SMOKE SIGNALS

WASILLA — If looks are deceiving, then follow your nose and taste buds.

That’s what’s been prompting a growing grassroots following of authentic Southern barbecue to line up outside Snow Dawgs BBQ, a beat-up lunch wagon parked along the Parks Highway just south of Spenard Builders Supply.

Since May, Shannon Million has been smoking and serving up pulled pork, chopped beef brisket and fall-off-the-bone ribs. There’s a picnic table nearby, but for most, the dining room is at home or in the cabs of their trucks. Million serves up the barbecue through a small window while customers help themselves to fresh-brewed sweet tea from a yellow Igloo cooler on a shelf attached to the wagon.

The menu is simple, written on a dry-erase board: pulled pork sandwich, chopped brisket, ribs and quarter-pound hot dogs. It’s all homemade, along with sides of coleslaw, beans and potato salad, from family recipes from the owner’s Georgia roots.

“I’m smoking most of the meat and I’ve taken to it just like a fish to water,” said Million, a 10-year Valley resident. “I don’t have the rub recipes, though, that’s a family secret.”

It’s that dry rub, along with slow smoking, that sets Snow Dawgs BBQ apart from what many expect from a mobile lunch wagon.

“Almost everybody up here is from somewhere else, so we get a lot of people who say they’re from the South and know good barbecue,” he said. “And they keep coming back and say it’s the best they ever had.”

It must be the food that’s generating the buzz for Snow Dawgs. Wasilla resident Bruce Birdsell spent part of a sunny Saturday afternoon at the picnic table, which offers a view of highway and the dirt parking lot in which the wagon’s parked.

“I come here probably three or four times a week, either for lunch or dinner,” said Birdsell, a a stocky 20-year Valley resident. “It’s very, very good. They do ribs, brisket — oh, the pork. It’s excellent. I’ve had it all. Can’t you tell? I weighed 160 pounds when I got here. The ribs are just outstanding, and they best coleslaw I’ve every had.”

A steady stream of customers pulls in and out of the lot and up to the window. Million works in the cramped wagon to quickly turn around their orders. Some are regulars like Birdsell, others are first-timers like Chuck Gross.

“I’ve driven by a couple times and saw this sitting here,” he said. “I love hot dogs, so I’ve gotta try one here.”

He orders a Georgia dog, a quarter-pound all-beef frank topped with slaw, Southern style.

“It’s good,” he said. “I’ll be back.”

Next time he can try the Texas dog, Million said.

“That’s a pretty heavy duty dog right there,” he said. “That’s a quarter-pound hot dog that has about a half a pound of brisket on top of it.”

Snow Dawgs BBQ hopes to parlay the wagon’s success into a full-fledged restaurant by springtime, Million said. He admits it’s not a typical business model, but by keeping overhead down — no building or dining room to maintain and he’s usually the only one working the wagon — the food is what keeps the customer base building.

“After we get a building, we can (keep the wagon) and can do more catering and stuff like that,” he said. “We have absolutely no advertising at all. It’s all by word of mouth, and we’re getting busier and busier every day. Most people don’t know we’re here, but after they come here once they’re hooked.”

Like Birdsell, Wasilla resident Hallie Swartzbacker visits the mobile kitchen several times a week.

“It blows the barbecue stand in Anchorage away,” she said. “And, they charge $9, $10 in Anchorage for what they charge $7 for here. I probably come here three or four times a week. I like the pulled pork, that’s my favorite.”

Snow Dawgs is open six days a week and goes through 30 to 40 pounds of meat a day, Million said. The aromas from the homemade smoker and fresh sweet tea — brewed every two hours — help customers look past the fact it’s served from what appears to be an old SWAT van.

“That’s what it looks like, an old SWAT van, but don’t let that fool you,” he said. “There’s not a lot of room and we’re kind of packed in here, but all of our stuff is homemade. We do all the cooking here and right out back with the smoker. We really care about our product and have a lot of pride in what we do. It might be a lunch wagon, but we don’t let it compromise what we do.”

Although the pulled pork sells the most, Million’s personal favorite is the ribs, which take about 18 hours to cook.

“I look forward to rib day every week,” he said. “I have to have them every week.”

As long as Snow Dawgs BBQ sticks to its family recipes, Million is confident the business will continue to grow.

“All the rubs and recipes come from many generations of Georgia barbecue,” he said. “It’s a dry rub, but the secret is you have to love your meat and your meat will love you back.”

Contact Greg Johnson at greg.johnson@frontiersman.com or 352-2269.