From badge to barbecue: Collinsville man s love for grilling has resulted in award-winning business thetelegraph.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from thetelegraph.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Prattâs Real Pit Bar-B-Que and Catering, known to many locals simply as âPrattâs Barn,â is one of the oldest eateries in Kingsport. And its location has been a landmark for locals and passers-through pretty much ever since the âSuper Highwayâ spurred business development along one-time farmland.
But donât let its age fool you. Prattâs remains true to its roots, but owner Tom Pratt and his staff â many longtime employees â arenât afraid to try new things.
Ask Pratt how the restaurant has survived for five decades, and heâll rattle off what he describes as his and his familyâs many blessings: great employees with relatively little turnover (three cooks in the catering kitchen have combined experience at Prattâs totaling 90 years or more); a perfect location; loyal customers; and success with adding things (catering, spiral sliced hams, additional specialty recipes) over the years.
CHILLICOTHE If not for ill-fitting soccer shorts, Paul Buob might never have become a barbecue entrepreneur.
What started as a volunteer concession-stand fundraiser for athletics at Illinois Valley Central High School in Chillicothe evolved into SmokinGhost BBQ. Buob uses that moniker, based on the IVC Grey Ghosts mascot, when he competes in barbecue contests across the Midwest and South.
But it also is the brand name of barbecue rubs and sauces Buob developed. They re sold at supermarkets and butcher shops locally, as well as in at least 25 other states.
After spending 33 years working in information technology at Caterpillar Inc., this was not a sideline Buob planned. But the Chillicothe resident, whose job involves statistics and precision, appears to feed off smoked-meat unpredictability.
CHILLICOTHE â If not for ill-fitting soccer shorts, Paul Buob might never have become a barbecue entrepreneur.
What started as a volunteer concession-stand fundraiser for athletics at Illinois Valley Central High School in Chillicothe evolved into SmokinGhost BBQ. Buob uses that moniker, based on the IVC Grey Ghosts mascot, when he competes in barbecue contests across the Midwest and South.
But it also is the brand name of barbecue rubs and sauces Buob developed. They re sold at supermarkets and butcher shops locally, as well as in at least 25 other states.
After spending 33 years working in information technology at Caterpillar Inc., this was not a sideline Buob planned. But the Chillicothe resident, whose job involves statistics and precision, appears to feed off smoked-meat unpredictability.