The Local Que

09/26/2026

As someone who cooks for a living, there are a few pieces of equipment I rely on HARD. One of those is my vacuum sealer.

I use it constantly — storing leftovers at home, breaking down big cuts of meat, marinating, portioning stuff out, you name it.

About two years ago I bought a Meat! external vacuum sealer. It’s not the most expensive sealer out there and it’s definitely not the top of the line, but it does exactly what I need it to do.

Recently, it started struggling to pull the vacuum it needed and then just quit altogether. I reached out to the company and, honestly, it took a while to hear anything back. At that point I figured I was probably on my own and would just have to replace it.

Then, out of nowhere, they told me they were sending me a replacement.

I figured maybe I’d get a part or something I could replace myself. Nope.

Today, a brand new machine showed up at my door. 😂

THAT is how you stand behind your warranty.

I’m a small business owner, and I know how important it is to take care of the people who spend their hard-earned money with you. So when another company actually does the same thing, I notice it.

I bought one of their machines two years ago, got my money’s worth out of it, and when it finally failed, they took care of me.

I got a new vacuum sealer.

They got a customer for life.

That’s how you do business. 👏

09/25/2026

Things I learned at the TVA Fair.

Day 4: Nobody cares how tired you are.

And honestly, they shouldn’t.

The customer doesn’t care that you’ve been up since 5 AM.

They don’t care that you’ve been smoking meat all night.

They don’t care that you’re on hour 12 of standing on concrete.

They just want their food to be good.

Hot food needs to be hot.

Cold food needs to be cold.

The tent needs to be clean.

The person taking their order needs to be friendly.

That’s the job.

And that’s one of the biggest lessons this fair has taught me.

You don’t get to be sloppy just because you’re tired.

If we’re going to build this into something bigger, we’ve got to learn to do it right when we’re exhausted.

That’s the grind.

09/24/2026

Things I learned at the TVA Fair

DAY 3: A 10x15 tent sounds pretty big… until you try to run a BBQ business inside one. 😂

Smoker.

Holding equipment.

Prep table.

Cold storage.

Toppings.

POS.

Drinks.

Sinks.

Trash.

Supplies.

Employees.

And then there’s the customers.

Suddenly, every square foot matters.

The TVA Fair taught us exactly what needs to change before we move into a trailer.

Where equipment needs to go.

What needs to be permanent.

What needs to be easier to reach.

And what we absolutely don’t need taking up space.

Lesson #3: Your first setup doesn’t have to be perfect. It just needs to teach you what the next one needs to be.

And believe me… we’ve been taking notes.

09/23/2026

Things I learned at the TVA Fair

DAY 2: We underestimated the Texas Tw***ie.

I’ll be honest…

We knew they were good.

We did NOT know people were going to absolutely lose their minds over them. 😂

Day after day, those things were disappearing within the first hour or two.

Texas Tw***ies. Carolina Tw***ies. Gone.

And that’s when we learned something important:

Sometimes the item you think is just another thing on the menu becomes the thing people remember.

People weren’t just buying them.

They were talking about them.

Taking pictures.

Posting them.

Coming back for more.

That’s when you know you’ve got something.

Lesson #2: Every food business needs something people can’t get just anywhere.

***ie ***ie

09/22/2026

Things I learned at the TVA Fair

DAY 1: We thought we were taking BBQ to the TVA Fair.

Turns out, the TVA Fair was taking us to school. 😂

We went into this thing with a plan, a tent, a smoker, some food, and a whole lot of hope.

What we came home with was something much more valuable:

Experience.

We learned what people actually want to eat.
What sells.
What doesn’t.
What equipment we need.
What we don’t need.
How fast things can get crazy.
And what happens when you sell out of something you thought you’d have plenty of.

This fair wasn’t just an event for The Local Que.

It was a real-world test of the business we’re building.

And we’re paying attention.

Day 1 lesson: You don’t really know what works until you put it in front of people.

09/18/2026

09/18/2026

🔥 THE WORD IS OUT… THE LOCAL QUE IS ON FIRE! 🔥

I know I’ve been a little quiet the last few days, so here’s the update:

The TVA Fair is going FANTASTIC! 🙌

The word is officially out that we’ve got something special going on here at The Local Que. Our Texas Tw***ies are selling out within the first hour or two EVERY DAY! 🤯🔥

And the battle for #1 continues…

🥇 Brisket Nachos — still our #1 seller
🥈 Pulled Pork Nachos — right behind them
🔥 Texas Tw***ies — disappearing almost as fast as we can make them

We weren’t sure what kind of turnout we’d see after the TI concert, but WOW… that place went CRAZY!

And honestly, the support has meant just as much as the sales. The comments, conversations, shares, and people coming back to tell us how good the food was… y’all have absolutely blown us away.

And YES… since everybody keeps asking:

🚨 WE DO PLAN TO BE IN A FOOD TRUCK BY NEXT YEAR! 🚨

And we plan to stay right here in the North Knoxville / Powell area and continue building this thing one plate of BBQ at a time.

Right now, the briskets and pork butts are on the smokers, and we’re getting the shopping done this morning to make sure we’re ready for the rest of the weekend.

If you haven’t tried us yet, COME FIND THE LOCAL QUE AT THE TVA FAIR!

🔥 Great BBQ
🔥 Big portions
🔥 Reasonable prices
🔥 Local family-owned business
🔥 Veteran owned & operated

Support local. Eat local. You deserve BBQ.

We’ll see y’all at the Fair! 🤘🔥

***ies

09/14/2026

🔥 DAY 4 — FIRST HALF IS IN THE BOOKS! 🔥

This morning we had the pleasure of serving schools from all around the area at the TVA Fair! 🏫

And we had some extra help today! Debbie from the Farmers Market came out to lend a hand… and y’all, she’s a NATURAL! 😂🔥 We may have to keep her!

We’re shutting things down for a couple hours to reset, restock and get ready for round two.

🌙 We’ll be back TONIGHT!
Come hungry. Come support local. And come see what all the hype is about!

The Local Que — you deserve BBQ. 🔥🐷

09/14/2026

DAY 3 OF THE TVA FAIR IS IN THE BOOKS. 🔥

Tonight was a little slower, but we still finished the day in the positive—and that’s a win in our book.

And apparently… the word is OUT on the Tw***ies. 😂

We made a second batch tonight and came dangerously close to selling out twice. The brisket tacos took the gold today, with the pulled pork sandwich right behind them. The waffle cones slowed down a little, but we’re still hearing plenty of people say they’re going back to try one.

We also finally got a chance to do some much-needed maintenance. When we got there, we cleaned out the smoker after that thing had been running for nearly 50 HOURS straight. It was WAY overdue. 😂

And then we got one of the best compliments we could ask for:

“Your brisket is awesome… but your coleslaw is magical.”

I’ll take that all day long. 😂

We shut down a little early tonight—not because we were done, but because sometimes you have to know when to call it.

The tent got a deep clean, everything got sanitized, restocked and reset, and we got the kids home early enough to get some sleep before school tomorrow.

We’ve also had several people tell us how much they appreciate how clean and organized our tent is.

That means a lot.

We take pride in what we do. This isn’t just about serving BBQ. We want you to feel good about eating it.

Clean equipment. Clean hands. Clean surfaces. Proper food handling. A clean, presentable tent.

You deserve BBQ—and you deserve it done right.

Day 3 is done.

Tomorrow, we do it all again. ❤️🔥

Come see us at the TVA Fair and try the damn Tw***ies. 😂

***ies ***ies