Plymouth’s new Prime BBQ features ‘Best brisket you’ll ever eat’
A sampling of the mouth-watering barbecue and Texas Toast offered by Prime BBQ Smokehouse.
In the summer of 2020, as restaurants were closing down at an unfortunate rate across the United States due to the crisis triggered by the COVD-19 pandemic, a trio of southeast-Michigan brothers went against the grain.
The Yassos — Eddie, Wally and Sam — purchased a struggling, for-sale restaurant in Monroe, Ohio, and opened their first Prime BBQ Smokehouse — an eatery that offered a variety of 11 smoked meats, made-from-scratch sides and more-than-reasonable prices.
“Opening during the early part of the pandemic was tough,” admitted Wally Yasso. “But we persevered.”
“I still remember placing the social-distancing stickers on the floor,” recounted Sam Yasso, slowly shaking his head as he recalled the dark days of 2020.
“But we worked hard, we continued to improvise through the adversity, and we refined our products based on feedback we heard from our customers,” Eddie Yasso added.
Bold decision turns to gold decision
Over four years later, the Yasso brothers’ bold business decision has evolved into a gold business decision.
On Sunday, Nov. 10, at 11 a.m., the seventh Prime BBQ Smokehouse location opened at 44741 Five Mile Road in Plymouth Township in the property formerly occupied by Bad Granny’s Barbeque. The restaurant will be open until 8 p.m. Sunday.
“People have told us we’re barbecue legends because we managed to open a restaurant when many others were closing,” Wally Yasso said, smiling, during an interview on the eve of the opening of the Plymouth location.
“We worked incredibly hard. We remodeled the restaurant ourselves, did all the marketing, got the word out. And now we’re here, getting ready to open another location.”
No secret to success
There’s no secret to the brothers’ success other than investing in sweat equity.
“We’re very hands on,” said Eddie Yasso. “We’re not like a national chain like Dickey’s. When you visit Prime BBQ, you’re going to see one of the owners in the kitchen, preparing meals, smoking meat. A lot of the national brands serve food out of cans. Not here. Everything is made from scratch.”
With southeast-Michigan locations in Milford and Highland thriving — and another on the verge of opening near the intersection of Telegraph and Seven Mile roads — the Yassos have been bombarded by uplifting reviews, both online and in person.
“Our Monroe, Ohio, location is just off of an exit of I-75, just north of Cincinnati,” Sam Yasso said. “We get people stopping in from all over the United States.
Brisket ‘better than in Texas’
“Practically every day, somebody from Texas or another southern state would walk up to us and say, ‘I thought Texas — or whatever state — had the best brisket, but yours is the best brisket I’ve ever tasted’.”
When asked how satisfying it is to launch a successful brand with their brothers, all three Yassos smiled.
“It feels very good to have a great support system like we do,” said Eddie Yasso, looking appreciatively at his siblings. “We all have something different we have added to the brand.”
In addition to its multiple brick-and-mortar locations, Prime BBQ has a 26-foot food truck that will be present during Sunday’s opening in Plymouth.
(To check out Prime BBQ’s menu, click here.)
Lunch special is hard to pass up
In addition to the rave reviews their brisket has generated, the brothers said their $14.99 luncheon special (offered from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily) is very popular. It includes one-third pound of meat, a side, Texas Toast and unlimited beverage refills.
The Yassos love the Plymouth location due to its short-drive proximity to multiple metro-Detroit communities — and the high volume of foot traffic in the plaza near the intersection of Five Mile and Sheldon roads that is anchored by a Busch’s grocery store.
For its grand-opening celebration set for the weeks ahead, Prime BBQ will offer free tasting specials, live music and other enticing incentives to stop by and try their product.
“We’re very excited to be opening in Plymouth,” Wally Yasso concluded. “And we’re confident once people try our food, they’ll be excited to come back.”
Ed Wright can be reached at 734-664-4657 or edwright@socialhousenews.com.
