,000 have succeeded. And I was like, that’s 72 ounces. So, uh, when we were driving through, I saw it and I saw the challenge happening in real time. I was like, it’s amazing and it looks so difficult, but if these guys are doing it, like it’s not impossible. Right. And I was like, I wonder if I could get to that point. This was like four years ago. For or three years ago. And so fast forward to last two months ago, we started contemplating the idea and creating concepts and developing the cuts of meat that we were going to use. Uh, and so the chef and I were like, yeah, we like, yeah, let’s do it. I was like, okay, so 66 ounces, one hour. You have to eat everything on the plate. So that’s a salad, four jalapeno poppers, four cornbread, and two baked potatoes and 66.
Tracy: Oh my gosh.
Eloy: Two baked potatoes. Oh my god. 66 ounces of uh, top prime uh, sirloin. And so it’s it’s cut out, cooked to your liking. Takes about 30 minutes to cook, just because it’s a pretty substantial. I bet. uh, cut of meat, you know, four and a quarter pounds, so to speak, of beef. If you win, you get a shirt. You get your name on the wall. You get bragging rights for all life, right? Uh, and so no one’s defeated it yet. We had a few challengers. You know, they’re up on our on our wall. Our wall of shame, so to speak. Um, and the toll if you fail is $166. 100 year Centennials, Route 66. So.
Tracy: I love it. The marketing part of me just thinks that is genius. The whole thing. You have so many cool things going on, so I I’m excited to get the word out and, um, I hope people will kind of watch your journey because I think that the sky’s the limit with what you’re trying to do. So, thank you again for coming and doing this. And we hope to have you back again soon to tell us what you’re up to next.
Eloy: Absolutely. And thank you for the uh, you know, invite out here. I appreciate it.
**Outro**
This episode of the Fort Not Lost in the Woods podcast is sponsored by Security Bank of Pulaski County, Next Home Team Ellis, TK’s Pizza in Saint Robert, and Sugar Creek Farms, your home for farm fresh pork products. The views and opinions expressed by guests on this podcast are their own and do not necessarily reflect those of Okwin Media, its hosts, affiliates, or sponsors. Content is intended for informational and entertainment purposes only. Thank you for listening.