Doc Brown's BBQ

1320 Smokey Park Hwy, Candler, NC 28715

Doc Brown’s

Menu

“But I just make sandwiches”

With roots in the Northeast, Vermont, Massachusetts grew up in West Virginia

A Jack of all trades who has a PhD, taught US History, conducted trivia nights at bars

Somehow found himself opening up a BBQ joint in Candler

Teaching himself to cook through trial and error and books and experience

Someone who cares deeply about BBQ culture and what experts have to say

With all his insight, and knowledge, and expertise

“But I just make bbq sandwiches”

But those sandwiches have deep origins and heritage, and the impact those sandwiches have is unmeasurable

Watchin people roll by

Wonderin where they're goin

Hey, what's your job

What are you knowin

Nestled just west of Asheville

Wants to make his kids proud of him, pass down the restaurant to his boys

He wants this place to become a “bbq joint” with the patina of smoke rings on the walls, the earned wear and tear

A Janky, sticky, dirty place that has heard and seen everything

Decades of use, thousands of people coming through

Wants a legacy

Wants to be remembered for not only the amazing bbq, but for the experience he provides for the guests

Back-breaking work

Where some choose pits, grills, ovens

Doc uses a pellet cooker

Sure there could be better, more effective methods, but this is what works for him

Staying afloat by doing catering, and weddings

Over 40 weddings a year

Word of mouth has been his best way to bring BBQ to the masses

Relying on the tourism and folks driving from the Smokies to the Blue Ridge Mountains along the Smokey Park Highway

Knows his menu has to adapt to trends

A delicate balance of the authentic Appalachian cooking, and new trends and flavors

Drivin to the grocery store

Pull my money out

Passin by the liquor store

Throw my money down

Smaller staff

Late hours

Staff quitting

Struggling to hire

Passion, dedication, craft, love, blood, sweat and tears truly fuels the operation

Every day is a struggle

A constant struggle to produce high quality, affordable BBQ that can both be for the tourists and the locals

With the tightrope of such a task, yes, there are some concessions and realities that set in

Overcome with emotion and a fight between the head and the heart Doc wrestles with conflict

Where his meat is sourced from

The environmental concerns that go into burning of the wood

The necessity of income and flow of money to value what success is

Food waste

Cutting corners in the cooking process

Ultimately how he fits in the ecosystem of it all.

Relying on tourism and adjusting the menu to be attractive to customers

“How am I gonna sell today”

Boosts morale of his staff as well as customers by putting motivation sayings on post-its in the restroom

Letting others write their own message

A way of opening up community and shared experience incongruous to the “take-out” environment that has been forced on many restaurants in the city

​​I'd get it one piece at a time and it wouldn't cost me a dime

You'll know it's me when I come through your town

I'm gonna ride around in style, I'm gonna drive everybody wild

'Cause I'll have the only one there is a round

Ain't life grand

Ain't life grand

But Doc sees things a little differently

Aware of his roots, his authenticity to not only the BBQ culture, but of his place in Western North Carolina and Southern Appalachia

“BBQ in the mountains seems out of place”

A craving for something that pulls from many different styles

From Eastern North Carolina, to Central, to Lexington, to even Kansas City

An amalgamation of styles trying to find its own identity

But that pursuit of “Southern Appalachian Home-Cookin’”

Is it truly authentic

Is it “Southern”

Is it “Home Cookin’”

Is it made by “Mountain Folk”

Romanticizing a hillbilly elegy

A hyperlocal “Y’all” when you get serve

Nostalgia for an experience they never had

“But I got to remember I just make BBQ sandwiches”

My wife's got the blues

Now I've got them

Gonna bring her a kiss

Make those blues run

So the very next day when I punched in

With my big lunchbox and with help from my friends

I left that day with a lunch box full of gears

I've never considered myself a thief

But GM wouldn't miss just one little piece

Especially if I strung it out over several years

But this is where we don’t put sugar in the cornbread

We acknowledge our shortcomings

We acknowledge our role and responsibility to the customers to our local culture to our roots

We acknowledge the concessions we make in order to keep the restaurant afloat

We acknowledge playing into the aesthetic

Ain't life grand

Ain't life grand

Meals are a way to preserve humanity

A space that bonds and builds

BBQ is primal

Human over fire cooking meat

Keeping it simple and from the earth

“Know what I’m touching”

Knows where it came from

Doesn’t necessarily agree from where it came from

But knows where it came from

Pushes himself to not accept “less than”, or “good enough”

“Always trying to make “our” thing”

“Have to be perfect or it’s not good”

I got it one piece at a time and it didn't cost me a dime

You'll know it's me when I come through your town

I'm gonna ride around in style, I'm gonna drive everybody wild

'Cause I'll have the only one there is around

BBQ is more than just the meat

Its the time

The attention

The care

The staff

The cook

The guests

It's a full-bodied experience

It's a gathering space

A temporary healing to the world around you

“But I got to remember I just make BBQ sandwiches”

Just trying to make a living

“Ultimately, I’m trying to make a good sandwich”

Sun came out the other day

Through those dusty clouds

And in my mind I was a child

And it felt good!

But you root for him

The underdog

A place you want to succeed

A place you know is salt of the earth

A place that is “arrogantly shabby”

A place that you leave nourished

A place that makes you feel

A place where time slows down

Where fast food is slow food

With real people cooking real food

Sharing stories

Struggling to get by

But does it for the love, the craft, and to be remembered

A Deep Dedication to the community, and family, building a legacy, providing a deeper experience

A place where tie-dye sounds of the 70s through 90s play through the speaker

Where the free-spirited music of Widespread Panic, Grateful Dead, Phish fills the air alongside the smell of the pork

Where sides are equally as important to the meat

Where there are vegan and vegetarian options

Where “fried cabbage” is perpetually the special of the day

Ain't life grand

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