Recently named a best BBQ joint in U.S., Boise restaurant ‘slashes’ menu, stops catering
Last month, BBQ4Life got a pleasant surprise.
The Boise restaurant was named one of “The 75 Best Barbecue Joints in America.” Granted, the honor was bestowed by a distant travel website, Travioso, that likely has no firsthand experience with BBQ4Life’s smoked goodness. But still.
This month, customers received a less pleasant surprise.
BBQ4Life, 930 S. Vista Ave., has drastically trimmed its menu and transformed into a modest sandwich shop. At least for now.
“Big changes ...,” the restaurant posted on its Facebook page.
“For the time being, we will be ‘Sandwiches by BBQ4Life.’
The reason? The pandemic, of course — and all the challenges it created for the restaurant industry.
“As some of you might know,” BB4Life explained, “there are massive shortages in the supply chain which are running us out of our main products. Even some of our small ingredients are hard to find. When we can find the products we need, some of them are 300% up in price, if not more.
“We don’t know when these issues will be fixed, and rather than have half our menu unavailable and the other half reflecting the rising cost of goods, we are going to slash our menu and focus on sandwiches we can make that don’t rely on a specific cut of meat, so that we can be a value to our customers.”
In addition to butchering its tasty menu, BBQ4Life also has stopped catering until the situation improves.
“We will be rolling out this new menu starting June 17, and we will of course still be focused on quality and will be doing all the grinding, seasoning, stuffing, curing and smoking in house. We will just have a much smaller menu.”
Founded in 2013 as a food truck, BBQ4Life has earned a diehard following among carnivores and vegetarians alike. The new cut-down menu features six meat-based sandwiches, a cheeseburger, two vegan sandwiches, two salads and a handful of desserts.
In 2018, the Idaho business made headlines when owner Brad Taylor sued national chain Dickey’s Barbecue Pit for its 75th anniversary promotional material. Among other things, the lawsuit accused Dickey’s of copying “the trademarks, copyrights and very likeness of Boise’s Brad Taylor.” (It’s still hilarious to remember how blatant it was.)
Boiseans love their BBQ4Life. So, hopefully, this sandwich-only setback won’t last too long.
“Please know that we are doing everything we can to strike a balance between happy customers, happy employees and a successful business,” BBQ4Life wrote on Facebook. “We made it through the shutdown to here by the slimmest of margins, and we know we couldn’t have done it without all of you ... .”
The good news? “The meatball sandwich and the bratwurst sausages are coming back.”
This story was originally published June 17, 2021 at 12:54 PM.