Speaker 1: I Am all In Again.
Speaker 2: Let's just you Luke's Diner with Scott Patterson, an iHeartRadio podcast.
Speaker 1: Hey Everybody, Scott Patterson, I Am all In Podcast one
Speaker 1: eleven productions, iHeartMedia Radio, iHeart Podcast one on one interview
Speaker 1: Luke's Diner episode with the one and Only Brandon her
Speaker 1: title Let Me tell you a little Bit about Brandon.
Speaker 1: He turned a weekend barbecue hobby into one of the
Speaker 1: Texas fastest growing barbecue brands. He launched her title Barbecue
Speaker 1: with his wife in twenty eighteen, starting with pop ups
Speaker 1: and a food truck, before opening their first restaurant in
Speaker 1: Arlington in twenty twenty. Using his background digital marketing, Brandon
Speaker 1: grew up, sorry, grew the brand during the pandemic and beyond. Today,
Speaker 1: tot Oh Barbecue has four locations of partnership with the
Speaker 1: Texas Rangers and serves exclusive tailor Sheridan's Four Sixes Ranch Beef,
Speaker 1: solidifying Brandon as a rising star in the barbecue world.
Speaker 1: All right, so we just recapped season two, episode seven,
Speaker 1: If Gilmore Girls Like Mother, Like Daughter. But we're gearing
Speaker 1: up for Father's Day, so let's talk a little bit
Speaker 1: of barbecue. If people at Star's hollow came to her
Speaker 1: Tato Barbecue. What would Lorelei and Rory order off of
Speaker 1: your menu, Brandon?
Speaker 2: You know, probably the all hef platter that is like
Speaker 2: the most shareable popular platter I think in Texas barbecue.
Speaker 2: And it's got two pounds of meat, six different proteins.
Speaker 2: It's like an amazing sampler platter, and it has everything
Speaker 2: on it from brisket and pork ribs to port belly
Speaker 2: burn INDs, turkey, housemaid sausage, and then it comes with
Speaker 2: two sides, and I think our sides are honestly the
Speaker 2: the unsung hero of her Toddle Barbecue.
Speaker 1: M that's you're killing me right now, man, I'm so great.
Speaker 1: You opened the physical restaurant just before the pandemic. What
Speaker 1: keep you going when the odds were stacked against new restaurants?
Speaker 2: You know, that's all we've ever known is is chaos
Speaker 2: controlled chaos? I guess so. Having opened a brick and
Speaker 2: mortar a month and a half before we had to
Speaker 2: close our doors, we were tasked very early on with
Speaker 2: figure it out. And the day that we opened our
Speaker 2: brick and mortar, my wife and I actually found out
Speaker 2: that we were going to have a baby together. So
Speaker 2: that was this like deep motivation for me, not just
Speaker 2: as an entrepreneur, but as a new father.
Speaker 1: You know.
Speaker 2: I was like, well, whatever we do, we're going to
Speaker 2: do it for our little girl. So that's what's kept
Speaker 2: me going as our kids and it's it's been a
Speaker 2: huge motivating factor and everything that I do.
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, yeah, haven't having children changes forever. Gilmore Girls
Speaker 1: has a lot of talk about comfort food. What's your
Speaker 1: personal go to comfort meal? Brandon?
Speaker 2: Oh gosh, probably our hatch chili mac and cheese. It's
Speaker 2: like a little bit spicy, but it's got this really
Speaker 2: incredible cheese sauce and it has all the it just
Speaker 2: it feels like you're getting a warm hug every time
Speaker 2: you take a bite out of it.
Speaker 1: Nice all right. So I'm seeing here that you weren't
Speaker 1: classically trained in a culinary school, but you've got a cookbook,
Speaker 1: a stadium deal, a national following. How's that feel?
Speaker 2: You know? I never get used to it. I have
Speaker 2: a passion for serving people, and I feel like what
Speaker 2: we've done goes way beyond just the food. Everything that
Speaker 2: we've accomplished my wife and I together has a foundation
Speaker 2: of having kind of a servant's heart and wanting to
Speaker 2: just take care of people. So if you see us
Speaker 2: at the restaurants or at the ballpark, we're probably picking
Speaker 2: up trash or bussing tables. We're very involved, and I
Speaker 2: think it's just been a huge blessing for both of
Speaker 2: us to be able to take care of people with
Speaker 2: our restaurants every day.
Speaker 1: Wonderful, wonderful. Tell us about the four sixes and the
Speaker 1: relationship with Taylor Sheridan.
Speaker 2: Yeah, one of my buddies who I've known for several years.
Speaker 2: He was Taylor's executive chef. He invited me to come
Speaker 2: to a cooking event at their ranch in Weatherford, and
Speaker 2: I drive over there one day and I'm halfway out
Speaker 2: of my truck and He's like, Hey, I need you
Speaker 2: to cook these rabbis, and don't screw it up. You're
Speaker 2: cooking for Bobby Flay. I was like, I had no
Speaker 2: idea what I was getting into. I just thought that
Speaker 2: I was there to help out and lend a hand.
Speaker 2: So I end up cooking these steaks for Bobby Flay
Speaker 2: and all this other food. Matt Taylor we kind of
Speaker 2: hit it off and I did a couple more caterings
Speaker 2: for him at the Four Sixes later that year, and
Speaker 2: he was like, Hey, I would love for you guys
Speaker 2: to explore carrying our beef. I think he had just
Speaker 2: purchased a ranch like a year or two before that,
Speaker 2: and I think it's been a year and a half
Speaker 2: two years now that we've carried their beef exclusively, and
Speaker 2: we're one of the biggest users, if not the largest
Speaker 2: user of four six is ranch beef in the world.
Speaker 2: It's a great product and it's a great story. I
Speaker 2: get to go there several times a year and cater
Speaker 2: for the cowboys on the ranch and do different special
Speaker 2: events there, and it's a really incredible place. There's nothing
Speaker 2: quite like waking up at four in the morning and
Speaker 2: drinking coffee with the cowboys.
Speaker 1: You get to ride with them sometimes they take you
Speaker 1: out there.
Speaker 2: No, I'm not a I'm not a cowboy myself, and
Speaker 2: I don't find myself on horseback too often, so I'm
Speaker 2: just fine cooking for them and keeping my two feet
Speaker 2: on the ground.
Speaker 1: If you had to name one menu item after a
Speaker 1: Gilmore Girl's character, who gets what dish?
Speaker 2: And why, oh my gosh, what are.
Speaker 1: You giving Luke? What are you giving Luke, I.
Speaker 2: Would say, Luke's getting a b frib. You know, it's
Speaker 2: it's like the Cadillac of Texas barbecue. It's a very
Speaker 2: burly bite of barbecue and it's got really just all
Speaker 2: the incredible flavor from the best part of the cow.
Speaker 2: It's like a two and a half pound b frib
Speaker 2: And I think Luke would be able to tackle that
Speaker 2: by himself.
Speaker 1: Well, what about what about Kirk?
Speaker 2: Oh? I'd say Kirk would probably would probably order the
Speaker 2: the slice turkey. That's like the the most underrated protein
Speaker 2: in Texas barbecue. And the turkey we top it with
Speaker 2: garlic butter. It's it's pretty phenomenal.
Speaker 1: Right. How about uh hm Logan? Mmm?
Speaker 2: I think Logan would probably want the the pork belly
Speaker 2: burn ends, right. That's that's our meat candy is what
Speaker 2: we call it. And it's got like the most savory, sweet,
Speaker 2: subtle bite of barbecue that you can find in North Texas.
Speaker 1: Be bet.
Speaker 2: Oh, that's a tough one.
Speaker 1: Would have to be spicy.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I was gonna say our haholapinion cheddar sausage, Right,
Speaker 2: we make all of our sausage in house, and it's
Speaker 2: got a pretty good kick. To it.
Speaker 1: Boy, what a game compare compare the Killmore characters, Oh, Laura.
Speaker 2: Oh, probably. So we have this dish that's called our
Speaker 2: our smoke fried half chicken.
Speaker 1: Wow.
Speaker 2: It's like one of the most popular bites amongst our
Speaker 2: female audience, and it's smoky and a little bit spicy
Speaker 2: and crispy. We fry it to order. I would say
Speaker 2: that the half chickens a way to go.
Speaker 1: Okay, so howbuy? So you you know about TJ?
Speaker 2: Right a little bit?
Speaker 1: Yeah, what about TJ? What would he be? Oh? Michael,
Speaker 1: Ta Luise? What would what would what would TJ? Be?
Speaker 2: Goodness? You know, I think some of our features that
Speaker 2: we do on the weekends that aren't like on the
Speaker 2: regular menu, right would probably you know, it'd probably uh
Speaker 2: be what TJ would go for. So we do this
Speaker 2: feature and it's got like a real text mex flair.
Speaker 2: That's what we're known for, is our text Mex fusion
Speaker 2: with with Central Texas Barbecue. But we have this dish
Speaker 2: and we call it the these Smoked Carrots three Ways,
Speaker 2: And it's not something you would normally get when you
Speaker 2: go to a barbecue restaurant, right, It's like these massive
Speaker 2: carrots that are braised in beef tallow and then we
Speaker 2: we cut them up and we make like a Chipotle
Speaker 2: sauce out of it, and then we also fry the
Speaker 2: skins on top. And it's like it's very unique and
Speaker 2: it's not something that you would get just on a
Speaker 2: regular basis walking into a barbecue joint.
Speaker 1: Okay, how about we got it. We gotta do we
Speaker 1: gotta do tailor dozie show? What is what is he?
Speaker 1: What is he?
Speaker 2: Oh? Man, probably pulled pork, you know, it's not something
Speaker 2: that no one wants pulled pork. Yeah, the pulled pork
Speaker 2: you yeah, exactly?
Speaker 1: What about the town Troubadour? Oh, because that's a smooth
Speaker 1: cat man, it's a smooth character.
Speaker 2: Yeah, we're running out of proteins here. I would I
Speaker 2: would say, are you know the The one dish we
Speaker 2: have that we're most known for is our smoked quail,
Speaker 2: and no one does smoke quail, right, And it's a
Speaker 2: very like neutral meat. It's not like gamey whatsoever. It's
Speaker 2: a very like just unique dish. We smoke it to order,
Speaker 2: we fry it, and it's it's really really just like
Speaker 2: a neutral protein that you don't normally see in a
Speaker 2: barbecue joint.
Speaker 1: But we have it.
Speaker 2: We have it every week. I love it.
Speaker 1: I love it.
Speaker 2: And you got me on the hot seat.
Speaker 1: Man, No, no, no, you did. You did exceedingly well.
Speaker 1: I mean, I'm telling you, the meat comparisons are just genius.
Speaker 1: Let's let's talk a little bit about Father's Day. Someone's
Speaker 1: trying to cook for their dad this Father's Day, but
Speaker 1: they don't have a clue where to start. What what
Speaker 1: is your full proof, low stress recommendation for that?
Speaker 2: You know, most Americans, most people have a pellet grill
Speaker 2: if they're cooking in their backyard, and it really takes
Speaker 2: out a lot of the guesswork whenever you're trying to
Speaker 2: cook at home. I have one in my backyard, and
Speaker 2: you know I cook professionally for a living. You just
Speaker 2: don't want to spend a lot of time having to
Speaker 2: manage of fire whenever you're trying to cook in your
Speaker 2: backyard for your family, or you don't want to set
Speaker 2: your house on fire. Right, I think if you're trying
Speaker 2: to you know, Dad's trying to cook on Father's Day,
Speaker 2: a pork shoulder is probably the most versatile thing you
Speaker 2: can do. But if I'm going to cook I'm and
Speaker 2: I'm using a pellet, girl, I'm going to use I'm
Speaker 2: going to use a brisket, right, So that's that's my
Speaker 2: go to. I want to go to a brisk the
Speaker 2: brisket and throw it on the smoker the night before,
Speaker 2: take out all the guessing game. You wake up and
Speaker 2: you know it's it's pretty close to wrapping and you
Speaker 2: get to do whatever you want with it at that point.
Speaker 2: And I'm just I'm a purist, right, I'm a Texan,
Speaker 2: So I love cooking beef. I love cooking brisket. That's
Speaker 2: what we're best known for. And I think if Dad's
Speaker 2: going to cook anything on Father's Day, it's going to
Speaker 2: be a brisket.
Speaker 1: Okay, your kids ever get involved in the kitchen with you?
Speaker 2: Oh? Yeah, My kids love it. They're eleven, eight, and four,
Speaker 2: and they all like to do different things. So my
Speaker 2: eight year old he runs food when we go to
Speaker 2: the restaurant. He likes to, you know, be touching tables
Speaker 2: and talking to folks. My four year old she wants
Speaker 2: to actually cook, So she has a little stepping stool
Speaker 2: and she'll get up there and cook with me sometimes.
Speaker 2: Pretty special.
Speaker 1: Yeah, I cook with my boy all the time. He
Speaker 1: loves to help me out. Here we go. If you
Speaker 1: were to come into Luke's Diner, what would you order?
Speaker 1: Where would you sit?
Speaker 2: Oh?
Speaker 1: My gosh, basic diner food. It's a basic diner menu.
Speaker 2: I'm a sucker for a burger, I really am. I
Speaker 2: like a good old fashioned burger.
Speaker 1: Where would you sit?
Speaker 2: Probably next to you, man, so we can sit there
Speaker 2: and chop it up.
Speaker 1: Would you sit up at the counter?
Speaker 2: Yeah?
Speaker 1: Yeah, there you go. All right? Tell us about your
Speaker 1: your locations. Where are they?
Speaker 2: So we started out underneath an umbrella looking out of
Speaker 2: my backyard, and we graduated to a food trailer about
Speaker 2: a year later. Did that for a year in the
Speaker 2: sweltering Texas heat, and now we have four locations across
Speaker 2: North Texas, six if you include the ballpark where the
Speaker 2: Rangers play, So we're the official barbecue the Texas Rangers.
Speaker 2: We have two locations inside Gwell black Field, and then
Speaker 2: we have a location in Arlington that's the original, one
Speaker 2: in downtown Fort Worth, one in downtown Dallas that just opened,
Speaker 2: and one in Mansfield, which is just south of Arlington.
Speaker 1: You're busy. You're busy, aren't You're putting in long hours
Speaker 1: aren't you.
Speaker 2: We're out numbered now my wife and I are so good.
Speaker 1: Well, look these are good problems to have, you know,
Speaker 1: it's so great. Well, congratulations on all your success. I
Speaker 1: love to talk to people that have these stories of
Speaker 1: you know, we started in our backyard and then now
Speaker 1: look at you know you're you're, you're a national brand.
Speaker 1: Continued success and appreciate the time. Brandon Hurtado, all the
Speaker 1: best to you and your family. You know. Also, I'd
Speaker 1: like to mention that Brandon Hurtado Haw's a cookbook too.
Speaker 1: It's founder of Hurtado Barbecue. Brandon created Barbica, the first
Speaker 1: ever cookbook dedicated to text mechs and Mexican smoke cooked barbecue.
Speaker 1: Barbaricoa features everything from smoking meats and flame grilled tacos
Speaker 1: though I love tacos. A lot of great recipes in there,
Speaker 1: Maria tacos, pulled pork, carneitas, all kinds of stuff. You
Speaker 1: got to check it out. The cookbook is available now
Speaker 1: and we will see you next time on Luke's Diner.
Speaker 1: Remember where you lead, we will follow. Stay safe everyone,
Speaker 1: do hey, everybody talk forgues. Follow us on Instagram at
Speaker 1: I Am all In podcast and email us at Gilmore
Speaker 1: at iHeartRadio dot com