OUR STORY
Beginning in 2020 in a small town in the Delta–Helena, Arkansas–Steve and Rebecca Johnson started selling smoked beef brisket out of their smoking grill pulled with their 1984 Chevy Silverado.
They named their establishment Steve O’s Smoking Grill because the grill was always smoking meat while driving down the highway.
Many have claimed it’s the best brisket they have ever tasted, packed with smoke flavor, a unique bark texture and a trim of fat perfectly seasoned. The couple say the recipe is simple “low and slow” to achieve that optimal flavor–smoking their briskets for 20-24 hours using a blend of oak, hickory and pecan wood.
After a year of selling from their grill, Rebecca liked the concept of being an entrepreneur and decided to invest in a new model Silverado and a new mobile food trailer.
She continued using the name Steve O’s Smoking Grill and capitalizing on their famous smoked brisket as well as smoked pork and tender ribs. Their smoked meats and famous baked beans loaded with flavor are the talk of the town.
Another take away is what Rebecca calls “The Que Sauce”–her special homemade barbecue sauce (which she hopes to bottle and sell in the near future).
Opening a brick and mortar restaurant in Downtown Helena–Delta Que & Brew– is the newest expansion for Rebecca.
Although, most of the buildings in downtown Helena, Arkansas are dilapidated, she’s willing to step out on faith, take the risk, while making history. Operating a successful black-owned business in the exact location which was home in the late 1950’s to Henry’s Drug Store restaurant and lunch counter “for whites only” is monumentally historic.
In 1963, Granville Miller, one of Phillips County’s leaders of the SNCC organized a nonviolent sit-in fighting for equal rights for Black citizens. After 26 Black protestors were arrested, the drug store began removing all the segregated signage that denied Black citizens access inside the drug store.