Bob Blalock never intended to make a living by selling his homemade barbecue sauces until the day they saved Christmas.
Bob, a Georgia native, grew up grilling barbecue, but when he moved to Ohio and then to California for work, he was shocked at what he deemed to be a lack of quality barbecue sauces.
“[Ohio and California] didn’t really have barbecue, so it made me have to start dabbling in barbecue sauces,” he said.
Bob and his wife, Terri, moved to Montgomery in 2007 to be closer to both of their parents. However, the Blalocks found themselves paying for two houses a er their Orange County home sat untouched on the real estate market.
When the couple realized Christmas presents were not in the budget in 2008, Bob gi ed his homemade sauces. By February, he said friends, colleagues and family members were asking for more.
The couple started manufacturing sauces in 2009 and sold Bob’s sauces for the rst time in 2010 at a farmers market, where about 100 bottles of the product sold out in three hours. This was the moment, Terri said, the couple knew the sauces could help pull them out of their nancial slump.
Kellie and LaMarr Anderson, Stow-A-Way Marina & RV Park owners, asked Bob and Terri to open a restaurant at the marina during their quest to open a commercial kitchen to mass-produce Bob’s sauces.
“We had no intention of opening a restaurant,” Terri said. “They needed a restaurant operator and said, ‘As long as you make some food, you can make as much barbecue sauce as you want.’”
The Blalocks opened Uncle Bob’s BBQ on the Lake in 2010. The restaurant serves sandwiches, hamburg- ers, sliced brisket and smoked sausage. The food is prepared from scratch and seasoned with Bob’s various sauces, seasonings and rubs.
“We really are a hidden gem, because we are so far out here,” Terri said. “We love what we do, we are passionate, and we are proud of what we do.”
Uncle Bob’s BBQ on the Lake
13988 Calvary Road, Willis
Hours: Fri.-Sat. 11 a.m.- 8 p.m., Sun. 11 a.m.-7p.m., closed Mon.-Thu.
936-537-0577
www.unclebobssauces.com
