Today we’d like to introduce you to David Roberts.
Hi David, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
2026 has been a difficult year for our us. Being a family business and having health struggles can really weigh you down or even worse, make the business no longer be able to operate. I’ve had several ambulance rides this year and I’ve been off work due to my health and following the doctor’s orders more often than I’d like. With that being said this experience has only made us stronger as a business. Everyone we’ve asked to step up in my absence has done just that. My brother Derrick immediately stepping into the role that I had with placing orders with distributors and learning it on the fly to working either 6 or 7 days a week for a couple months while I was in rehab after my seizure, all while dealing with back issues of his own. To one of our long time employees who is pretty much considered family at this point now working extra days and loading the smoker with hundreds of pounds of meat every day just to keep up with demand. Making it through challenges like this is us just proving to ourselves that “we can do it” no matter what gets thrown at us.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Not knowing where the road of recovery would lead to was by far the most difficult part of this. Questions of self-doubt not knowing if I’d ever get back to being myself again both mentally and physically was a major struggle of mine. When it comes down to it the support system I had with my family(shout-out to my wife) and the relentless support from our customers made the impossible feel possible and within reach.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
We specialize in making Kansas City style BBQ that has a truly unique feel because of our family first mindset. Having hard work with lower pricing and somewhat of a grocery store mentality of stacking them high and selling our ribs cheap. Not to mention they are completely delicious and smoked to be tender.
Let’s talk about our city – what do you love? What do you not love?
We love almost everything about our city. We love where we are and who we work for. The only real problem we have is that in Kansas City is there are a few big name BBQs that take up the spot light and the conversation usually ends right there. This city has so many other BBQs that have such a long history of serving people that don’t get mentioned near enough.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://Shawneesbatescitybbq.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/shawneesbatescitybbq?igsi=MWZ4bzVyZzlreWI5bg==
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/share/14p3JS3S8Fv/
