Faith, Family, Freedom, Food-ingredients for success at Patriot BBQ

Barbeque lovers rejoice! After years of serving delicious barbeque at local shows, catering, and selling their rubs and sauces online, Patriot BBQ is entering the food truck business.

Owners Dustin and Shanie Heger are making final preparations to launch the Patriot BBQ Food Truck next weekend, April 29-30 at the Riverside RV Park in Houston.

“I love BBQ. It’s one of my favorite things,” says co-owner Dustin Heger, who along with his wife Shanie have spent the past three years building their BBQ business from their home in Houston.

“I found out that there was an organization here that does BBQ competitions, so we got involved with that a few years ago, starting by judging BBQ, and that sounded fun, because who wouldn’t want to eat plates and plates of BBQ all day?” Heger says of first getting into the BBQ business.

Heger says judging competitions also gave him a peek at what people were cooking up here, and to see if there was a place for his BBQ, and after a few years of judging, he felt ready to jump in with his own BBQ.

The Hegers started crafting different recipes for rubs and sauces, taking note of what worked and what didn’t, noticing competitors in the lower 48 were using that major brands, and after finding success with a few solid sauces and rubs, and placing well in competitions themselves, decided the next move would be to sell them.

“More and more people kept saying we should be out selling them. About 3 years ago, we decided to give it a go, started with a few small events in the Valley around the summer and it went really well,” says Heger.

The 2019 Houston Founders Day was the turning point. “We placed really well with chicken and ribs and we won 1st and 2nd with the BBQ sauces we made,” he recalls adding that his daughter Kaylee was pivotal in entering the food truck market.

“So when I found my niche in BBQ and doing really well with competing, it was actually my daughter’s comment at that Founder’s Day that if we did well, we should start a Food Truck, and since we did well, I honored that deal.”

When asked why go from smaller venues, catering, and competitions to investing in a food truck, Dustin shares “I’ve always loved cooking, I love to feed people, which came from my grandmothers. I didn’t want the hassle of a restaurant.”

With a food truck, Dustin and Shanie are better able to be their own boss, set their hours, go where they want, and reach more people in different communities.

Through COVID, navigating through all of the regulations that go into operating a food truck, and a lot of praying, the couple say that though they’re the scared, this is the right time for their food truck. There also seems to be a little kismet at hand with opening their food truck at Riverside RV Park.

“They reached out, looking for food trucks to come set up during the summer, right when we bought the food truck. This is our hometown, let’s start here where it all started for us,” says Heger of the joint venture.

“It’s supporting another small business as well,” adds Shanie, “and to be able to see the beautification of the park, the location, it’s great.”

The Hegers say they owe their successes to their faith, their family, and service to freedom.

“Those are our core values, our faith is first and foremost, we have a tightknit family, and believe in American values, and we honor those who serve and went before us, which is reflected in the freedom,” says Heger, who himself is an Air Force veteran. “And who doesn’t love BBQ?”

For more information on Patriot BBQ, visit their Facebook page.