Greetings all, I just discovered this thread yesterday, and thought I'd share some thoughts on BBUC. I mentioned BBUC to my broker yesterday, and he shared some interesting insight. He attended the grand opening of the Auburn Hills, MI location last year (as he put it, "brokers will go anywhere for free food"). At that time, there was a Q&A with Mr. Rolinski regarding future plans. He came away with the impression that BBUC's long-term goal is to become the Cracker Barrel of microbreweries, having locations all along I-75 from Michigan to Florida (the company has stated they are investigating sites in Atlanta and Florida, among others). My impressions of the company are:
Location - they have a good track record on locations thus far. I can't speak to the Grand Rapids location, but the Auburn Hills location is right off I-75, just minutes from the Pontiac Silverdome and Chrysler World HQ (for now, anyway), and near a number of hotels. I drive that stretch of freeway a lot, and every time I pass there, the parking lot is pretty full. The original location (Gaylord, MI) is also right off I-75. 3 million cars a year travel past the Gaylord exit. As stated in the press release, the future East Lansing, MI location is right across from the Michigan State campus. My broker was quite surprised to learn that Cafe USA had sold the building, he says it was always jammed to the rafters on weekends when he lived there 10 yrs. ago.
Beer - as a home brewer, I'm more of a "beer snob" than most. My tastes tend to run more toward the darker beers (stouts and porters). I tried the dark sampler on my first visit (5 - 5 oz. beers), and liked them all. None were as good as MY Oatmeal Stout, but then I'm biased. Their lager, which they are bottling for retail, is pretty good. As a whole, their beer selection compares favorably with other microbrews in this area (Baraboo's, the Royal Oak Brewery, among others) and the brew pubs I've been to in Indianapolis (Rock Bottom, Alcatraz, etc.).
Food - I've had nothing at BBUC that I didn't think was terrific.
Their entrees are reasonably priced for the quality, IMO.
The company seems to be pretty leveraged at this point (note the purchase of the Cafe USA building with stock, as one example). If their track record of quality product and picking great locations continues, I would expect BBUC to do very well long-term.
I would like to hear other's opinions, either from the investor or customer side of the fence. Following BBUC for now,
Mark
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