MT’s Smokin' BBQ Daily Specials
Monday: smoked meatloaf
Tuesday: tacos
Wednesday: wings
Thursday: chef’s choice
Friday: chicken and ribs
Sitting inside an old auto repair shop, customers are greeted with the aroma of barbecue and the warm smiles of a welcoming couple. Once, this atmosphere was found in a food truck, but now MT’s Smokin’ BBQ, 1700 Wheeling Ave., serves its products in a sit-down restaurant.
Travis and Mandy Thorrington, owners of MT’s Smokin BBQ, said they never thought they would own a barbecue food truck together, not to mention a restaurant.
In the new restaurant, the couple serves almost all their food homemade from slow smoked half-pound sandwiches with a variety of sauces and homemade sides to choose from.
“We give customers the best quality food. We like to smoke everything fresh,” Mandy said. “We try to not be real expensive — we get a lot of college students and we understand you guys are on Ramen Noodle budgets.”
While the couple is seeing success in the restaurant, barbecue was not their first choice.
When MT’s Smokin’ BBQ started in 2014, Travis originally wanted a hot dog cart. Instead, he ended up with a barbecue food truck.
“It’s what the trailer said and we said, ‘Well why not? Muncie doesn’t have a good barbecue place,’” Travis said. “I was going to get something for retirement, but man this is hard for retirement. I never done barbecue before.”
Because the couple had little experience with barbecue, they experimented with recipes for the next few months. Eventually, they made barbecue all their own, Mandy said.
With the truck, they would park at factories, around town or cater at lunches. They served up to 30-50 people a day and even catered up to 200 people.
Space was small, so the menu consisted of mainly brisket and pulled pork. Also, the small kitchen meant getting around was easy.
“When you’re in a truck, everything is within a foot and a hands reach,” Travis said. “In a restaurant, you have to walk half a block.”
Travis and Mandy ran one of the few food trucks in Muncie, not to mention the only barbecue truck.
“There’s not a lot of food trucks in Muncie,” Mandy said. “But people are more apt to come into a restaurant then a food truck.”
So, when the building became available, they took the opportunity to move in.
“It was by chance this came available,” Mandy said. “We were parked two doors down and we wanted it.”
Now, in a restaurant rather than a truck, they bought a second smoker and serve up to 100 people and can cater up to 350 people.
“Our lowest day on Monday is more than what we did max in the food truck,” Travis said. “We’ve been open two months and we already are running out of space.”
Additionally, the menu has expanded to include daily specials and items like the “piggymac,” which is homemade mac and cheese with pulled pork in it.
Because of the routine of the restaurant, the couple said they have made a lot of loyal customers.
Amanda Campbell first tried MT’s Smokin’ BBQ when they catered an event in their food truck. So, when they opened up the restaurant, she and her fiancé became regular customers. She said they even plan to have MT’s Smokin’ BBQ cater their wedding.
“The portion was cheap for how much you get. And it was so good, it was so tender, it was so juicy. Even without the sauce, the pork was excellent,” Campbell said. “The selection of sauces was good. We actually take all the sauces and put it on pieces of the meat to sample all the sauces.”
For other customers, the restaurant has a semblance of home. For example, MT's Smokin' BBQ reminds Jenn Fruitt of the barbecue she had in her hometown of Memphis, Tennessee.
“I’m from Memphis, so barbecue is a big deal to me. It’s the only good barbecue place I’ve found here,” Fruitt said. “I’ve never had better barbecue in the state of Indiana and that’s a fact. If you want real barbecue, go here.”
Ultimately, for Travis and Mandy, MT’s Smokin’ BBQ is about more than the reviews or the food, it is about the customers.
“We try to treat everybody like they are part of our family,” Mandy said.
Contact Liz Rieth with comments at ejrieth@bsu.edu or on Twitter at @liz_rieth.
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