When Frank Mead first put meat and smoke together, he was just six, burning a pound of bacon at home in Baton Rouge. But that didn’t scare him out of the kitchen. He kept experimenting, eventually bringing his enterprising spirit and love of feeding people to California in 1969.
After a couple of detours, he followed his dream and built a catering business on the strength of his warmth, charm and smoky Louisiana ribs. Have grill, will travel — to parties, picnics and corporate events.
A Bay Area bar-b-que leader recognized by Marin Magazine, the IJ, Novato Advance and more, the grill-on-wheels rolls on. But Frank knew it was time to give his friends and fans a year-round Q Central. In 2008, he opened the first Franks Bar-B-Que with a roof in Novato.
Based on recipes from a 1953 New Orleans cookbook, “my holy grail of home cookin’,” Frank adapted and revised sauces, dry rubs and fixin’s till he’s made them his own. “I’m not a fancy chef,” says Frank, “but I’m a good cook.”
What makes Franks Bar-B-Que so irresistible? When the smoke wafts through the air, “it’s like smelling popcorn,” says Frank. You gotta have it. His finely tuned recipe sends just the right combination of wood flavors — apple, cherry and mesquite — drifting over the meat. Frank uses fresh, local produce, natural Creekstone Farms Black Angus beef and a one-of-a-kind green dry rub. And then, of course, there’s his highly guarded secret for making it “fall off da bone!”