The Chefs of #CCEATS: Still Smokin BBQ Joint

In our continuing efforts to get to know the business owners and chefs who happily take your orders and feed you, this week, we feature the folks from Still Smokin BBQ Joint. Let’s get the story of this family-run restaurant on wheels!

Don’t forget to enter to win a $15 gift card for lunch at Civic Center Eats: 

1. SNAP a picture of something you got  from any  of the Chefs of #CCEATS we’ve profiled or any other Civic Center Eats food truck.
2. POST it to Facebook, Twitter or Instagram using  BOTH #CCeatsIGTD and #CCEATS. Tag us or post it to our pages: Facebook (@InGoodTasteDen), Twitter  (@InGoodTasteDen), or Instagram (@InGoodTasteDenverBlog). The deadline to enter is the last day of every month.
   

Meet Erik and Cagney Hedahl, owner-operators – though you will often see our the whole Hedahl crew- Jillian (13) and occasionally, Gunnar (7), of  Still Smokin BBQ Joint: 

Q: What kind of food does your food truck serve?
A: BBQ Street Food (traditionally smoked meat served in street food fashion).

Q: How did you come to get into this business?  

Cagney: After we fell in love working together at a corporate food service company and without much approval from our numerous bosses, we decided to start a venture of our own. This allowed us to work together everyday.  We are a pretty good partnership combining our strengths and building on each other’s weaknesses.  Erik with more of a financial background, coming from Texas Tech restaurant & hospitality management, and I focused on culinary and marketing, coming from Johnson & Wales culinary school. 

We started “Still Smokin” as a crazy idea on a 12 hour car trip, little did we know it would turn into a legitimate and successful business. 

Erik: We found out we were going to have a son together, and sadly, Cagney’s grandmother passed away within the same year. She decided to stay home with Gunnar during his first year, and focused on her family as well as a new business plan for Still Smokin. She spent that first year testing recipes, running food cost and designing the layout for a new mobile food truck. I finished my last months annoyed with the corporate mentality, and was excited, yet terrified, to kick start our new food truck idea. We felt serving BBQ would be the best way to remember Cagney’s Grandmother, without whom none of this could be possible. Her Grandparents raised hogs in the woods of Mississippi, a place she grew up and often visited as a child. 

Q: Are there any little-known facts about you or your food truck you’d like to share? 
Cagney: We make all of our 5 BBQ sauces from scratch based on my Grandma’s family recipe. Also, our Sweet Potato Fries with Bourbon Glaze were written up in Zagat for the best thing at EATS!

Q: What’s your favorite dish on your menu? 
Erik: The Ultimate Porker Sandwich (Smoked Beer Bratwurst, Pulled Pork and Bacon all together on one toasted bun.)

Q: What’s your favorite food truck other than your own? 

Cagney: J Street, the rotating seasonal menu always has something new and delicious.