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Whether it’s a rack of ribs or pulled pork, Brandon Cahill says good barbecue needs his nana’s sauce.
“Originally what made me want to start doing cooking was my nana made a good barbecue sauce,” said Brandon Cahill, who studied culinary arts at Johnson & Wales University. “When I made it for people at family events, everyone always said it was good, and she always said she wanted to put it into a restaurant, so I thought it would be good to start selling it.”
“From there it kind of spiraled into all this,” he added. “I always loved cooking, but I never thought it would be my full-time job.”
“All this,” is Brandon Cahill’s drive to open not one, but two, and possibly more Smoke Shack BBQ joints.
He and his father Michael Cahill’s first Smoke Shack BBQ, located at 490 Mastic Road in Mastic Beach, is slated for a March or April soft opening.
The duo started their Smoke Shack BBQ food truck in 2016 and served up pulled pork sandwiches and their fully-loaded porky mountain fries at state fairs. Now, they aim to serve nana Jennette Cantone’s barbecue sauce every day in a brick-and-mortar restaurant.
Center Moriches within the year
This Mastic Beach barbecue joint is not the only one in the works. Brandon Cahill and his dad first signed a lease for a property in Center Moriches. However, Michael Cahill said the planning and approvals for that location have been much slower than those for their Mastic Beach spot, where they work through renovations daily.
“I grew up doing construction, and I have a background for 10 years as a butcher,” Michael Cahill said. “My father was a construction worker, so I grew up around this. So I just called up my family and said I need help, and they all pitched in and came and helped.”
Michael Cahill said he expects the Center Moriches location will open within the next year.
