Fun-loving, bombastic, and one heck of a BBQ pitmaster are descriptors that manage to only scratch the surface of Mr. Neil “Bigmista” Strawder – pitmaster at Bigmista’s Barbecue. Together with his wife Phyllis, he’s built up a West Coast BBQ following and garnered quite a bit of national, and international attention as well.
Neil and Phyllis are a BBQ Power Couple, with each lending their particular skills to the businesses Bigmista’s BBQ is building. Currently, there are two restaurants – The Sammich Shop in East Long Beach, CA and Bigmista’s Morning Wood in Lakewood Village, CA. Word is that a third is in the works.
Here’s a Peep at the Food Bigmista’s Barbecue Puts Out
The Origins of Bigmista’s BBQ on Video!
Check out this clip from Made Man, where Neil and Phyllis share the origins of their BBQ business. “Don’t cut into my shoe money!” Love it.
FUN! And that’s what you get from Neil in this podcast session. Next time, we’re going to do a conference call with both he and Phyllis. Oh man… the wheels are turning now!
Bigmista’s Sammich Shop on Video
Let’s start with the Big Close Out… wow. If they close the shop down like this every day, it’s going to become an event to mark on the calendar!
You can also get a great look into the BBQ operations over at The Sammich Shop by checking out the “Light It Up” episode of Man Fire Food with Roger Mooking on Cookingchannel.com.
What You’ll Hear in this Session with Neil Strawder
In this conversation with Neil Strawder, you’ll learn about his beginnings in BBQ – cooking as part of a competition team called 4Q BBQ. 4Q! No… 4Q!!!! Haha. Great name. Eventually, Neil began to sell BBQ at local area farmer’s markets, where he grew a strong and loyal following. This following and the success it brought led the Strawders to open up their restaurants, where business continues to do very well.
So there you have it. Neil “Bigmista” Strawder in all of his humor and style. If you’re in the Long Beach, CA area be sure to check out one or both of his family’s restaurants.
Be Sure to Listen to More Episodes!
If you enjoyed this episode of the BBQ Beat Podcast, you can see the full podcast archive here. Or, simply catch up on some of the other most popular BBQ podcast conversations listed below.
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