We had a quick visit with Sam Kochan and Kristen Miklinlevich, co-owners of a brand new BBQ spot set to open in Beaufort. Bordertown BBQ is a Texas style BBQ joint planning to bring some serious eats to the area. We suspect Beaufort is in for a treat.

Jesse Blanco: Alright, one of the biggest stories in food here in Beaufort this spring is Bordertown Barbecue, about to open here on Boundary Street in Beaufort. Joining me now to chat a little bit about it, Sam and Kristen–got that right, right? Alright, practiced a hundred times. Guys, thanks for taking a minute, I know you’re busy trying to get the doors open here. Real quick, tell us your background in a nutshell. 

Sam: Background for me, 30 years in the restaurant business, 20 of it–well, 18 of it in fine dining. And when the economy took a turn in the 2000s there, around 2007, we got into a little bit more approachable food, meaning more Mexican street food and that kind of thing. Fine dining was kind of inaccessible. So we took it from there, and now we’re kind of at the point where we kind of cook what we like to eat. 

JB: That always seems to work well.

Sam: It’s been a full circle. 

JB: So where did Texas Barbecue come into this? 

Sam: We spent a lot of time traveling, found some long lost family members in Texas, so we spent a good time down there, and this is something we like to do, it’s something we like to eat. 

JB: How many years would you say you’ve invested in–I don’t know that there is a perfect, there might be, but how many years would you say you’ve invested in trying to get great Texas BBQ?

Kristen: Oh my god.

Sam: At least nine years. It was a hobby, right? And like everyone else says, we started out– someone donated the restaurant, like, a Home Depot, $100 smoker, right? And we thought we knew it all, so we threw a brisket on there, and I was like, no way this is gonna take 12 hours. 14 hours later, it was 10 degrees out, I said, okay. 

Kristen: The evolution of his equipment has been crazy. Like, it starts with a Home Depot smoker, and then, “okay, let’s get a better one”, and then, “let’s drive to Georgia”. “Let’s drive to Texas.” “Let’s drive to Texas again.”

JB: Just to try barbeque? 

Kristen: Oh yeah. And we bought smokers, and he hooked them up to his truck and towed them back, because he had to just go to the next level and see what else was available to put on it. 

JB: I gotcha, I gotcha. Why Beaufort?

Sam: Beaufort was–we were plotting our, kind of, escape from the northeast. Better weather, lots of reasons, the kids got older… And we got railroaded through here during Christmas. We were driving–I was driving and she was flying, and there was a huge accident on 95 coming through here on Christmas–

JB: This past Christmas?

Sam: No, like three or four Christmases ago.

JB: Okay. 

Sam: Yeah, and then I just remember driving around going, “wow, this is different. This feels different.” We’ve been to Hilton Head, and those places, but when we got to Florida I said, “let’s go back and check that spot out.” So, what, eight months later? We came here and just poked around for a while, and then came back down here.  It just felt right.

JB: Cool, very cool. What would you say–do you have, of your smoked meats, a specialty? 

Sam: You know what’s the thing with smoking, is, I’ll be honest, every time we smoke a piece of meat, we do something a little bit different. If it’s trimming, if it’s heat control, fire control, wood… So that’s why I think at this point I like it, because every time I’m thinking, as I’m going home at night, how am I going to change this a little bit? Change that a little bit? 

Kristen: Well, and even, like, the weather, when it’s nice out.

Sam: Yeah, chilling our brisket is totally different than it was three years ago.

JB: Interesting. 

Sam: Yeah, and now we’re using a lot of the scraps to make tallow and other things, so we’re trying to utilize the whole process. 

JB: Okay. On the ground here, once you get the doors open–I saw your menu, it’s fairly large for starting out. 

Kristen: Yeah. 

JB: Whose crazy idea was that? (laughing) Big ole menu. Okay, fair enough. You’ll be here doing prep quite a bit. But are you guys going to be, I would assume, like any other great barbecue place out there, when it’s gone it’s gone?

Kristen: Yes.

Sam: That’s the goal. We will not be serving day-old barbecue. And if/when we do, it’ll be in the form of burnt ends and sandwiches. But if you get a pound of brisket, it will be that day. No reheating. You can’t do it. You can use it in other things, chili, you can make other stuff. But the goal is to run out. 

JB: Yeah, of course. So your hours are going to be, what, about 11 to…?

Sam: I think we’re going to do noon.

Kristen: Noon to 9.

JB: Noon to 9,  seven days? No. 

Sam: No, we’re gonna start with four days. 

JB: Okay. Very good. 

Sam: And then eventually once we get our team good, we’ll open a fifth, and that would be that. 

JB: Alright. Very good. Sounds like a plan. Is this your first “restaurant restaurant” of this size? 

Sam: No, we’ve had… I owned three restaurants at one point. We sold two, still have a piece of the Smokehouse, so this is my seventh opening of a restaurant. 

JB: Very good. Very good. What are you most excited about this place? Is there something different? 

Sam: We’re excited for the area. The people have been so good. We’re just really excited to meet folks and create a place people will feel comfortable to come and hang out and eat some good food and get drinks.

JB: Oh yeah, full liquor bar? 

Kristen: Yeah, Sam is the food guy and I’m the drink girl. 

JB: Six beers on tap? 

Kristen: Yeah, for now we’re going to start with a kegerator and see how the drafts go. We have six, then we have a bunch of bottles and cans, we have a cocktail menu, and our liquor’s coming today, we’re going have tons of different tequilas and whiskies. 

JB: Nice, very good. We’ll look forward to it. Can’t share a date, because if it moves then people say, “But you said!” But coming very soon, as we record this, today is February 20th, [it’s] right around the corner, right? 

Sam: Yes sir. 

JB: Okay, very good. Thanks, guys. 

Kristen: Thank you. 

Sam: Appreciate it.

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