Don’t Hold the Sauce: Georgia's Smokehouse Bottles Its Flavors

By Gabe Saglie, Senior Editor, Travelzoo
(published in the Santa Barbara News-Press on 4/17/14)

The newest thing on the Georgia’s Smokehouse to-go menu: its sauces.

As part of its one-year anniversary celebration, the popular food truck enterprise just launched a line of bottled sauces – a tomato-and-vinegar based Sweet BBQ and a Spicy BBQ, made with dried chilies.  “We’ve been getting a lot of requests for them,” admits owner and Chef Brian Parks.  “So these are perfect for people who can’t get to our trucks or who are just craving barbecue.”

The launch also includes an herbs-and-spices Dry Rub.

Chef Parks’ proprietary sauces and rubs have been part and parcel to the success of Georgia’s Smokehouse ever since he and his wife, Alissa, turned the engine on their first food truck in March, 2013.  A second truck hit local streets – from Carpinteria to Santa Barbara to Santa Ynez – six months later.  Today, the business employs seven people and runs a steady schedule of private parties, special events and weekly scheduled stops.

Chef Parks decided to bottle his flavors a few weeks ago, when the owners of Santa Barbara Gift Baskets approached him, looking for unique adds to their locally-themed custom gifts.  The sauces and rub can now be found at a handful of local retail stores, too, including Isabelle Gourmet Foods, Tri-County Produce and Lane Farms.  The two Georgia’s Smokehouse food trucks feature them for $7.99.

And the chef’s recommendations?  The Sweet BBQ, which the trucks feature on the popular Pulled Pork Sammies, “has a real high acid level, so it cuts through fattier foods really well,” says Chef Parks.  He uses the Spicy BBQ on leaner items, like “chicken and, on a limited basis, fish.”

Check out Georgia’s Smokehouse on social media – Facebook, Twitter and Instagram – and on its website, www.georgias-smokehouse.com.
 

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