The restaurant opened in June 2020, at the height of the pandemic, but with Rodriguez and Mcelligott’s dedication to serving great food while representing their cultures, it has flourished in a much-needed way. Though he jokes that his name sounds “white” because of his Irish grandfather, Mcelligott is a millennial Black dude who was raised around the corner. He was a 90s kid who never fully fit into any box and enjoyed skating, sports and hip hop—all elements that are on display on the restaurant’s walls.
More importantly, the space is a homage to Mcelligott’s mother’s family, who first started their barbecue business in Louisiana in the early 1900s, and whose influence can still be felt and tasted over a century later. “We use the family recipe from back then for our barbecue sauce. It’s something my family has been doing for as long as I know,” he explains.
Both Mcelligott and Rodriguez are proud of their family’s legacies, and together, they’ve launched a dynamic and affordable culinary outlet that reflects where each of them come from—in a city known for its eclectic spirit of diversity and newness.
The restaurant opened in June 2020, at the height of the pandemic, but with Rodriguez and Mcelligott’s dedication to serving great food while representing their cultures, it has flourished in a much-needed way.
A single quesadilla could easily be your entire meal. But this is barbecue, so you’ll have to toss in a side of pulled pork nachos to go with that. Though I’ve eaten nacho remixes like this before, this version was on another level: the perfect combination of fresh tortilla chips, homemade guacamole, cheese, and juicy, fall-apart-on-your-fork pork that has been slow-cooked for hours. If that’s not your style, try the Louisiana gumbo with sausage that is “smoked while you sleep”—a nod to Mcelligott’s Cajun roots—which isn’t commonly offered in traditional barbecue settings.
