Sunday News: On Saturdays, new BBQ talent takes Lockport stage

Conchas are back, 16th St. Mary’s Egyptian Festival approached in North Tonawanda

Brisket, housemade sausage, pulled pork at Tennessee Smokehouse.

Scott Gypson moved to Nashville to launch his musical career, and toured the nation for a decade, as a professional bassist.

After getting a whiff of barbecue cooking, he ended up switching his outlet for creative expression and people-pleasing. Now you can get his Tennessee Smokehouse ribs, pulled pork, and rubbed up smashburgers for lunch on Saturdays at Half Baked Cafe in Lockport.

The youngest of four, Gypson grew up in Middleport. At 14, he launched his restaurant career as a dishwasher at Darrell’s Place, and graduated Roy-Hart High School in 2006. His father, Lowell Gypson, was pastor at Hartland Bible Church for 35 years.

After studying music for two years, he moved to Nashville, where he was a professional musician for 14 years. He played upright and electric bass in Broadway honky-tonks and Ryman Auditorium, and toured with singer-songwriter Marc Scibilia.

Gypson, left, with Meat Raffle, Briar Brothers Brewing Co., June 28.

But his barbecue journey actually started in Illinois. A friend’s dad had a Traeger smoker, and offered to show Gypson how it worked.

“He turned it on. I smelled that smell coming out of there, the first time,” Gypson recalled. “I was like, ‘Oh my gosh. I gotta get one of these.’ ”

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After he got some practice, Brett Manning, a well-known vocal coach, asked him to make pulled pork sandwiches for a gathering.

“I started noticing that the same people started coming back through again and again,” said Gypson. “That really gave me the bug. Maybe I could do something with this, another fun creative outlet. I fell in love with it.”

He started catering, then when the pandemic came, barbecue deliveries around Nashville. People ordered through Instagram, paid Venmo or cash, and Gypson would “drive all over Nashville for hours delivering barbecue to people.”

Scratch pinto beans, Tennessee Smokehouse.

After moving back to Niagara County with his wife Brooke and their children Audrey, 12, and Hans, 5, in May 2024, he launched Tennessee Smokehouse’s New York chapter.

Taste his work at Half Baked Cafe in Lockport 11 a.m.-2 p.m. Saturdays – though a switch to Friday nights might come as soon as Aug. 23. Follow Tennessee Smokehouse on Instagram for updates.

Saturday menu

Brisket: $17 ½ pound

Ribs: $13 ½ pound

Pulled pork: $13 ½ pound

Housemade sausage link: $8

BBQ Sandwiches

(On toasted ciabatta, chopped slaw, dill pickles, Gouda cheese, BBQ sauce)

Brisket $17

Pulled pork $13

Smash Burger: $13 (Two spice-rubbed Black Angus patties, American cheese, dill pickles, burger sauce, 5-inch sesame bun)

Spice-rubbed smashburger at Tennessee Smokehouse.

Platters (Brisket + $2)

Two meats (½ pound total) + one side: $18

Four meats (1 pound total) + two sides: $34

Sides

Hand-chopped slaw

Scratch pinto beans

Smoked mac & cheese

(Hat tip to Southern Junction’s Ryan Fernandez pointing me at Gypson.)

REVIEW: Southern Junction’s Texas-by-way-of-India barbecue has won national acclaim. Now Ryan Fernandez, Lydia Herr, and their crew have rewritten the rules of Sunday brunch with barbecue taco arrays and Texas-sized cinnamon rolls, best enjoyed on the back patio, where you can sit back and appreciate the fact that sometimes, Buffalo wins. (Wednesday, for patrons.)

EAT LIKE AN EGYPTIAN: For the 16th year, the three-day St. Mary’s Egyptian Festival gives everyone a chance to eat like an Egyptian in North Tonawanda.

Falafel, kabobs, baklava and more are on offer, all made by parishioners. Plus freshly roasted Ethiopian coffee, Egyptian art, books, souvenirs, and tours so you can get an eyeful of the icon-lined St. Mary & St. Moses Coptic Orthodox Church.

It’s 350 Wheatfield St., North Tonawanda. Hours: 3 p.m.-9 p.m. Friday, Aug. 22, 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 23, noon-8 p.m Sunday, Aug. 24.

ASK THE CRITIC

Q: (Replying to request for Cuban restaurants). I’ve been wondering the same but for a Cuban sandwich. Also looking for Mexican conchas but I don’t think anyone sells those either lol.

Accurate_Mami_, Reddit

A: We can enjoy Puerto Rican, Dominican, Colombian, and Salvadoran (House of Pupusas) cuisine in the 716, but there are no Cuban restaurants in Buffalo.

On the bright side, conchas are a Buffalo thing now. Thursdays around 3 p.m., Emily Gonzalez of Colibri Panaderia brings her conchas to Farm Shop, at 235 B Lexington Ave. (door around the corner on Ashland). (Here’s why she bakes conchas.)

There’s also a new outlet for her conchas: Cafe Bewilderment, 1235 Hertel Ave., inside The Monocle, with delivery 10 a.m. Wednesdays.

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