Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities
Steve Perry stands next to the cooker he uses each morning to make a variety of barbecued meats for his restaraunt, The BBQ Shop.
CLOVIS - From a building in Farwell to a mobile trailer, and now into a building in Clovis, slow-cooked meats have found their way west.
A decade after it started up in Farwell as a Thursday-only establishment, The BBQ Shop has made its way to the 600 block of Pile Street in Clovis, combining a food truck with a former office building renovated for seating.
With their main restaurant located in Farwell, Steve and Rita Perry expanded the family business last October with a mobile kitchen trailer serving Clovis.
They're open 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. (CDT) Thursdays in Farwell and from 4 p.m. "till food is gone" on Fridays and Saturdays in Clovis.
"My parents started the business in 2009, but we bought it in 2017," Steve Perry said. "We had so many people telling us we should come over here since they didn't want to drive all the way to Farwell that we went and bought the trailer and figured we'd give it a shot."
Steve works as the pit master, while Rita handles the sides dishes. Brisket, ribs, pulled pork, turkey and more are put in the cooker at 3 a.m. and ready to serve fresh by 4 p.m. each day. Brisket sells the best, but ribs often run out first because a smaller amount are cooked.
"I can do more brisket than ribs because ribs are a total loss if they don't sell," Steve Perry said. "People buy full frozen briskets, so if there's any left over I can vacuum seal them and call people up for them to come buy."
After a good first year at various locations, the Perrys decided the next step would be to rent a building to provide indoor seating for their customers. That started in early August.
"It's just not convenient to eat out of Styrofoam in your car," Steve Perry said. "We rented out this building to see how it goes and, if it goes well, we'll probably turn it into a full fledged restaurant just like Farwell."
Before expanding further, the Perrys want to see what difference a seating area would make. Since opening the new building, Steve Perry said he's seen a gradual increase in patrons so far, with customers commenting they're glad to keep out of the hot weather.
The biggest issue now is keeping up with the increased demand. Currently, all the work is done from the mobile trailer, which isn't equipped as well as a full restaurant kitchen.
"We can only do so much in the trailer. In Farwell, I have two cookers that can do 1,200 pounds of meat apiece," Steve Perry said. "But I can't bring any of that over, so everything I make comes out of the trailer and is served from the trailer."
He said bringing extra food from the Farwell location isn't an option because state laws forbid transporting large quantities of cooked food over state lines.
Having the trailer does have its advantages, however, as it allows the business to cater events in the Clovis area.
For now, the Perrys say they will continue testing the water before they commit to a full restaurant, but as limited as they are, customers are still more than happy to partake in their cooking.
Sarah Ellis said she and her family have been eating at The BBQ Shop at least once a month for the last two years. They used to make the drive over to Farwell, but have been taking full advantage of the Clovis location.
"It's the best barbecue we've found since we've moved to New Mexico three years ago," Ellis said. "I'd say the ribs are better than anywhere else and they stay consistent."
