Slow Cookin’…
That’s the Ticket
Downtown Clearwater, FL (March 2009) - “His BBQ. It’s that good” is Jill Gutterman’s immediate response when asked why she and husband Ajay decided to open up their restaurant “Smokin’ Out”. “We found that we had a good product and we wanted to give it a shot,” adds Ajay, humbly. “We were tired of working for other people. It was kind of a shot in the dark and it worked.”
Since their grand opening in December, business has been going well for them. “Lunches are really good,” says Jill. “Lunches are usually full. We fill up the place” adds Ajay. “Our lunch special is the pork sandwich or the chicken sandwich. It’s a sandwich, chips and a drink for $5.49. We offer that through the week. It’s cheap, it’s inexpensive, and it’s fast, friendly service.” Their goal is to get you in and out at lunch while giving you a good meal.
“We’re very happy with [the location].” Smokin’ Out is on Ft. Harrison, across the street from the Courthouse. “We know it’s going to be a little tough getting started just like any other business, but once you get established you get the clientele coming in, it’ll take us up hill from there.” The Ft. Harrison location is the couple’s second Smokin’ Out. The original restaurant in Holiday is now run by new management, but still offers the same quality product.
“The pulled pork and the ribs are the biggest sellers for us. Those are our specialty,” says Jill. “We do barbeque. We do a grouper sandwich and we do Black Angus cheeseburgers. We also smoke fish and we make our own beef jerky. We make fish spread. We’ve got quite a line-up of products here.” “We don’t sauce the meat. It’s all cooked slow over oak. Very tender, very moist,” adds Ajay, who gets up at 4 in the morning to start the barbeque. “Barbeque so good you won’t want sauce. That’s our motto. It’s usually a good sign if good barbeque doesn’t need a lot of sauce on it.”
And what makes it so good? Ajay says, “Slow cooking. That’s the ticket. You can’t speed it up, you can’t rush it. It’s got to come. Slow procedure, low temperature, over wood. That’s been the key to our good barbeque.” “And the rest is a secret,” adds Jill.
So stop on by and dine with Jill and Ajay, and tell them the Tampa Bay Informer sent you.