So they turned to a hobby: barbecue. "We started selling barbecue to friends and co-workers. You know, like Paula Deen when she started the sack lunch lady business," says Alexander, who admits that he and Reckinger were "really just looking to make $100 so we could go skiing for the weekend."
But those sack lunches caught on quickly. Alexander says Georgia Boys BBQ has nearly become a full-time gig, and now the partners are putting together the final financing to secure a small retail spot somewhere in Boulder County.
The men met in college and moved out to Colorado within a few months of each other. "I'm more of the cook," Alexander explains. "I've grown up working in restaurants, and then I worked for U.S. Foodservice selling food. But barbecue was a hobby."
All of the Georgia Boys BBQ recipes, formulated over the past four months, are original, according to Alexander. The operation serves pulled pork and smoked chicken sandwiches, barbecue beans, coleslaw and mashed potatoes and gravy. And two barbecue sauces: the original sauce, which Alexander describes as a fusion of Kansas City-style and Georgia-style that's vinegar- and molasses-based; and a hotter version of that original sauce. He's developing a Carolina mustard sauce, too.
Right now, the guys deliver on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays and do all their smoking on Mondays. But they're looking to get into a permanent establishment as fast as possible.
"We grew very quickly," Alexander says. "We've got to get into a restaurant space."
He says they're aiming to sign a lease by May 1 and get the doors open by June. In the meantime, Georgia Boys BBQ occasionally cooks for informal parties at Upslope and Left Hand Brewing Companies. You can find out when it'll next be gracing those establishments by liking it on Facebook.
