My friend Dana said, "Hey, there's a local restaurant near me that I go to all the time... and…read morethey're having a FREE BBQ Saturday night!"
Free BBQ?!?
It didn't take much to twist my husband's arm... though we weren't 100% that this would be anything much... because, as my husband said, "Nothing's free... and what do they get out of it? and how are they doing this... in this economy?"
We arrived promptly at 4PM, because we knew it was "first come first served"... they had a DJ and a TON of games, raffles, free alcoholic beverages, swag (tshirts, beer cozies, pins, stickers, custom-designed etched wine glasses), various stations of fun activities... and... the entire restaurant was part of this...
So of course we sat our party of 5 at a table in the main restaurant section... and proceeded to... order full meals and drinks from the menu. Listen, the prices are RIGHT, the food looked incredible, and technically they weren't going to serve the BBQ until 5:30... so... we figured we'd have an hour and a half to digest.
I ordered a salad though... because I was dead set on some ribs or pulled pork or something... BBQ-y.
My husband ordered the BLT with tater tots, and others in our party ordered sandwiches, fried raviolis, among other items like martinis, lemonade.
Our waitress was so attentive and darling, really took care of us the entire time.
At 5:30 the BBQ happened. Myself and one other from our party were ready, whilst everyone else had already had their fill with the menu items.
But boy did they regret the fact that there was no more room in their bellies... because the BBQ spread was INCREDIBLE:
A full salad with all the fixings, RIBS (!!), hamburgers (full size, wonderful patties!), hot dogs (delicious!), chili, mac'n'cheese, watermelon... my goodness it was an immense spread. And all was cooked superbly!
And again, plenty of free alcohol as well.
As I spoke to the other locals around the BBQ, I kept hearing exactly what my friend Dana said, "We live 5 minutes away... we come here ALL the time... we LOVE this place!"
The vibe was COMMUNITY-CENTERED... it was obvious... and as the raffle winners were called, the entire place exploded into claps and whistles as each of the winners' names were called.
Golden Knights jerseys, golf caddies, backpacks... it was all soo lovely, but those prizes were just icing on the cake... a "cake" consisting of a true LOCAL restaurant and it's COMMUNITY... each expressing their support for each other.
My husband and I were floored. And humbled to see the entire event play out.... something you don't see enough of anymore.
May Summit Tavern continue to enjoy their success in the neighborhood, and may other establishments learn from Summit Tavern's success!
And THANK YOU... for a wonderful evening, Summit Tavern staff and all who made the night truly special.