Sauce is Optional, Flavor is Not at Choate BBQ

“It’s a blessing being in downtown Canton because it has opened up the opportunity to share our great barbecue with the Canton community,” Kristi offers. The location gives the Choates the chance to share their barbecue with those who may not have discovered them from their food truck or at their first permanent location in Ball Ground. The couple started their barbecue business back in 2016. They wanted an “easy and flexible in” to the food service industry so they started a food truck. Both Bryan and Kristi had full-time jobs at that time and the food truck allowed them the flexibility needed without the financial overhead of a brick and mortar restaurant. However, with a food truck you must have a commercial commissary, and they were fortunate enough to find that space inside Woodstock Market in Acworth.

Through providence and leaning on their philosophy of taking advantage when opportunity knocks, they were able to establish their second restaurant in downtown Canton at 186 North Street in 2023. “We weren’t looking for another location, as it had only been two years since we opened in Ball Ground,” Kristi states. Choate BBQ Canton is housed in a historical storefront at one time owned by the Tippens family. E.L. Tippens operated a mule trading business in the building in the early 1900s until 1936, when he built the Tippens Building for his business a block up the street.

Kristi says their barbecuing process, the low-and-slow method, is what makes their meats so popular with diners. “With our smoked meats, we rub them in our proprietary rub that we make in house, and then let them rest for twenty-four hours.” The pork and briskets are then put on the smoker unwrapped and slow smoked with a mix of hickory and oak wood until the meats reach the proper temperature. They are then wrapped and put back in the smoker overnight. The meat goes on the smoker at 4:00 p.m. and doesn’t come off until 9:00 a.m.

“That’s why our brisket and pork butts are tender and juicy,” Kristi advises. “We want our meat to have a lot of flavor outside of the barbecue sauce. We want the meat to have a good flavor, tenderness, and juiciness on its own without the sauce.”

Choate BBQ’s motto is “Sauce Optional,” because the meat is so flavorful it is delicious even without sauce. All of their barbecue sauces are made in house. Kristi and Bryan have plans to go one step further at the couple’s latest location in the city’s historic center. “Because we have a busier lunch crowd in Canton, we want to creatively incorporate our smoked meats and cheeses into sandwiches in unique ways,” Kristi offers. They are in the process of research and development for these offerings and will launch them in the next few months.

In the near future, the Choates plan to expand their menu to incorporate their smoked chicken, brisket, and pork into even more creative sandwiches and bowls. The bowls will feature a salad base, a grain, a meat selection, and toppings.

Bryan and Kristi stress that they are family-owned-and-operated and treat their employees and customers like family. “We do our best to do what’s right by all of them,” Kristi promises.

This article was featured in the Historic Canton magazine.