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Douglas Trattner
Joe Menendez of Joe’s Barbecue
Despite being a mobile food stand in rural Brimfield Township, Joe’s Barbecue has attracted a lot of attention. Most of the buzz has been positive, arriving in the form of praise for the brisket, ribs and pulled pork that are smoked onsite in a massive barbecue pit. But lately, the grassroots business has been generating a lot of noise after being temporarily shuttered over some administrative entanglements that could have long-term implications. Owner Joe Menendez says that he and his business are being unfairly targeted.
“It’s been going on forever,” says Menendez. “I’ve dodged bullets since 2018 or 2019. This is the first time it’s affected my business in a significant amount. There have been single days where I had to close to go to zoning meetings, but this is the first time it’s actually gotten to me.”
Up until now, Menendez has dealt with the obstacles mostly in good spirits. His is an unconventional business model that was bound to produce some friction in Brimfield, located four miles south of Kent State. The self-taught cook has been working this corner since late 2017, when he sold ribs from the shade of a pop-up tent. His uncle owned the property, a corner parcel at a busy intersection, so the location was a no-brainer. As business improved, so did the setup. These days, instead of a wee smoker and a tent, Menendez prepares the food inside an attractive wood-sided trailer and his staff sells it from an adjacent food truck.
Early on, Menendez operated under a pretty standard mobile food vendor permit. That was subsequently converted to a temporary use permit that was renewed annually. Soon after, however, the zoning board decided those permits needed to be renewed every six months. Then they were good for only six months out of the year. Then just 90 days, meaning that folks like Menendez could operate their businesses for just three months per year. That latest change to the permit rules even ruffled the feathers of one of the people tasked with voting for or against it.
“The zoning board proposed a change to the process that would make the permit good for only 90 days, and that permit can only be applied for once a year by each business entity,” explains Nic Coia, one of the three trustees who oversee the day-to-day operations in Brimfield Township. “I was against it. I did not vote in favor of that. But I was outnumbered, and it passed.”
Menendez assigns the blame for the hassles on a small but vocal group, who have been making relentless complaints about his business. He feels like they have sympathetic ears both on the zoning commission, which drafts the rules, and the board of trustees, which votes on them. In addition to Coia, those trustees include Sue Fields and Mike Kostensky. Kostensky happens to run a restaurant called Mike’s Place, which is located two and a half miles up the road from Joe’s Barbecue.
Over the past couple years, Menedez has been working on the next phase of his barbecue business. His plans called for demolishing the vacant commercial building on the parcel he purchased from his uncle – long home to Sully’s Tavern – and replacing it with a brick-and-mortar restaurant. In return for assurances that he would make progress on his plans – namely razing the Sully’s structure – Menendez was granted a variance that would allow him to operate for a full year as opposed to just 90 days.
At the very next meeting, Menendez was blindsided by another administrative obstruction, this one potentially fatal to Joe’s Barbecue. Once again, Coia vociferously objected to the rule change.
“The zoning commission asked the board of trustees to approve a zoning amendment that would not allow a temporary use permit on any property that doesn’t’ have a primary use building,” Coia states. “That’s when I spoke out.”
To Coia, the change seemed unfairly targeted at one business: Joe’s Barbecue. Indeed, not only did it seem that way, it sounded that way as well.
“There was actually a zoning commission member who was present at those hearings who said, ‘Well, we don’t want another Joe’s Barbecue situation here in the township, this is why we’re doing it,” Coia recalls. Because that commission member was “targeting” a specific business, Coia voiced his objection and voted no, but was in the minority once again.
In this instance, Menedez was spared by a grandfather clause that allows him to continue operating under his one-year permit, which he was granted through a variance. But when that permit expires, he’ll need to request two variances: one for the 90-day issue and the other for the vacant-property clause.
Kostensky, the restaurant owner/township trustee, says that the zoning rule changes are not aimed solely at Menendez and his barbecue trailer. They were drafted to counter the nuisance of itinerant vendors, who set up shop without respect for the community or property owners.
“The amount of complaints we were getting from residents, we had to do something,” Kostensky explains. “These fly-by-night vendors, they look for a piece of property that there’s not a building on it. They’ll set up for a couple days until they’re chased away. We had to put some kind of teeth into this.”
Asked whether or not there exists a conflict of interest – even an appearance of impropriety – for a restaurant owner to vote on legislation that affects a competitor, Kostensky says no.
“I talked to our legal counsel and he said, the way he looked through it, there’s nothing I’m doing wrong because the legislation is not just for Joe’s Barbecue, it’s for everything – the rug dealers, the t-shirt guys, the people who come around and sell plants,” he said.
All Kostensky wants, he adds, is to make Brimfield an attractive, commercially diverse place for residents and visitors.
“Look at the city of Kent,” he says. “It’s beautiful, they have so many options. I want Joe to succeed whether I like him or not because I need a place like Joe’s, I need a place that is a destination. Pizza Hut is not a destination. I would like nothing more than for him to get his restaurant open. It would be perfect.”
Ironically, it was none of the above snafus that caused Joe’s Barbecue to close this week. His food vendor license, which was filed in his home county of Summit, had expired. When he petitioned the health department of Portage County, where he operates, for a renewal, he was again stunned by what he claims are new and dubious requirements.
“Somehow the language changed from having to move the trailers off the lot every 40 days to having to conduct business in a separate location every 40 days,” says an obviously infuriated Menendez. “I’ve been quiet the whole time because I didn’t want to rock the boat, but it hasn’t gotten me anywhere.”
According to Menendez, I was one of 67,000 unique customers to visit Joe’s Barbecue since it opened. The trailer is open Wednesdays through Sundays from noon until sold out, which it does most days. The owner says that throughout this latest round of drama, numerous people have extended invitations for him to set up shop on their property. He still plans to put down roots right where he is, he notes, but he’s being more cautious than ever.
“The zoning department is pushing me to do this as fast as possible, but I’m not going to go as fast as possible, I’m going to go as safely as possible,” he says. “First off, I don’t trust the township; I’m hesitant to spend a million bucks on a building in this township that’s trying to close me down.”
Prior to being shut down, Menendez placed his weekly order for food, an invoice totaling $6,000. That on top of the payroll that he refuses to stop paying has motivated him to do something bold. This weekend, from Friday through Sunday, he will offer his food for free, donations only.
“A food establishment is defined as an entity that provides food made for individual consumption that charges a fee or required donation,” says Menendez, outlining the loophole.
He knows that the maneuver is a temporary one – and not a preferred way of doing business.
“I don’t want to run on donations, that’s terrifying,” he says. “I literally just want to sell barbecue, that’s the whole goal. I just want to make my shit as good as possible and then build a restaurant so I can make it better.”
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