Growing up in the East Montgomery County area, Allen Rhoden remembers the sights and smells of former Precinct 4 Commissioner A.V. “Bull” Sallas’ barbecue restaurant that used to sit on FM 1314.
Coupled along with his early barbecue experiences at Casey Jones Barbecue on State 105 near Cut-and-Shoot, they both served as the inspiration when the time came for Rhoden to launch his own barbecue restaurant.
Rhoden’s restaurant, The Rusty Buckle BBQ Company will officially celebrate their long-awaited grand opening on Saturday, Oct. 20, and the community is invited to join in the fun. The newest restaurant to join the EMC landscape is located at 22664 Community Drive across the street from Children’s Choice Montessori.
“This is four years in the making,” said Rhoden. “We researched different names for this restaurant before settling on The Rusty Buckle BBQ Company because it wasn’t already taken and harkens back to my years in the New Caney High School FFA program.”
According to Rhoden, he participated in several progress shows when he was young, showing a steer among other animals, receiving a trophy and a plate, but never a buckle.
Thus, his inspiration for the restaurant as he encourages residents to bring their own buckles to be hung on the restaurant’s walls and they will receive a coupon for a free dessert.
“I want this to be a place for the community that is representative of EMC,” said Rhoden. “Our theme is like a Texas-junk gypsy with tables painted especially for this restaurant by my wife and daughter. This restaurant was funded through the help of my parents and real estate sales; every time we made a sale, we added another piece of equipment to the restaurant which is why it has taken us a little bit longer to open.”
Rhoden’s passion for cooking started when he got a glimpse of famed chef, Emeril Lagasse, cooking on a show when they first had cable installed.
“I remember I was cooking a five-course meal at 10:30 p.m. because I thought I could do it better,” said Rhoden. “From there, I catered a few of my friends’ weddings, cookout by the pool and it wouldn’t be out of the ordinary to have friends over when I was cooking. This has always been my passion.”
Rhoden added he feels his passion for barbecue and cooking is like an art.
“I enjoy creating new flavor profiles and combinations others have not thought of or used,” said Rhoden.
Two of The Rusty Buckle BBQ Company’s specialty menu items are Rhoden’s unique creations including the bacon wrapped ribs and the Redneck Sushi which consists of breakfast sausage, shrimp and cheese wrapped in bacon and smoked.
In addition to these two menu items, The Rusty Buckle BBQ Company will also have brisket, pulled pork, ribs and signature sides like dirty mac-and-cheese which includes chopped prime brisket, the Outlaw slaw complete with purple cabbage, cilantro, jalapeno, three types of vinegar and smoked black pepper and Mamie’s corn casserole – a family favorite.
For refreshments, The Rusty Buckle BBQ Company will not have alcoholic beverages nor welcome BYOB as they want the environment to be family-friendly but will feature a “holla-peno” lemonade, non-alcoholic Moonshine brand sweet tea and Dublin sodas which are bottled in Dublin, Texas.
Guests waiting for their food orders will be given ear tags usually given to livestock animals which adds a unique twist, too.
The Rusty Buckle BBQ Company boasts their mission as to provide traditional, slow-smoked favorites with high-tech twists such as using pellets in their Traeger pit and smoker.
“We’re not in the business to satisfy the barbecue purists, we enjoy using pellets to build on the flavor profile and create a unique flavor our guests will enjoy,” said Rhoden. “We’re excited to further educate our community on barbecue culture and continuously provide quality fresh barbecue.”
The Rusty Buckle BBQ Company seats approximately 45 indoors and 60-80 outdoors which is perfect when the weather cools down in the fall. Rhoden also hopes to have a fire pit behind the building where guests can enjoy meeting other residents and he will seldom have live music.
Rhoden encourages guests to check their social media pages for daily specials and information concerning the restaurant should they run out of food.
“We’re excited about this opportunity,” said Rhoden. “We want our guests to know that there might be lines which is OK because that means we’re doing something right, we’re aware of our limited parking which will be resolved and guests should expect top-notch barbecue.”
The Rusty Buckle BBQ Company will be open Wednesday-Saturday, 10:30 a.m.-6 p.m.
For more information, visit http://www.rustybucklebbq.com/.