David and Joe Maluff built a barbecue restaurant business based on exceptional customer service and great food.
When you first enter the office of the Maluff Brothers the first thing you notice are the desks. Two of them; side by side both facing a wall. They split this section of the room in half, which is about the same way the brothers handle the bustling barbecue business they built out of Full Moon BBQ.
The brothers focus on what they each do well, splitting tasks like operations, accounting, marketing and PR. Sitting side by side they bounce ideas off each other, collaborating on the best way to go forward.
The brothers with a four-years age difference (David is the oldest) have been close since childhood.
They began their careers working in restaurants in Panama City, Florida. Their whole life has been the food business. “It’s in your blood,” David says. “Our family was in the hospitality and restaurant business, so we’ve been around it our whole lives. That is our culture, feeding people and hospitality.”
Their grandfather owned a steakhouse, Joe’s Steakhouse, back in the 1950s. Their father was in the business; their mother catered Middle Eastern Food out of her kitchen.
They were looking for opportunity and the brothers found it at Pat James’ Full Moon BBQ, a local barbecue icon on the Southside of Birmingham.
“We loved the food…the product is what is key,” the brothers say.
They saw an opportunity with distinct menu items like chow-chow and the dipped chocolate chip cookies, and the overall quality of the food. They thought they could take it over and build upon a great tradition.
And that’s just what they did.
Full Moon BBQ had been in operation since 1986. With the Maluff brothers, David and Joe, at the helm since 1997.Under their vision, leadership and quality, the Maluffs have grown the business to 16 locations across Alabama and Mississippi, while continuing a family-owned tradition that caters to folks who know great barbeque from the rest.
The menu items have remained mostly the same, including the barbecue turkey sandwiches that convinced the brothers to buy the chain in the first place.
Labor and expenses are the big challenges in the restaurant business. The brothers say the restaurant world as a whole is struggling now. “But we can get through those challenges, you pretty much have to wait it out until the tide turns,” David says. “We do better every day.”
Along with hickory smoke and sauce, community involvement is a key component of Full Moon’s success. “We try to always be involved especially around sports,” Joe says. “We give back to the schools and the churches, the homeless shelters.”
That’s also how we grew a lot of the business, through UAB and the churches and the schools. We are involved because that is what we grew up doing. “We are always trying to give back as they gave back to us,” David says.
