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"COWBOY COCKTAIL"
Mount Helena
Music Festival
2002
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Big
Mouth BBQ was born in September of 2001. The 2nd child of Sean
and Suzie Knox. It started out as a twinkle in Sean’s eye as he
drove the highways of Montana.
I’m Sean and I grew up in West Texas, home of some of the best
BBQ in the country. As a young man wanting to see the world, I
got a job in Glacier National Park in NW Montana for the Summer.
It was there I met my future wife and partner, Suzie. We got
married on the banks of Flathead Lake the following year. I had
a new home.
We purchased a small air freight company that had been in
Suzie’s family since 1962. As third generation owners, we
realized the ups and downs of the air freight business. On
September 11, 2001, the future got very dim.
There was a question as to whether the industry would survive at
all. We weathered the storm but realized how volatile our future
might be unless we diversified.
Enter Big Mouth BBQ. In our driveway in Great Falls, Mt. we
started building our little BBQ business. Nights and weekends
provided me with time to fashion a 22 ft. BBQ trailer. We took
about 4 months to complete what had taken years to think about.
Finally, our savings exhausted, we had a licensed, working
restaurant on wheels.
Suzie had been general manager of a Montana based gourmet pizza
company and had the knowledge we needed to prepare our product
for sale to the public. I had more gumption than should be legal
and we got started with the annual Christmas Stroll in December
2001.
We had great success at our first event . As luck would have it,
we applied as a vendor to the Mt. State Fair and were accepted.
This was a huge opportunity which we did not squander. Our
signature dish was our original Cowboy Cocktail which we had
introduced one month earlier in Helena, Mt. at the Mt. Helena
Music Festival. The response from the public was tremendous.
Our amazing Cowboy Cocktail; baked beans, choice of BBQ, choice
of sauce and choice of tater salad or slaw stacked in a clear
cup with a fork in it, has been instrumental in our success. We
have also created a Barbarito; baked beans, choice of BBQ,
choice of sauce, cheese and slaw wrapped in a flour tortilla.
This is becoming more popular by the day.
Big Mouth BBQ began to sell food in the parking lot of our air
freight business each and every Friday for the next 4 years. We
got the point of critical mass with the business. Now, do we
keep on selling food on Fridays (weather permitting), or do we
go for it? Guess what?
Big Mouth BBQ opened it’s doors December 15, 2005 at our present
location 1008 20th St. S., Great Falls, Mt. (Next to Target). We
treat BBQ as a craft, not a category. I have had it with
restaurants claiming to have the “Best” or “Famous” BBQ. We
prepare our food from scratch daily. We make our sauces, rubs,
and smoke food in-house daily. We never boil meat to
tenderize-yuk! I drive to Texas to load up with Mesquite every
year. We also offer other traditional Southern favorites- Fried
Catfish, Hushpuppies, Sweet potato fries and Fried okra.
This is the real deal folks. You will know it the minute you
walk into our little joint. No indoor seating, no flat screens.
We have seating available on the deck when the weather permits.
The parking stinks (according to some) . Don’t be put off if we
look busy, we are. We are also very fast. Life is short, eat
well.
Take
care and come see us!
Sean, Suzie and the entire Crew of
Big Mouth BBQ
|
"BEST CONCESSION"
Two (2) out of
the Last
Three (3) Years
At the Montana
State Fair
2004
&
2006 |
