Photo by Lynnette Hoffman - Amy and Joel of Boss Hoggs ready to serve you BBQ.
Amy Smith, owner of Boss Hogg's BBQ in Winlock, has been helping to put Winlock on the map. With her sense of community and tasty food, she has brought many new people to Winlock to listen to live music or just to eat her famous BBQ. She is all about Winlock and Winlock is lucky to have her.
Amy was asked about why she chose Winlock, she stated, "Honestly, I didn't choose Winlock. Winlock kind of chose me, in a way. When I moved to Toledo in 2016, I was an insurance agent with American National Insurance and there were no office spaces for lease in town. I looked at a space in the Roundtree Building in Winlock and just fell in love with the town. So I moved my office from downtown Vancouver to Winlock in 2017. After a year, I bought Taylor's Landing and relocated my office to a little space up front, not knowing what I was going to utilize the building in its entirety. In 2019, my significant other and I started catering on the side and decided to jump through the hoops and put in a commissary kitchen and Boss Hogg's BBQ and Catering evolved. Our kitchen was approved the day Inslee issued a shelter in place due to Covid and we lost (or had to reschedule) ALL our catering jobs. So we did what any business owner would do and thought ahead in order to meet the demands of the community and started doing take out. Now, 15 months later, we are a full restaurant and bar."
She has a wide variety of BBQ and side orders that come with it. "We specialize in true Texas style BBQ," she said. "We have a stick smoker and wouldn't dare offer smoked food any other way. Being from the south, myself, I have had a very hard time finding smoked food that wasn't your average pacific northwest style. All our meats are dry rubbed and sauces are offered on the side. You will often hear us say 'we want you to taste the smoke, not the sauce. I truly feel like that is what sets us apart, but not above, other BBQ places in the pacific northwest. We didn't want to offer a full menu like some steakhouses do. We just wanted to stick to the simplicity of smoked foods with various options for sides to complete the meals"
Amy has done a lot of events in Winlock, you can see the excitement when she talks about having an event, she continued, "Oh boy.... First off, anything we do for the community, we do it because we WANT to and definitely not because we want any sort of recognition. We do a lot for the community, yes, but the community has supported us tremendously. We are like gears, ya know? If we all do our part, the community will work like a well oiled machine. Some gears may be bigger and seem more important than others and some may be small and just offer support to the larger gears, but they are all so important. So wherever you fall, know that you mean something and are important. Regardless of what you have to offer. Sometimes it's just a smile!"
Her next event is coming this weekend, she will have an array of things. She spoke of her event, "August 7th we are hosting our first annual Hot Hoggest Nights Car Show. The car show will be held at both the Jaxson Property across from the IGA and downtown Winlock. The Car Show will begin at noon and awards will be given at 5:00 p.m., followed by a pin up girl contest, sock hop, and we will be ending the night with Karaoke. Vendors and registration will be located in the Boss Hogg's parking lot, however you can pre-register online at bosshoggswinlock.com. There is a Hot Hoggest Nights link towards the bottom of our page. Cost to register your vehicle is $20 or you can choose the complete package for $40 that includes registration for one vehicle and two meal tickets to Boss Hogg's."
"Being the first year, we truly have no idea what to expect as far as numbers are concerned," she said. "Our main goal is to just have a fun day that brings the community together. There will be vendors, beer gardens, trivia, raffles... the works." The Carshow begins at noon, awards and Pin Up at 5:00 p.m., and Sockhop and Karaoke begin at 8:00 p.m. This is going to be a fun event in Winlock!
Boss Hogg's has been about bringing the community together, she stated, "The Lion's club has been a big part of putting this together. We specialize in smoking meats. Putting together a car show is not something we have done before. We couldn't do this without the wonderful help of Angela and all her hard work."
"Frank's is joining in on the festivities as well, they will have a single pool elimination tournament throughout the day," she continued. "Motorcycles are encouraged to register for the event. Motorcycles can park in front of Franks and the Plaza is used for overflow. Inspirations Hair Salon is offering $30 50's style hairstyling for the day so be sure to get your appointments set if you really want to feel the part."
She recently decided to do another event, she continued, "We have many car enthusiasts that find us while out on their leisurely drives enjoying the back roads. They fall in love with the atmosphere here and usually come back with their entire clubs! They have mentioned more than once that they would love to do something here. We also have a customer that frequents our establishment that asked about us putting on a sock hop and he offered to DJ. So we brainstormed and decided to throw the two together and Hog Hoggest Nights became an idea that blossomed into fruition."
The community and county have received her well, she stated, "The citizens have been great! Nothing but love and support from those around us. We couldn't feel more blessed and thankful for all the support we have been shown. Without their support we would be nothing. It wouldn't matter how good our food is. Without the support, we wouldn't be here. They have seen us go through many changes over the last year, and they have cheered us on all along the way. We appreciate all the sponsors who have helped with the event and the citizens who continue to support us."