FreeSol is drumming up business with his Red Bones Turkey Legs.
“It’s been non-stop steady growth,” FreeSol says. “We were doing 15, 25, 30 a day at the beginning and then 60 to 80 and now 80 to 100 a day. Maybe more.”
Since he began selling the turkey legs last May at Carolina Watershed, FreeSol has a new business partner: Tony Westmoreland of Tandem Restaurant Partners. The Carolina Watershed kitchen now features the Red Bones Turkey Legs expanded menu that includes salads, loaded fries, sandwiches, and pizzas — just about all with a turkey twist.
And Red Bones will be moving into a new brick-and-mortar location in the future.
FreeSol, lead singer of the alternative band also called FreeSol that was formerly signed to Interscope Records, knew his turkey legs business would be a success. “I just saw the vision of it. I cook food for myself and my family.” He comes “from a family full of” cooks. “All these recipes we’re using are family recipes.”
Most of the recipes, including the stuffing, came from his late grandmother, Sarah Harris. His mother came up with the seasonings. “My dad is the one who has the recipe for the falling-off-the-bone turkey legs.”
FreeSol, who was always “a little hustler,” says his family members “cooked for the love. I see the business opportunity, and that’s what I’ve been doing. I always felt my family’s food should be out in the world. I knew people would like it when they tasted it.
“My dream has always been to own a restaurant chain, even when doing music. That was always the plan.”
FreeSol equates food with music. “I was an entertainer. I know what people want. I’m very passionate about that.
“I think things need to be flavored certain ways. There needs to be layers of tastes. And I’m confident with my taste buds.”
Westmoreland gave him “the freedom to create whatever I want to create,” he says, “whatever menu I thought would work.”
Everything is “mostly turkey-related.” They sell turkey cobb salad, turkey barbecue pizza, and turkey bowls. “We have a turkey barbecue sandwich that tastes just like pork.”
The menu includes greens, mac and cheese, and corn bread. They sell a range of turkey legs, which are served by themselves or flavored with buffalo, garlic Parmesan, Cajun Alfredo, or Tennessee whiskey sauces, and stuffed with dirty rice, mac and cheese, spinach casserole, or a mixture of all the toppings.
“I feel like the turkey leg is a spin on steaks. My stuffed turkey legs start at $12 and go up to $37. I feel like it’s its own steak. The way we do turkey legs is not the old-school way. … It’s a fall-off-the-bone, sit-down-and-eat-it kind of thing. It’s similar to a steak house.”
Future plans include maybe adding a vegan black bean chili that he and his wife make at home to the menu. But, he says, “The idea is to build a franchise, so we’re keeping the menu somewhat controlled and realistic and easy.”
FreeSol describes himself as a businessman and entrepreneur. In addition to flipping homes, he also has an interest in Sweet Cali Candies, an edible cannabis business. In the future, he’d like to open “more bars, more music-related venues, not just in Memphis, but around the world.
“I want to be in the cannabis world, music world, and food.”
As for his turkey legs, FreeSol says he sees melt-in-your-mouth Red Bones Turkey Legs “all over the world, an international brand.”
FreeSol believes turkey leg restaurants are “the new wave” of the culinary scene. “My goal is to get it established and branded before everybody catches on.”
Carolina Watershed is at 141 East Carolina; (901) 207-6172.
