BBQ King owner clears the air about social media backlash while focusing on employment needs
HUNTLEY – BBQ King Smokehouse owner Jason Szmurlo had no idea that a social media posting on the BBQ King Smokehouse Facebook page would garner a large amount of public outcry.
Sometime in July, a now deleted Facebook post on the BBQ King page stated the following:
“BBQ King Smokehouse will be closed for the next two weeks due to the fact that we have been trying to hire for over 6 months and no one shows up for interviews. On top of that the people we had feel they can do nothing and still keep their job.”
Though what started off as a seemingly normal post for a business facing hiring woes in the midst of the pandemic, began getting negative reactions from residents as the post continued with:
“I refuse to give my customers subpar service and a subpar experience because of lazy people…When the government decides to stop giving out free money we’ll open back up because we will be fully staffed.”
Szmurlo came on the record to explain that the post was taken out of context. He went further to state that the post was not meant to target those who are currently receiving unemployment benefits and instead was directed at former employees for which he had prior issues with at the BBQ King location in Woodstock (125 E Calhoun Street).
“I basically have 60 employees. If I was doing half the stuff [people] accuse me of, do you really think I’d be in business or have one single employee that would work for me, let alone employees that have been with me since I’ve opened the doors 10 years ago. Since I opened Huntley three years ago,” Szmurlo said.
Szmurlo told My Huntley News that following a dispute with a former general manager regarding spoiled food, he was left with no choice but to close down the Woodstock location.
“I’m not going to burn out the three to four guys that I have left up [in Woodstock] without a manager. I said, ‘Listen, we’re going to close that store [and] move everybody down to Huntley.’ Huntley is actually probably operating at about 85-90% of staff. So, that’s good,” he said.
Szmurlo also addressed the comments aimed at him regarding the Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan awarded to BBQ King, as well as dismissed the rumors about not properly paying staff.
“A PPP loan you have to qualify for. It’s a loan. It’s not a gift. It’s not a grant. It’s not a handout. It’s government assistance in the form of a loan…They go off your sales loss for 2019-2020. You had to have had over a 50% revenue loss and carry an upstanding business with a payroll. [We] got a bunch of money because my payroll was that high,” said Szmurlo. “It wasn’t like I got free money. What happened is we lost 70% of our revenue almost overnight.”
According to the U.S. Small Business Administration “PPP is a loan designated to provide a direct incentive for small businesses to keep their workers on payroll.”
Records indicate the BBQ King in Woodstock was approved for a PPP loan in the amount of $82,200 in April 2020. That loan was forgiven March 2021. BBQ King of Woodstock received an additional PPP loan in Feb. 2021 in the amount of $115,161, though that loan status has not yet been disclosed.
PPP loans could also be used to pay for mortgage interest, rent, utilities, worker protection cost related to COVID-19, uninsured property damage costs caused by looting or vandalism during 2020 and certain supplier costs and expenses for operations. Reports indicate that BBQ King used the PPP loans for payroll.
Szmurlo states that he has been spending anywhere from $1,500 to $2,500 a month on Indeed ads to hire new employees.
“We are paying anywhere starting at $15 an hour. Even way ahead of the curve for a line cook. We’re $15-$20 for a line cook. We’re at anywhere from $35,000 to $55-$60,000 [a year] for a kitchen manager and that is right in line with where the market is right now,” he said.
As for servers who BBQ King lists at only getting paid $6.60 an hour, Szmurlo says that is done to offset servers’ tax bill.
In addition, Szmurlo explains, “We cash them out and tip them out every single night, when legally, I can hold all their tips, deposit the cash, put their tips every week and two weeks on their paycheck. I choose not to do that because they work hard and do well for me so I give them that benefit…I have servers that make [$500] to $600 a weekend. That’s just cash. That’s not even charged tips. Some [servers] make $1,200 a weekend.”
Szmurlo assures that if a server doesn’t make at least minimum wage with their tips, BBQ King does cover the gap in pay to bring the hourly wage to $11 an hour.
“So, they’re never making less than minimum wage, but the reason the state allows us to do that with the federal government is because they usually make so much money, it would be ridiculous for us to pay them $11 an hour. They would have an overage then. It would mess up the tax situation,” he said.
The Illinois Department of Labor reported in 2019, that Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed into law Senate Bill 1 which will raise minimum wage by $1 increments until it reaches $15 an hour on Jan. 1, 2025. The tipped wage minimum wage will go up to $9.
Some residents have gone on to defend the restaurant against the Facebook commentors, which Szmurlo and his family appreciate and say they are used to taking negative comments from people.
In the meantime, Szmurlo states he is focusing on pushing the Huntley BBQ King location (11706 Coral Street) since it is a bigger store and can take on more customers, which has become an easier task since Huntley’s BBQ King acquired all of the staff from Woodstock.
Currently, Szmurlo is hiring for all positions in hopes of re-opening the Woodstock location soon.
“Honestly, I can tell you at least until probably August 16, we’re going to be closed [in Woodstock]. That week, if everything goes perfectly over the next two weeks, we have a good shot of opening, but the week of August 16 is going to be a target date. That’s a goal for us. There’re so many variables. We’re going to keep updating on social media,” said Szmurlo.
