I left my $450,000 tech job to open a halal BBQ restaurant in Texas. It made over $2 million in its first year.

• Salahodeen Abdul-Kafi quit his $450,000 job to open a halal barbecue restaurant in Texas.

• Kafi BBQ earned nearly $2.3 million in its first year and is on track to make even more this year.

• Despite working longer hours and living off his savings, Abdul-Kafi has no regrets about leaving technology.

This article, as told, is based on a conversation with Salahodeen Abdul-Kafi, 35, who owns and operates the company. Enough Barbecue In Irving, Texas. The interview has been edited for length and clarity.

I spent 14 years working in technology at companies including Microsoft. GoogleYouTube, Shopify and Cruise. At my peak I was making $450,000 a year. But over time, I became disillusioned with the industry.

It seemed to me that business was increasingly focused on making money rather than improving people’s lives or helping businesses.

So I’m 33 years old left San Francisco She’s taking a pay cut of more than 50% for a job at a religious nonprofit in Texas.

I continued hosting dinner parties and cooking barbecues for friends while working at a nonprofit. I started making halal brisket and they kept telling me they couldn’t find anything like it.

Many said they avoid traditional barbecue restaurants because of the prevalence of pork infection, even when beef is on the menu.

That’s when I started wondering if there was room for anything texas barbecue It didn’t exist anyway.

The restaurant made more than $2 million in the first year, but I still haven’t paid myself

Kafi BBQ opened in December 2024. I have prepared enough barbecue It was enough for three days but we sold it all on the first day. We started cooking again that same night.

The restaurant became known later. D Magazine named us one of the 12 best barbecue restaurants in Dallas-Fort Worth, and Eater named us one of the 15 best new restaurants in America.

Last year we generated just under $2.3 million in revenue and are expected to reach $4 million this year.

However, I still haven’t paid myself a single dollar since opening and I’m living off my savings.

Barbecue is an expensive business

Ours food expenses They earn about $125,000 a month. Labor costs approximately $50,000 per month. Rent is about $15,000, and utilities, marketing, seasonings and disposables add thousands more. In total, we spend about $215,000 each month just on its maintenance.

We are profitable in the sense that we are now making a monthly profit, but not in the sense that we have yet to pay off the restaurant’s entire initial investment, which cost about $1 million.

Although I work more hours (about 70 to 80 hours per week) than I do in tech, I find the work much more rewarding.

in technologyI worked closely with my engineering teams, designers, and other product managers, but my network was relatively small. I constantly meet new people from different communities at the restaurant.

Approximately half of our customers follow a halal diet, half do not. Because we don’t serve pork and guarantee pork will not be cross-contaminated, we often attract people who feel excluded from traditional barbecue restaurants.

We also encounter customers who are curious about the recipes and flavors we have developed. Someone most rewarding tracks My entire day is spent walking from table to table, talking to guests and listening to their feedback. It’s very impressive to me when someone enjoys their food.

Technology and BBQ are not as different as some think

Despite I left the technology industryI brought many of the same skills to the restaurant business.

I tested demand for months by selling meat from my home, hosting events, and collecting data before signing a lease. My goal was to reduce uncertainty as much as possible before making a major investment.

I started to be meticulous about tracking numbers. I worked with meat suppliers before opening to understand my costs. I measured how much a brisket weighed when I bought it, how much it weighed after it was cut and smoked, and how much I could ultimately sell. Before opening the doors, I wanted answers to every question that came to my mind.

Even after opening, I’m still picky. I have a spreadsheet with all the restaurant’s recipes, with each ingredient measured down to the gram. I wanted the recipes to be as precise and repeatable as possible. Whether it’s a side dish, a dessert, or a barbecue sauce, I know exactly how much of each ingredient goes into it.

I also use the product development approach when creating new menu items. Every month I develop new sausages, desserts and specialties. When I start something new, I don’t assume I did it right the first time. Instead, I walk around the dining room and ask customers what they think. I then make changes based on this feedback.

An example of this is the burnt ends of our veal belly with pomegranate. I changed this recipe seven different times until I arrived at the current version.

In many ways, barbecue isn’t as different from technology as people think. I’m still experimenting, solving problems, and constantly trying to improve a product. I think that’s why the transition was so natural.

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