Blog

  • Food for Michigan State Football Tailgates!

    We have packages that are perfect for any size tailgate. Here are some of our favorite options! To Pre-order, use one of the links below, and select the location you would like to order from!

    If you have questions, call 517-306-9002, or use the chat box on the screen to message us directly!

    3-4 Person Sampler

    • Half Rack of Ribs
    • 1/3 lb of Pulled Pork
    • 1/3 lb of Brisket
    • 1 Sausage link
    • 1 Order of Chicken Tenders
    • Your choice of 3 Sides
    • 1 Bottle of Michigan Mustard
    • 1 Bottle of Sweet & Savory
    • $79.99

    5 Person Platter Brisket and Ribs

    • Full Rack of Ribs
    • Generous Portion of Brisket
    • 1 Large Hot Side (Mac & Cheese or Baked Beans)
    • 1 Large Cold Side (Potato Salad or Coleslaw)
    • 5 Detroit Made Buns
    • Paper Plates, Plastic Ware, and Napkins
    • 1 Bottle of Sweet & Savory
    • 1 Bottle of Michigan Mustard
    • $125.00

    5 Person Platter Pork and Chicken

    • Generous Portion of Pulled Pork
    • Generous Portion of Chicken
    • 1 Large Hot Side (Mac & Cheese or Baked Beans)
    • 1 Large Cold Side (Potato Salad or Coleslaw)
    • 5 Detroit Made Buns
    • Paper Plates, Plastic Ware, and Napkins
    • 1 Bottle of Sweet & Savory
    • 1 Bottle of Michigan Mustard
    • $88.50

    Check out the time we fed the MSU Football Team!

  • Darrell's Market Newest Addition

    Darrell’s Market in Mason recently expressed interest in a display shelf for our sauces. Our talented employee, Jacob Spare, was up to the task. He has this beauty finished in no time!

    Make sure to check this out next time you visit Darrell’s.

     

  • Gorman Market - BBQ Sauce

    Say hello to our sauces newest home, Gorman’s Food Market in Lansing!

    Thank you to everyone over at Gorman’s for being so accommodating.

    Which local store should we check out next?

     

  • Detroit Frankie Meets Saddleback Owner

    Detroit Frankies opened a new location with our Reo Town friends Good Truckin’ Diner! You know we love supporting great local businesses! So, Matt Gillett stopped out to collaborate on a BBQ Pizza!

     

     

    Starting tomorrow (7/13/2021) Detroit Frankie’s Wood Fired Brick Oven will offer the option to get ANY of their pizzas with Saddleback Sweet & Savory Sauce at either location.

    They will also offer a signature Saddleback BBQ Pizza! Featuring Chicken, Banana Peppers, Onion, Bacon and Saddleback Sweet & Savory Sauce. We think that you’ll love it!

    Please be sure to support Detroit Frankies and Good Truckin Food at their new location on Pennsylvania in Lansing! – Tell them Saddleback Matt sent you!

     

    Watch the full video here!

     

     

  • Toast Reward Points - Triple Points

    Mondays are TRIPLE REWARDS Points Mondays!

    When you place an order on Mondays you will receive TRIPLE the normal rewards amount. That means that for every dollar you spend, you’ll receive 3 points instead of 1! What does that mean? Basically that means that you will be getting 15% back for all of your orders placed on Mondays! That’s a pretty sweet deal if we do say so ourself. Available at both locations on Mondays.

  • Saddleback BBQ Received a Letter From Governor Whitmer!

    We want to thank Governor Whitmer for this very thoughtful letter! Thank you to our Customers, Subscribers, & Employees that made it all possible. We are all in this together!

    “On behalf of the State of Michigan, I want to express my gratitude for all that your small business has done to help our state get through the COVID-19 pandemic. Amidst historic challenges, you rolled up your sleeves and pitched in to help your fellow Michiganders. By donating meals to children in need during COVID-19, you put the well-being of others first and made a difference in your community. I could not be prouder of the resilience, creativity, and compassion that your business has shown. Thanks to hardworking, selfless Michiganders like your team at Saddleback BBQ, we are emerging from the pandemic stronger than ever.” – Gretchen Whitmer. Governor of Michigan.

    This is also such a relief because as you may recall, we wrote a very respectful letter to the Governor which was signed by 100+ other restaurants and bars. At the time we wrote it, we were very worried that it would be seen in a negative light. This letter shows us that our worries were unneeded.

    We are extremely delighted that she recognized that we were being respectful of her important role in the state and that we were only sharing the perspective of many in our industry at the time. It’s such a breath of fresh air that we could have a disagreement while being respectful and courteous to one another.

    If you’d like to learn more about what Saddleback BBQ, our Customers, our Subscribers, and our amazing employees did during COVID, go here!

    https://www.saddlebackbbq.com/saddleback-bbqs-covid-timeline

    Thank you so much!

    Travis Stoliker & Matt Gillett

  • Our Sauces are now at GFS!

    Our sauces are now on the shelves of three Gordon Food Service stores! If you’ve been following our page for any time, you know getting our products into a national retailer has been one of our biggest goals. This is our first major breakthrough! There’s a chance if all goes well we could be on the shelves of GFS stores across the country.

    We have a 60-90 day trial period to prove there’s demand for our BBQ Sauces. This means in the coming months if you purchase a bottle of sauce from GFS, not only will you be buying a delicious product, you will also be helping us attempt to achieve our goals.

    Our mission is to display that Midwest BBQ is as good or better than any other barbeque. That is why we so prominently display the map of Michigan on each of our bottles. We want people everywhere to notice the prominence of Michigan’s BBQ scene.

    Thank you, everyone, fingers crossed.

    The addresses of the three GFS stores we’re in:

    5912 W Saginaw Hwy, Lansing, MI 48917

    454 E Edgewood Blvd, Lansing, MI 48911

    1851 Newman Rd, Okemos, MI 48864

  • Pay Transparency and Holiday Pay

    $16.00 per hour is the lowest any employee at Saddleback made this pay period. The pay period was from 8-16 to 8-31. All Saddleback hourly employees are paid Time & Half Holiday Pay when they work on a holiday.

    We believe in Wage & Tip Transparency so that our employees & customers know exactly how our employees are compensated and who is impacted by their generous tips. All Saddleback Employees except Managers & Owners receive an even share of the tips and no employees are paid the “Tipped Minimum Wage”.

    To learn more about Saddleback Wage & Tip Transparency, go here https://www.saddlebackbbq.com/saddleback-bbq-tipping-pay… (This website hasn’t been updated yet because we are in the process of developing a new website)

    Thank you to our customers and teammates for making this possible.

    – Travis & Matt

  • Pumpkin Spiced Brisket

    Introducing the Pumpkin Spiced Brisket Latte & Meal!

    It all starts with a locally sourced Michigan Pumpkin shaved to provide the essence of Fall. Then we carefully extract the magical flavors from a Pumpkin Spiced Latte & inject it into a Certified Angus Beef Brisket. Next, we smoke the brisket on our all-wood smokers. After about 12 hours on the smoke, we slice the brisket pencil thin and top it with whipped cream, cinnamon, & pumpkin shavings. Supplies are very limited.

    Tag your friend below that is addicted to Pumpkin Spiced Lattes and they will be eligible to win one!

    BONUS! We are now offering the Pumpkin Spiced Brisket as a Latte Drink! We blend the Pumpkin Spiced Brisket, Whipped Cream, Cinnamon, & Shaved Pumpkin to a liquid. We pour it over ice & top it with a slice of brisket, whipped cream, and spices.

    PRO-TIP! If you’re looking for an extra kick, we recommend adding some Captain Morgan or Caramel Vodka for a truly glorious autumn morning.

    From the people that brought you the Brisket Candle & Brisket vape.

  • Restaurant Employee Retention

    The average tenure of a restaurant employee is one month and 26 days.

    Saddleback is proud to have an average tenure 5.5x longer than the national average, at 312 days! Many of our staff members have been with Saddleback for much longer than our average.

    We believe this is due in large part to our customers treating all employees with immense respect and kindness, THANK YOU!

    Saddleback BBQ also practices Minimum Pay Transparency, which we believe has contributed to this accomplishment. You can read more about that here: https://www.saddlebackbbq.com/saddleback-bbq-tipping-pay…

    We are always looking to hire great people. If you are interested in joining our team, please consider applying here: https://www.saddlebackbbq.com/careers

    https://www.7shifts.com/blog/restaurant-scheduling-stats

  • Tips for Picking up a Catering Order

    We wanted to provide some tips we’ve learned for setting up your order once you get the food to your venue:

    • Position the items in line from least popular to most popular. Usually, that means putting cold sides first, then warm sides, then ending with your meats.
    • Put your sauce out at the far end of the table.
    • If you are providing plates, consider the size of the plates. The larger the plate, the more food people will take. If portion control is important, go with a slightly smaller plate.
    • For pick-up orders, we do provide serving utensils.
    • If you have coleslaw, be sure to stir it well before serving.
    • If you are using chafing dishes and sternos, you can count on getting 4 hours of heat.
    • For packaging leftovers, we have found that gallon Ziploc bags work well.