Great Food

Think back to the last meal you had and what restaurant it was at. Not just any meal though, one that you just could not stop talking about because of how amazing it was. My place is The Salt Lick BBQ.

We arrived a day early to our team retreat in Texas, so we spent the afternoon in San Antonio exploring. Jill and I love to walk everywhere we go. We logged 30 miles once on a weekend vacation in Vancouver. We would much rather explore on foot than jump in a car and drive. San Antonio was the perfect place for this. We talked to a few locals and found some great places to get a drink and some food.You can take all your chain restaurants; we want to know where the locals go. What hole in the wall joint do we have to try? The hotel manager gave us a great area of San Antonio to check out, so we put on our hiking shoes and got to walking. We hit the first Brewery and, in my need to plan the next steps, I brought up the plan for the next day. We had to go shopping for the retreat the next day and then check in to the VRBO we were renting.

Reluctantly the ladies obliged my needs to plan, and we started talking about places to eat.

When in Texas you must find a BBQ joint! This was the consensus, and I had no issue with that, frankly it sounded amazing and while sipping on my hazy IPA I could have used some brisket to cut through the buzz that was starting to set in. Jill brought up a place that we wanted to try years ago when we were in Austin for a work conference of mine. Now we were in San Antonio and a trip to Austin was going to be at least an hour out of our way. Erica took it upon herself to see if it was worth the trip and started to google best BBQ places in Texas.

The investigation was taking place without the other 3 of us even knowing. Erica was randomly shouting out other BBQ places in the area, places closer to San Antonio. After about the 3rd one I asked where she was getting these places from? Erica had found a list of the top 50 BBQ places in Texas and was working through the list from the 50th best place to the 1st. The main objective was to dispel the idea that the place we wanted to go to years ago was as good as we assumed it was. Erica was laughing as she hit the top 5 places in Texas because The Salt Lick BBQ place was not on the list yet and with 5 places to go there was no way it was even in the top 50. As we tried to decide which spot to audible to the laughter got even louder.

Through the giggling and disbelief Erica was finally able to respond to Jill’s question “what is so funny?” Erica tuned the screen to us and said, well it looks like we are going because I found it on the list at number 1! After calculating the timing and when we needed to be at lunch to make our timeline work, we set our alarms for the next day, so we got on the road in time. Let me tell you, if you are even in the Austin area, you must go to The Salt Lick BBQ.

While I will never forget the story of how after 5 years of thinking about this place, we finally got to try it by way of a random Google search, this entire event really got me thinking during one of our team calls. Why was this BBQ spot so good? What makes it a must try destination? Why where there 15 people waiting for them to open at 11:00 am on a random Thursday?

It is because The Salt Lick did one thing really well, BBQ. Everything is cooked in one pit, using one sauce, with the same guy reapplying the golden magic every few minutes. The Salt Lick is BBQ, plain and simple, but they are true to what they do well. Think about the last restaurant that you went to that you really enjoyed. Did they focus on one style of food, or did they try to offer something that everyone would like?

We go to the Lakeville Brewery a lot, and love their food because they do pub style food really well. They have tacos and wings to go along with salads and sandwiches, but in the end, they are all done in a pub style flare. We do not go to the Brewery when we want a good Pad Thai or an amazing creamy Mushroom Ravioli. If I have a craving for something specific there are other places that are much better suited to fill that need. The best restaurants understand that they cannot be everything for everybody, but why do we feel like we need to do that in our lives?

I have been in this trap for most of my life. I have heard it described as many different things but I think the easiest way to describe it is a form of people pleasing. I want as many people as possible to like me so I will say just about anything to not rock the boat or challenge someone. It is much to risky, what if they don’t like me for what I said, what if I offend someone because they disagree? I turn into a brewery that thinks it can serve great pub food while also having the best Thai cuisine, oh and don’t forget to try the pasta too.

Fact is, I am who I am. My beliefs are mine, and while I am willing to have a conversation and be challenged as to why I think the way I do, they are set. When we compromise our beliefs in the fear of offending others, we become something we are not. We become the person that is trying to serve everyone but in the end is unable to impact anyone. We are the restaurant with a 6-page menu, offering every style of food imaginable. We become the place that no one wants to go.

I firmly believe that I have been placed in this world to help make an impact on those in my life. I want to help others become the best version of themselves and empower them to accomplish great things. I will never be able to do this if I am too worried about making sure everyone likes me. The something for everyone approach is only going to lead to superficial relationships, ones that are easily dismissed, and much like the all-in-one restaurant, easily forgotten about.

Instead, we should become that person that is so true to their convictions that you do not have to offer someone what they want to hear, rather what they might need to hear. Have conversations with people that are willing to not only listen but challenge what you know. There is nothing wrong with disagreeing with people, in fact understanding different perspectives is how we will continue to grow our own beliefs stronger. Be true to yourself and you will no longer have to worry about who you may turn off with your opinion because they will no longer be walking alongside you.

-Mike