The Cougareat welcomed Y Mountain Barbecue as it's newest dining addition on Sept. 4.
Located next to Blue Sushi, this cookout-style eatery has a menu complete with smoked and spiced meats, sides and sauces.
Beef briskets, baby back ribs, pulled pork and chicken are all included on the menu.
John Newman, Executive Chef for BYU Dining Services, recalled the conversation that sparked the idea for a barbecue addition to the Cougareat.
“I'll never forget when we were in Colorado Springs at a culinary competition, and we were all at dinner,” Newman said.
John Macdonald, the Campus Executive Chef, and Brent Craig, Managing Director for Dining Services, were also attending.
“Suddenly, they started talking about smoking and barbecue,” Newman said. “I chimed in and said, ‘I love doing that stuff.’”
Then with one look between Macdonald and Craig, Craig said the vision began to form. That vision grew to include an offset rotisserie-style smoker that can hold up to 600 pounds of meat.
After several stages of experimenting with seasonings and evaluating feedback from tasters, Craig and Macdonald decided to sell items from the new restaurant while BYU hosted the For the Strength of Youth program during the summer.
“It was so popular,” Craig said. “It was great that we have this new smoker that can accommodate feeding that many people.”
After such a positive response, they gave samples from the new menu to other camp participants before opening the newly established location in the Wilkinson Center during Education Week.
“The line for customers went down into the BYU store,” Macdonald said.
This may be due to the authentic nature and quality of menu items, which Newman described as no “run of the mill meat."
“We really put a lot of focus towards the proteins, making sure that we're bringing in the highest quality,” Newman said.
Craig mentioned that this includes things like grass-fed angus beef from Heritage Farms. He credited Newman for his attention to detail in the new project.
Besides curating custom spice rubs, each meat has a specific type of wood used to smoke it, all tried and tested by Newman.
“We do everything we can to make this fresh, natural, without a lot of additives or preservatives,” Craig added.
Newman and Macdonald underwent extensive chef collaboration with other professionals at BYU in order to provide a unique and quality dining experience. The dedication and care shown throughout this process was “just beyond words to me,” Macdonald said.
“I think from my perspective, we strive every day to bring the highest quality of food to the students,” Macdonald said.
Their hope is for this restaurant to help further diversify dining options for customers in the community with the goal of bringing home closer to more people.
They are hoping to expand the menu in the future to including incorporations of sausage, turkey and other proteins into the menu. They also anticipate that these menu items will eventually reach BYU's Food To Go company, allowing people in the community to purchase from the menu as well.