The BBQ Chop Shop hopes to change the face of barbecue

After gaining a barbecue education working at Bill Miller's, Rudy's and Steve's Rib, Verstuyfts opened the Bar-B-Q Patio in San Antonio with another partner.

The southeast San Antonio spot gained great fame during his three years, earning a spot on Texas Monthly's Top 50 Places to Eat Barbecue in 2003. The partnership was destined to fizzle, and the Verstuyfts used the opportunity to move back to Oklahoma.

"We still had family here, and a lot of friends," he said.

With a little help from those friends and family, they built their own smoker behind the space that's spent most of its existence as a Pizza Hut. They use oak to keep the embers consistent and combine hickory and pecan wood to flavor the meats, which cook anywhere from eight hours for the brisket and pork to about an hour for the sausage.

Besides the sides you expect to find at a barbecue joint like beans, slaw and potato salad, the Chop Shop also sells a loaded baked potato and Cream E. Corn, which is whole kernel corn bathed in cream cheese.

Besides his gramma's brownies, which Verstuyft says are merely Texas sheet cake, they also offer Strawberry Soda Pop cake and pecan pie.

"It's perfect for the holidays," Verstuyft said.

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