For the past two weeks, the air along Wayne Street has been peppered with the smoky scent of barbeque. The source is Niles’ latest restaurant joint Trotters Barbeque & Grill.
The restaurant, which specializes in an array of meats smoked in a tangy barbeque rub, has been drawing in crowds since it first opened the doors at 1125 Wayne St. two weeks ago.
Manager and cook Korey Avance had one word to describe the weeks since they opened their doors to the community.
“Busy,” he said.
The business, which is open from Tuesday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., draws big crowds around lunch and dinnertime.
“Niles has been pretty good to us. We didn’t know it would take off like that.”
The restaurant offers meat tips, fried wings, rib racks, jumbo shrimp, pulled pork sandwiches and hamburgers, to name a few. The price range is between $8-$12.
Trotters is owned by Terrance and Christina Trotter. Terrance is the son to Frankie Trotter, who has owned Frankie’s BBQ in South Bend since 1968. Many of the secret ingredients that make Frankie’s unique were passed down to Terrance who uses them in the meat seasoning and sauce.
Avance has been in the business of barbeque for the past 10 years. It is a passion he said that he loves because he gets to make people happy. That is why he gets up early each morning to arrive at 6:30 a.m. so that he can season each of the meats. The meats will soak up the seasoning for a day and then placed in the smoker to bake for 24 hours.
The seasoning and the barbeque sauce comes from a Trotter family recipe that Avance said Frankie tweaked to further bring out the flavor. Terrance created his own seasoning based upon the family recipe.
The smoker can hold 200 pounds of meat at a time. The meats will become flavorful and tenderized as they smoke. After the smoker, the meats are bathed in barbeque sauce.
Avance said that the business chose to come to Niles because they saw a need to fill the barbeque void. The restaurant formerly operated out of Roseland, Indiana as World Famous Barbeque.
“We saw the area and nothing is around. (We wanted to) get some smoke going in the neighborhood,” Avance said.
He said turkey tips are one of the most popular items on the menu . Turkey tips consist of boneless breast meat seasoned, smoked and cut into tips.
“We have a few people that come every day for them,” he said.
In the afternoon on Friday, Avance goes out to check on the turkey in the smoker that sits at the restaurant’s side, emanating the smoky flavors that fill the neighborhood.
“Once you bite into it and smile, that is when we are satisfied,” Avance said. “It’s just a thrill getting it out.”