A New American Town - Bentonville, Arkansas
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A New American Town - Bentonville, Arkansas
Brothers Meethouse: Redefining Arkansas BBQ in Bentonville
AJ Baird and Chef Rob Nelson share stories of the opening of Brother's Meethouse—a place for community, good food and live music.
AJ takes us through his culinary evolution from fast-food to the dynamic world of Good Gravy Group and Chef Rob reflects on the success of Tusk and Trotter, and how its growth opened the doors for a broader hospitality adventure. Together, they share the challenges and joys as they build new dining experiences and craft a barbecue restaurant that's delicious and memorable with live music and the famous, mechanical hog (Pork Chop).
Discover their unique twice-cooked meats with flavors that are as rich as the Ozarks, and explore mouthwatering sides and desserts. Join us in celebrating a culinary journey that redefines Arkansas Barbecue.
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Welcome to A New American Town presented by Visit Bentonville. I'm your host, beth Bobbitt, broadcasting from Haxton Road Studio, and today we're excited to speak with AJ Baird, president of Good Gravy Group, and Chef Rob Nelson, culinary director, about their newest restaurant, brothers Meat House. Welcome, thank you both for being here.
AJ Baird :Thanks for having us, Beth. Yeah, thank you.
Beth Bobbitt:Yeah, so first of all, probably a trigger warning for listeners. We will be talking about food, so if you're hungry, just know that going into it. So let's start with a little bit about each of your stories. Aj, how did you get involved with Good Gravy Group and hospitality in general?
AJ Baird :Yeah, I started. I caught the bug early. I started at Sonic when I was gosh 15, 14. Can I say 14? It was a long time ago.
Beth Bobbitt:Labor laws.
AJ Baird :Yeah, labor laws. I think the statute of limitations on long time ago Labor laws yeah, labor, I think that. I think the statute of limitations on that is over.
Beth Bobbitt:So we're good there.
AJ Baird :Oh, I won't say where. And so started 14, making hot dogs and caught the bug when I was, when I turned 15, I was doing things in the kitchen that back then you could do. I could work the grill, I could work the fryer, and I was opening and closing the building, doing a lot of things and just really enjoyed it. Worked at Sonic for two years before I went to college and, you know, never really thought I was going to be in the restaurant business. And then, out of college, I was at a wedding and one of my, one of my good friends said hey, we, we opened a restaurant in our hometown. You want to come work there? And I was, uh, I was a security guard at a casino. It's like, yeah, it sounds much better than this. And so it was McAllister's Deli in 19,. What was that 1998. What was that 1998? And so, and fast forward, 25 years, I was with the brand uh for 25, uh, 25 years and went through, uh, started as an assistant manager, did everything and uh, the, the running joke at the company was I was, I was like an old pin you couldn't lose. And uh, cause I was, just, I was, I was around. And so we, uh, through acquisitions and, and this and that, and the way business flows, uh, the my last, uh, I left in 2020, 23. Um, but, uh, we had, um 135 restaurants in 11 States and I, I exited the company, we sold it and I exited a year later and, uh, it was.
AJ Baird :It was a wild ride and what I realized through this whole restaurant odyssey was I enjoyed um people and I get my energy from people and then I also enjoy making, uh, making people happy through the hospitality of food. And, uh, you know, I met I met April a year and a half ago, uh, just through a mutual friend. Um, you know, my dad said hey, uh, you don't have a job anymore. You probably need a job. I want to introduce you to somebody, and it was a mutual friend of April's and it's kind of how the good gravy thing started. We, we, we were talking and I was like you know what I've never, I haven't never done full service? Mcallister's is is quick serve and you know the one, the one thing that I never got a chance to do it professionally was explore culinary, cause we, we had a set menu. We had to do it professionally was explore culinary because we, we had a set menu. We had to do what mcalcer's corporate said we had to do and we were very successful at it and the the opportunity with good gravy felt it felt right.
AJ Baird :Uh, I love, I love barbecue. I'm an amateur, uh, unlike rob who's a professional, um and uh. So when I heard about brothers and Brothers and then I'd been to Tuscan Trotter and loved Tuscan Trotter still do, and yeah, so we kind of we dated a little bit and then I joined in April and I did it's April in April, but yeah, and so here I am, my my parents live in Fayetteville, my brother lives in in Bentonville, so I have some connection there, family wise, and and it was a, it's been a wild ride so far. I mean, we've opened three restaurants and since April well, since, since May, so it's it's fun.
Beth Bobbitt:That is a bizarre. I mean just to think about three in like a year. That's crazy fast yeah, and I love the growth.
AJ Baird :I love the growth. That's what's so much fun. And at a certain level, when we had so many restaurants in my previous life, I lost the get up and go for growing restaurants because it became more accounting function for me, and so I started over again.
Beth Bobbitt:Yay me I don't know if I'm crazy or not, but here we are. Yeah, it sounds like there's some ground floor and autonomy. You know that would be appealing after such commitment for so long. And so, rob, many of our local listeners will likely know you if they're paying attention to the culinary movement here and, of course, associate you with Tuscan Trotter. Talk a little bit about the background of how that experience with Tuscan Trotter kind of translated into this hospitality group which has clearly grown.
Chef Rob Nelson:Yeah, so yeah. Tuscan Trotter it started in 2011. That's our flagship restaurant, and started it with a small group of business partners and our ownership team, and it just took off like wildfire and uh, we all just uh decided that we actually love what we're doing, we're really good at what we do, so why not uh venture out and see you know how the restaurant group thing will work? And uh, from tuscan trotter it went on to uh, the second one was butcher and pint, and then Trash Ice Cream followed suit right after that.
Beth Bobbitt:Thank you for that. Yeah, well, you're welcome.
Chef Rob Nelson:So after Trash Ice Cream we opened up High South Catering. It is our catering arm and it just kind of grew from there. And then we're testing the waters out with a restaurant management not actually owning a restaurant. So down in Fayetteville on Dickson Street is the Leroy, which is a sporting lounge. We manage and operate it. And then we opened up the second Tusk and Trotter Rogers. In downtown Rogers we have a mountain biking bar called the Bend.
Chef Rob Nelson:It's in North Bentonville right off the Arkansas greenway, and uh yeah, so I mean and then, uh, just two weeks ago, opened up our first barbecue joint brothers meat house.
Beth Bobbitt:And you look so awake and alert. It's just um, it's just amazing. I mean what you know, you're able to keep up with the so what's really cool is our you know our ownership group.
Chef Rob Nelson:They all have a talent that they bring to the table. You know, I have culinary on lockdown. We've got AJ, who's a stud at operations, and then you got April who does everything marketing, and I mean we even got a social media team. We got our own accounting firm. I mean we're actually becoming legit, a well-oiled machine. It's really cool, yeah, in the past few years of really hitting the ground, running and growing the business and growing the brand, and you know it's been a fun wild ride so far.
Beth Bobbitt:Yeah, really fast ride Right, right. Well, and let's talk about Brothers Meat House. So this is the new barbecue hotspot. For those of you that haven't heard, it's on Fifth Street in Bentonville, but it is so much more than a barbecue joint. So can you talk a little bit about the concept, maybe the significance of the?
AJ Baird :name little punny thing going there. Yeah, you want to take?
Chef Rob Nelson:that one. Yeah, absolutely, yeah in there. Uh, yeah, yeah, you want to take that one. Yeah, absolutely, yeah.
Chef Rob Nelson:So so the brothers was actually conceived well before I arrived, the five years in the making five, yeah, five years in the making, absolutely, and it, it was really around, uh, you know, a backyard barbecue and how does you know how, how barbecue and how grilling and how that whole experience brings people together, right? And so the backyard barbecue is, uh, you know, very American and it's very, uh, community, uh oriented. And so the the this whole thing was hey, how do we, how do we bring people together? How do you, um, you know, how do you do that without, without it being, uh, something that somebody else has done before? And so you know, look, we follow a lot of, a lot of great, you know, barbecue restaurants, you know regionally. And then you have Wright's, who does a great job, right, and they beat us to the market. Wright's has been open what? Four years now. I guess Four or five. They opened in 2020, if I'm not mistaken and do a great job. Love Wright's.
Chef Rob Nelson:And so a little take on what Brothers is doing, and what we wanna do is is we want to create, uh, it's a, it's a sit-down restaurant. You have a, you have a uh service staff, we have a great bar. It's about 30 feet long, um, and tvs and everything that you'd want to to have a. Have a nice, have a nice time. You know rights and a lot of these, a lot of the other barbecue guys and gals out there are doing the, the counter service and then, um, you go, you can go eat in the picnic tables, you can just take it with you. And so we wanted to. We wanted to blend that with with outstanding food and then a place to meet. Hence the pun.
Chef Rob Nelson:And so the so we have. We have a very comfortable atmosphere and and really we, you know, when you open a restaurant, number one, you go god, is anybody going to ever show up, right? Um, you know, when I, when we open the doors, uh, you know, and I've opened a bunch of restaurants and that same, that same fear gets you. It's like, oh, is anybody going to come? Did I make a mistake? What is going on? Um, and, yes, people will come and they have. We've been really busy, first two weeks and then, secondly, is what, organically and how is it going to grow? And really, the families are coming out in droves. We've got a nice place to hang out outside and and it's, it's been really interesting to watch just the natural mix of people and patrons.
Chef Rob Nelson:And it's been awesome and look, we have some challenges, the contrast from McAllister's and having a set menu to. We created the menu, we created the processes and procedures, we built the kitchen, we built everything and so we're still making it happen everything. And so, uh, you know, we're we're, we're still making it happen. And, uh, you know, and Rob's done a great job with the menu and and sprinkling his egg, sprinkling in his expertise and using a lot, a lot, a lot of local flavors. Um, you know, and I'll let Rob speak to that, but I tell you, we use sorghum, uh, in our barbecue sauce and I just it just makes it all the difference makes it true Arkansas yeah
AJ Baird :yeah, so that's kind of what we're trying to define. You know, arkansas is usually a flyover zone when it comes to food in general, but you know we're in a spot to where we have Kansas City to the north, you got Memphis to the east, you got Texas down south a lot of great barbecue you know.
AJ Baird :So what is Arkansas barbecue? So it's an ever evolving thing. Is what we're saying? We're in the infancy of it right now. What aj just said we're using a lot of local ingredients to kind of tell the story, using local product when we can. And uh, also, what's known in the ozark region, uh, it's called twice cooking, so it's where you smoke and then you finish over coals. So, uh, we've had the privilege of being able to partner up with kingsford charcoal and they're fueling, uh brothers for us. So everything goes out on the smoker. Then we'll bring it back in like our chicken, we'll finish it back over kingsford charcoal. So there's your twice cook on it. But that was, uh, back before pre-refrigeration days, you know. So you would smoke all your meat, so you would have it through the winter.
AJ Baird :And then when you were bringing it back up to eat, you would warm it back up over coals. So it's kind of a nod to you know generations of Ozark-style cooking that we're bringing to Brothers. And also using, like AJ said, the sorghum syrups, the local honeys and different things that you find in the state to kind of tell the story of.
Beth Bobbitt:Arkansas Barbecue. That's beautiful. I love the history and the culture that's so embedded in what you do, naturally, and I wonder if you could talk a little bit about the menu specifically, and before you do that, I'd love to hear just how different it's been for you, you know as a chef, that bouncing around to different places, and well I mean.
AJ Baird :One cool thing about the group is all of our concepts are different from the next one, so it does. It's never boring yeah you know.
AJ Baird :So that's one thing that I just love. And, uh, I caught the smoking bug about eight years ago, got hot and heavy in it, where I've been researching it for the past five years just, you know, hardcore because I wanted to be taken seriously. Within barbecue Barbecue community is a very tight knit group. It could be very, you know, standoffish at times, you know, but I didn't want to be looked at as that classically trained French chef. Oh now he's opening up a barbecue joint. What?
Chef Rob Nelson:does he?
AJ Baird :know, you know. So I got in the back pocket of some of the best pit masters in the United States and went to their place and learned from them. You know, what you know drives them and why do they love their barbecue so much? Hitting different regions of the of the south, you know, and then took all that information that I gathered to try to build, you know, a story of our own.
AJ Baird :Love the research and tell us a little bit about some of your signature items, some favorites, yeah, so the twice cooked chicken is a really good one. Arkansas is also known for turkey, so we have a really great turkey dish that we do, and then we'd like to be as sustainable as possible. So there's one cool dish that's called the OZQ and it's basically a patty of our leftover brisket from the night, our leftover ribs. We'll take it, take it off the bone, we'll chop it up and form it into this cool little patty. It's kind of like a play on a crab cake, basically kind of like a hillbilly cake.
Beth Bobbitt:Yeah.
AJ Baird :And it's just all of our meats, so we didn't, you know, have to waste anything. And, uh, we pair that with coleslaw. And then this uh, nice chipotle, uh barbecue sauce, uh mustard barbecue sauce base, and it's fantastic wow uh, then we also have a play on a Brunswick stew we call it the Pea Ridge stew and uh, leftover, you know, meats and stuff go into that. So we're constantly trying to, you know, be thoughtful about, you know how to utilize all the ingredients and not just wasting yeah.
AJ Baird :So, those are some of my favorite ones that we do right now.
Beth Bobbitt:And of course.
AJ Baird :I love ribs. Ribs is my favorite thing in the world. We do a pretty pretty good spare rib. So you need to come try the St Louis ribs out for sure.
Beth Bobbitt:Sounds amazing. I warned you all. What about the, as we say in Arkansas? What about the fixings?
AJ Baird :Oh yeah, the fixings are all from scratch also. I mean double-deck potato salad, our pit beans we smoke for four and a half hours out in the pit, and it also gets brisket added to it. And then we also have mac and cheese. You know the staples coleslaw, fried okra, french fries.
AJ Baird :We make our own desserts in-house, so we have a cornbread pudding. We also have a really really cool uh play on the uh banana bread pudding. We use biscoff cookies instead of vanilla wafers so it gives it a nice little different flavor contrast sold, uh, and then, uh, we teamed up with the trash ice cream and they're doing ice cream sandwiches for us. So one of the ice cream sandwiches is really cool. It's a play on a possum pie, which is a famous Arkansas dessert, and took all the flavor profiles that you find in a possum pie and did it in an ice cream sandwich form.
Beth Bobbitt:Wow, so it's really cool, yeah. So what are people saying? What has been the community's response?
AJ Baird :I mean so far, I mean it's been, you know, just positivity.
AJ Baird :Two weeks in, you know so uh, we're still growing and still, you know, building up and getting better and better every day. But I mean, the community has really taken to us. And that was one really cool thing uh april did. Uh, you know, as far as marketing, we had a community uh uh grill and what we did was we sent out just one kingsford charcoal brick out out to the community to you know about 2 000 different residences, and we told them, you know, one briquette won't do anything, but if you bring together all of them, we could start a fire and we could cook for you, so that was kind of the community event that we did, you know, during the grand opening weekend yeah, so
Chef Rob Nelson:yeah, except mother, mother nature didn't play along yeah, so we had. So we couldn't light it.
Beth Bobbitt:We had the ceremonial bag placement.
Chef Rob Nelson:But then it's like well, you can't really light a charcoal fire when it's downpouring.
Beth Bobbitt:I think the message probably translated though.
AJ Baird :Right. Oh yeah, it was the thought that counted, yeah.
Beth Bobbitt:Yeah it was.
Chef Rob Nelson:It was the thought that counted right.
Beth Bobbitt:Yeah, yeah, it was, it was awesome. And you talk about wanting to be different in terms of the style and the culinary experience, but what about the space itself? You guys are not the same as other barbecue joints, and one thing that distinguishes you is the live music, and then the other is the mechanical bull. I'm sure it's incredibly entertaining.
Chef Rob Nelson:It's a mechanical hog Hog, of course it is. Of course it is, it's a hog, absolutely.
Beth Bobbitt:Thank you for correcting me.
Chef Rob Nelson:Any funny backstories there.
Chef Rob Nelson:The hog is hilarious, right, we have so many with the families, right, the kids are like what is that? Oh, it's a mechanical hog. And they just their eyes light families, right, the kids are like what is that? Oh, it's a, it's a mechanical hog. And they just their eyes light up. And the kids are like I want to ride it. And so we uh, yeah, we did. Uh, yeah, the opening, the grand opening weekend, we, we had a bunch of kids cycle through it and, um, funny enough, my niece and nephew, uh, they, they, uh, the excuse to come see me is the hog, right, so it's not. They tell my brother hey, I want to go see Uncle AJ, but no, they just want to ride the hog.
Beth Bobbitt:Right.
Chef Rob Nelson:They don't even want to eat, they just want to ride the hog.
Beth Bobbitt:I mean, it's a draw. It will work Magic, I'm sure.
Chef Rob Nelson:And the other interesting thing is we have I don't know it's 15 or 16 levels, and so anybody can ride it. And you see a lot of people that are like what is that? It's a mechanical hog, you ride it? No, I want to do it. And so we have a lot of first timers and it's hilarious to watch people lean right.
Chef Rob Nelson:So I've never ridden a bull and never intend to ride a bull, but I am from the country so I, you, you kind of know how to it's. It's a little bit like riding a wild four wheeler.
Beth Bobbitt:Yeah.
Chef Rob Nelson:And so you gotta, you gotta, lean back and you gotta hold on and you gotta keep your, keep your core tight and you just watch people lean, lean and then just fall off yeah. It's the funniest thing. And it looks so much easier than it actually is oh yeah, for sure, and so people have this false confidence. Yep and one of our ownership group's sons or daughter, or both.
AJ Baird :I think they're siblings. They both wrote it on expert for 30 seconds.
Chef Rob Nelson:Y'all obviously don't have anything else to do because there's too much practice, Right? So?
Beth Bobbitt:I mean, this thing can take on a life of its own.
AJ Baird :Oh yeah.
Beth Bobbitt:Hog cam coming there's. We got to name the naming.
Chef Rob Nelson:We have the naming out on social right now. That's amazing, yeah. So I don't know what's in the lead.
Beth Bobbitt:You'll have to keep us posted on that and let us know where it ends up. Absolutely, yeah it. Well, you'll have to keep us posted on that and let us know what where it ends up.
Chef Rob Nelson:Absolutely, yeah, it's, it's good stuff, but, yeah, live music every friday and saturday night, um, and local, local musicians um, we had a had some big success early with uh, with live music and just trying to trying to siphon off some of the, some of the stuff from downtown yeah is.
Chef Rob Nelson:You know that that's our goal. It's like, hey, you know, we got, we're offering, we have something different. We got yeah country, we got rockabilly, we got a little, we had a little a bluegrass band in and they were awesome. It was so much fun, wow. But you're right, the live music, the, it's a, it's a meat house right it's that's, that's what we're trying to do, and um, and I think we've done it pretty successfully. So pairing the entertainment, something for the kids and then in great food yeah food, fun and family.
AJ Baird :What else do you?
Beth Bobbitt:need in a hog, a mechanical hog and a hog. Yeah, I mean oh, I can't wait to visit. This is, this is amazing. Well, thank you both. Before we wrap up, we always ask one question of our guest, and it's really to kind of design a dream day in Bentonville from beginning to end. So what would you do if you just had a day to play? Where would you go? What would you eat?
AJ Baird :Yeah. So I mean, since I've done some lifestyle changes, I've been really into mountain biking, so, uh, I've taken a couple of my friends from out of town. We'll do a morning ride, uh, end up at crystal bridges and get to show them off, you know, the museum and then, uh, just walk around downtown and I mean there's many different restaurants. I mean right now I'm loving, uh, barclita and Conifer, so I definitely would try to check out one of those spots, you know, because of course, we'll go to Tuscan Trotter of course you know, while they're in town.
AJ Baird :But uh, yeah, those two uh restaurants right now you know are really doing a great job, and uh then probably end it with some uh trash ice cream yes walk down the street and definitely get a pint Beautiful.
Beth Bobbitt:What about you AJ?
Chef Rob Nelson:Yeah, I love the outdoors and I grew up in rural Mississippi and didn't have neighbors till I was 13. So I love being in nature. I can ride a bike, but I'm not a mountain biker bike, but I won't. I'm not a mountain biker, even though I do enjoy it. Um, but you know, I think, uh, more hiking, you know, going on a on a on a hike, just enjoying nature, doing a little fishing.
Chef Rob Nelson:Um, I love the love, uh, trout fishing and any kind of freshwater fishing, and so, and maybe even, um, you know, finish the day with a, with a good old cookout, um, and and and maybe source some, source some local meats from um there's a, there's a lot of great butchers in town, um, and you know it's just about spending time with people and uh, and you know, slowing down a little bit. You know, we, the restaurant business is crazy and, and I think, for me, what you can go eight or ten minutes out of Bentonville and see, still be in the city and still be by yourself or be with, you know, be with your close friends, and so for me it would be more slowing down and just enjoying the time.
Beth Bobbitt:Yeah, oh, that's great Aspirational for sure. Well, thank you both. Thanks, AJ. Oh, that's great Aspirational for sure. Well, thank you both. Thanks, AJ and Rob, for being here.
AJ Baird :Appreciate your time.
Chef Rob Nelson:Thanks for having us. Yeah, thank you so much.
Beth Bobbitt:Yeah, encourage everyone to check out Brothers Meat House.
AJ Baird :And also TUS Downtown Rogers.
Beth Bobbitt:It's only been open a month and a half now. Yeah, that's right.
Chef Rob Nelson:So it all.
Beth Bobbitt:Love it.
Chef Rob Nelson:Yeah, Tusk Rogers is a great spot. We've got a great patio.
Beth Bobbitt:Perfect. Well, thank you both. Don't forget to check that out, and Visit Bentonville is here to help you navigate things to do, where to eat and stay and what's going on in our new American town. Give us a follow on social media, sign up for the newsletter and check out our website at visitbentonvillecom. Thanks for listening.