It started with a phone call at lunch
Bobby and Crystal Gay own and run Sweet Meat Butcher Shop, on three acres off Highway 441.
The phone call
Crystal was working a corporate job when the pandemic hit. One day she picked up the phone and called Bobby on his lunch break with an idea: what if the two of them started a barbecue business together?
Then, in 2021, Bobby was badly hurt at work. That settled it: the barbecue business was happening.
Three acres on 441
In November 2022 they bought three acres with a 3,100 square foot building on Highway 441 in High Springs. The doors opened in 2023.
Before the shop opened, they cooked a whole hog for their oldest son's birthday.
I'm kind of addicted to cooking whole hogs now.
Bobby
The competition team
Sweet Meat is an award winning competition barbecue team. They have hauled the smoker across the Southeast, to the Big Pig Jig in Georgia and the Jimmy Jam BBQ Slam in Florida.
Bobby puts it plainly: We have a place at the table where we compete against the big boys.
What works in front of the judges ends up on the smokehouse board, and in the classes they teach at the shop.
Four jobs, one building
Most shops pick a lane. This one runs a full service butcher counter, a BBQ supply store, a catering business, and a smoker building operation, all out of the same place. Bobby builds smokers. If you are shopping for one, ask him about it at the counter and bring a little time.
Why High Springs?
Ask them. It is a better story told across the counter than on a website, and you will leave with something good for supper.
Come say hello. We are open Tuesday to Saturday, 9 AM to 6 PM, at 18172 NW US Hwy 441.