Here in Owensboro, where we live in BBQ paradise, sometimes we don’t feel like doing the Holiday cooking ourselves. We order it from our local barbecue restaurants.
In fact, our three most popular BBQ establishments make more than 10,000 pounds of side dishes for each holiday alone. And that’s just the sides! Can you imagine how many pounds of ham, turkey and barbecue they go through?
First of all, the days leading up to Thanksgiving and Christmas are some of the busiest days of the year for restaurants like Moonlite Bar-B-Q, Old Hickory and Ole South. Each of these places prepares thousands of orders for residents across the city, county and region.
All three cook custom hams and turkeys for those who bring in meat purchased from other places. Old Hickory tells us they take in between 500 and 600 hams and turkeys before Thanksgiving.
Pat Bosley, corporate vice president of Moonlite, said his team will custom cook around 500 turkeys and 100-200 hams for their customers. Ole South owner Greg Floyd said his team custom cooks “hundreds” of turkeys and hams each year.
Meanwhile, Floyd said Ole South sells a huge number of Family Packs during Thanksgiving and Christmas. Customers can get family packs that include either ham, turkey, chopped pork, mutton or fried chicken, along with your choice of two or three sides and bread. The Family Packs feed between four and six people each.
For those who’ve never had their hams and turkeys custom-cooked in Owensboro, Bosley said they charge around $11 to custom cook them at Moonlite. You can also come in to order ham and turkey by the pound or in full the day before Thanksgiving.
The restaurants do close on Thursday for Thanksgiving, but all three owners said they take orders for side dishes until the Wednesday before. Custom cooking orders must be placed by the Monday before Thanksgiving, and Floyd said Ole South pie orders must be made three days in advance.
Floyd said his team takes care of their customers by offering every single item on the menu for Thanksgiving and Christmas orders. And they even add an item to their holiday menu in the form of cornbread dressing.
“We’re thrilled to be a local restaurant that’s doing so well, and that we’re able to provide homestyle meals to both the local and regional customers that support us,” Floyd added.
The holidays can be both stressful and fun, so if you’re anything like us, you might just be in the market for a homemade turkey, dessert, or entire meal when the holidays roll around. And no matter which BBQ restaurant you go with, you’re going to be well taken care of in Owensboro.