For Immediate Release
July 21, 2005
More than 54 years after opening, Shorty’s Bar-B-Q still draws a crowd with its smoke-flavored, slow-cooked meat and an atmosphere that reflects a slower and simpler Miami.
Miami, Fla – When E.L. “Shorty” Allen opened his barbecue restaurant in 1951 in a quiet and serene part of south Miami, some customers rode to the landmark on horseback for the smoke-flavored, slow-cooked meat that's so tender it seems to fall off the bone.
Though the mode of transportation has changed, as have the surroundings – malls, office buildings and shopping centers of Dadeland now tower over the barbecue joint housed in a rustic cabin – Shorty’s still manages to lure patrons from Miami and beyond.
On a weekday afternoon, Shorty’s Bar-B-Q stirs with a crowded restaurant of lunchtime guests engaged in conversation. People from different ages and backgrounds are all drawn to this South Florida landmark for one reason – barbecue cuisine including pulled pork and beef brisket.
Fancy is something Shorty’s is not. At the original location on U.S. 1 in Kendall, guests dine “lunch room style” on long, wooden picnic tables with plastic utensils and paper napkins.
Nostalgic photographs from the restaurant’s early days adorn the walls. The log cabin building – which is reminiscent of a summer camp mess hall – seems out of place in an area landscaped with shiny new office buildings and shopping malls.
Yet the place that Shorty Allen opened in 1951 is still a destination for couples, families and solo diners who savor smoked and slow-cooked ribs and chicken basted in homemade barbecue sauce that the restaurant is now bottling and selling on its Web site.
“Our clientele can be measured by generations,” said Gary Jablonski, the general manager of Shorty’s Bar-B-Q in Doral. “There aren’t many places you can visit now that you visited as a kid. We have a very loyal following.”
In the restaurant industry, Shorty’s is truly unique – not only for its menu, but for the demographics of the guests who eat there.
“Shorty’s is a place where you will find a judge sitting next to a Fed Ex delivery person, and a college professor sitting next to a mechanic,” said Mark Vasturo, president and CEO of the chain, which has four locations in Miami. “We get frequent e-mails and comments from people who say they ate here when they were children, and now they take their families here every week.”
Steve Richards and Eve Valentine are two longtime admirers of Shorty’s cuisine and ambience.
“If you’ve lived in Miami, even for a short time, you have at least heard of Shorty’s,” Valentine said. “And likely, you’ve been here.”
Richards developed a fondness for Shorty’s barbecue at an early age. “I remember Sunday afternoons as a kid when my family would come here for big slabs of ribs,” he said. “I like this place so much that this is where we celebrated my daughter’s first birthday.
Shorty’s is so beloved in Miami that many longtime residents remember where they were when the original restaurant caught fire in 1972 like they recall the day when President John F. Kennedy was shot. The event is illustrated on the labels of Shorty’s barbecue sauce.
Shorty Allen is no longer involved in the restaurant operations, but the chain retains the original charm and cuisine that he instilled. Mark Vasturo, Shorty’s president and CEO, joined the chain in 1999 after a distinguished career at another Miami restaurant landmark – Rascal House.
Vasturo worked at that restaurant in high school and eventually became partner at the age of 24. Under his guidance, Rascal House grew to one of the top 30 independent restaurants in the nation.
Vasturo is now applying his growth strategies at Shorty’s, which has expanded to four locations in Miami. The newest restaurant opened in Doral in 2002. There are plans for more Shorty’s locations in South Florida.
“We believe in careful and controlled growth,” Vasturo said. “We make sure each new location develops a strong record of sales and growth before opening another location.”
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Media Contact:
Krista Zilizi
706-627-3204
407-936-1010
kzilizi@quantifiedmarketing.com
www.quantifiedmarketing.com
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