This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Salahodeen Abdul-Kafi, 35, who owns and operates Kafi BBQ in Irving, Texas. The conversation has been edited for length and clarity.
I spent 14 years working in tech at companies including Microsoft, Google, YouTube, Shopify, and Cruise. At the peak, I was earning $450,000 a year. Over time, though, I became disillusioned with the industry.
It felt to me that the work had become increasingly focused on making money rather than improving people’s lives or helping businesses.
So, at 33, I left San Francisco for a job at a religious nonprofit in Texas, taking a pay cut of more than 50%.
While working at the nonprofit, I continued hosting dinner parties and cooking barbecue for friends. I started making halal briskets, and they kept telling me they couldn’t find anything like it.
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Many also said that they avoided traditional barbecue restaurants because pork cross-contamination is common, even when beef is on the menu.
That’s when I started wondering whether there was room for something Texas barbecue didn’t already have.
The restaurant made over $2 million the first year, but I still haven’t paid myself
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Kafi BBQ opened in December 2024. We prepared enough barbecue to last three days, but we sold through all of it on the first day. We started cooking again that same night.
The restaurant later earned recognition. D Magazine named us one of the top 12 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 we’re projected to reach up to $4 million this year.
That said, I still haven’t paid myself a single dollar since opening and have been living off of my savings.
Barbecue is an expensive business
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Our food costs run about $125,000 a month. Labor costs are about $50,000 a month. Rent is about $15,000, and utilities, marketing, spices, and disposables add thousands more. In total, we spend roughly $215,000 every month just to maintain.
We are now profitable in the sense that we are turning a monthly profit, but not in the sense that we’re able to pay off all the initial investment of the restaurant, yet, which cost about $1 million.
Although I’m working more hours than I did in tech — about 70 to 80 hours a week — I find the work far more rewarding.
In tech, I worked closely with my engineering teams, designers, and other product managers, but my circle was relatively small. At the restaurant, I’m constantly meeting new people from different communities.
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About half of our customers follow a halal diet and half don’t. Because we don’t serve pork and guarantee there is no pork cross-contamination, we attract people who often feel excluded from traditional barbecue restaurants.
At the same time, we get customers who are curious about the recipes and flavors we’re developing. One of the most rewarding parts of my day is walking from table to table, talking with guests and hearing their feedback. When someone enjoys the food, that’s super impactful for me.
Tech and BBQ aren’t as different as some might think
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Even though I left the tech industry, I brought many of the same skills with me into the restaurant business.
Before signing a lease, I spent months testing demand by selling brisket from my house, running events, and gathering data. My goal was to reduce as much uncertainty as possible before making a major investment.
I became meticulous about tracking numbers. I worked with meat suppliers before opening so I could understand my costs. I measured how much a brisket weighed when I bought it, how much it weighed after trimming and smoking, and how much I could ultimately sell. I wanted answers to every question I could think of before opening the doors.
Even after opening, I’m still meticulous. I have a spreadsheet that contains all of the restaurant’s recipes, with every 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 rub, I know exactly how much of every ingredient goes into it.
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I also use a product-development approach when creating new menu items. Every month, I’m developing new sausages, desserts, and specials. When I launch something new, I don’t assume I’ve gotten it right the first time. Instead, I walk around the dining room and ask customers what they think. Then I make changes based on that feedback.
One example is our pomegranate beef belly burnt ends. I changed that recipe seven different times before arriving at the current version.
In a lot of ways, barbecue isn’t as different from tech as people might think. I’m still experimenting, solving problems, and constantly trying to improve a product. I think that’s why the transition felt so natural.
