About Us & Photo Gallery

Growing up in the Blue Water Area, the founder of Big River BBQ, Jeff Cook, enjoyed much time watching the beautiful St. Clair River flowing southbound and the giant freighters that are the king of the waters in the northern setting of the Great Lakes State. Rarely, however, was it ever informally referred to as the St. Clair River…most folks just called it, “The Big River.” So, when it came time to name his new company and business venture, there was little hesitation that the name that was most representative of the area and “big” goals of the company was, Big River Barbeque…BRB for short.

Yes, there is a bit more to the story…BRB’s founder has always loved great BBQ, particularly pork ribs, and he set out at a young age to master both the barbecue pit and the grill top. Pork is a perfect meat for both the grill and the pit and also a great meat selection to best learn the skill necessary to master both methods of cooking…pork butt, pork steak, pork loin, pork belly, bacon and of course, pork ribs…Baby Back, St. Louis or Country-Style, he loved them all. Then it was chicken and on to beef and now its just about anything you can think up that you want to put on smoke. He prefers pit smoking more than any other method and believes that the greatest achievements in taste can be found employing authentic slow smoke techniques…if you’ve had his barbecue we believe you’d agree.

However, truth be told, Big River was borne on the small back deck of a home in St. Clair, MI, out of a small Smoke Hollow smoker bought at a local Meijer store…somewhat on a whim, and later confirmed when he was bound to prove his then girlfriend, now wife, wrong, that in fact, he would use that thing, and from there it became a passion. A passion that continues to grow as does the business. Soon, one of the founder’s most important goals and aspirations will see reality, when “small-batch” production of the famous Blue Water Area meat market owned by the Gliem’s Family and operated in St. Clair, MI nearly 50 years ago are available again, right here near the waters of the St. Clair River where they all began as well.

So, you see, it’s really about family, home and tradition, a driven passion to start something new as well as a resurrection of a sought-after batch of recipes that once were the talk of the town and darn near the whole Blue Water Area.

As a mobile catering company, Big River BBQ has had its home headquarters throughout the Blue Water Area and have been proud to serve customers up and down the river and many metro Detroit suburbs. Looking to expand both its reputation and exposure, Big River BBQ founder, Jeff Cook, retired from his profession in Educational Administration, to take a more focused full-time role in his growing BBQ business. The long-term aspirations of the company is to open a hometown meat market that spotlights outstanding smoke barbecue and a revival of the long sought after Gliem’s Meat Market recipes, including the famous, Gliem’s Hot Dog & Ring Bologna. These passions will continue to be the driving force behind the growth of the company; and, we are fired up to make it happen!