Food Truck Fire Puts Red Beard BBQ Temporarily Out of Commission

Red Beard BBQ’s barbecue and catering business took a hit when an accidental fire on Oct. 22 destroyed the company’s food truck.

The company posted on social media on Oct. 23:

“Alright Y’all, we had an accident last night and the food truck caught fire. It’s a total loss. No one was hurt except the trailer.

“We are already looking at trailer options so that we can get up and going ASAP again. This being said, the next couple weeks we will not be open at our normal spots. We are sorry!

“Thanks to the Fire Dept and everyone that helped yesterday, it could have been a lot worse. We are also very thankful for all the calls, texts, messages, and prayers we have received. We will get thru this as fast as we possible can. We will start offering family meals, office meals, and a Thanksgiving meal here in the next few days. Thanks y’all!”

It’s been a challenging year for owners Kelly and Heather Jo Kennedy. Earlier this year, they were forced to move from their commissary in Clearfield’s Freeport Center, as the location is being developed into school and office space. They found a new headquarters in Layton at 3111 N. 750 East, and have been operating out of their their food truck in a different Freeport Center location on Fridays. They also travel to Morgan, the Tooele Main Street Eats, and other locations posted weekly on their social media.

I’ve written about Red Beard’s unusual business model, where previously, they were only open on Friday mornings, with just a walk-up window in an out-of-the-way corner of the Freeport Center. Because the Kennedys run two catering companies — Company Grill and Red Beard BBQ, they had limited time to be open to the public. On Friday mornings, would people start lining up at 10 a.m., and when the barbecue and all the trimmings were gone…they were gone.

Now with the food truck totaled, the owners are scrambling to keep things going. Yesterday, they posted about an opportunity to order Thanksgiving meals in advance.

“Alright, friends, We still have a smoker and an awesome team of employees we want to keep busy so here’s our Thanksgiving Meal!!

Pick up will be Wednesday, Nov 26 between 12-4p in Layton Call/text 801-200-4349 to order.”