Customer Spotlight: ChickHoovenSwine BBQ

The allure of Kansas City style barbeque is no stranger to Eric Westervelt, owner of ChickHoovenSwine BBQ. What started as a pastime has since turned into a successful food truck business, with two large concession trailers, and a permanent kitchen inside an axe-throwing venue.

While Eric has always liked to cook it wasn’t until the early 2000s, when Eric received a smoker as a gift from his father-in-law, that he truly fell in love with BBQ. In 2010, he decided to start his own BBQ catering business, and ChickHoovenSwine BBQ was born. At one time Eric and his team competed in as many as 25 to 30 barbeque contests a year, with their own made-from-scratch recipes for rubs and sauces. Over time they transitioned from doing contests to a catering business, buying a 40’ long enclosed trailer in 2016 and installing a full commercial kitchen and bathroom inside. With their new trailer, the business grew to being able to handle over 500+ pounds of meat per event.

Trailer ownership can be tough, and the ChickHoovenSwine BBQ team has had their share of challenges. After discovering their power cord was too short to reach the tow vehicle, Eric took their trailer to Croft Trailer Supply’s Olathe location, and our technicians were able to make an extension to the cable to get them quickly back on the road. Since then, they turn to Croft for their trailer maintenance needs.

In the last year the team faced some challenges, as the COVID-19 pandemic led to many of the events and festivals they usually serve being cancelled. After regrouping and focusing on smaller food truck gatherings, the team kept busy, and they recently opened up a kitchen inside Blade and Timber, an axe-throwing event space in Leawood, KS. If you happen to find ChickHoovenSwine BBQ, be sure to try one of their best selling items: burnt ends or barbeque nachos. Find out where they will be next on Facebook @ChickHoovenSwine-BBQ-Catering, Instagram @chickhoovenswine, or bbqrules.com; and check out their kitchen at Blade and Timber in Town Center, 5203 W 117th St. Leawood, KS.