OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) — Barbecue lovers — this is your time! It's National BBQ month — and you have a lot of options here in the Metro. This week's Cheap Eats focuses on one of them.
An Omaha man's journey started at backyard barbecues. His food was such a hit, his little barbecues had to move to a big city park. Family and friends told him his food was so good — he should be selling it.
As 3 News Now Anchor Serese Cole reports, now — he is.
It is LaWayne Nockai's happy place.
"One day I quit my job and took my 401K and built my first trailer and started my first food truck and have been working ever since," LaWayne recalled.
For five years now, he's owned Wayne's New Skoo Barbecue.
"It's like where tradition meets excellence," he explained.
Here, you can get all your old-school barbecue favorites.
"Brisket, pulled pork, ribs and then we put a little twist on it," he smiled.
The twist is where the "New Skoo" comes in — like with the restaurant's staple sandwich, the Hot Boy. It's one of the top sellers. The sandwich is all about the heat.
"So, we got the sliced hot links sausages then come over here and top it with pulled pork for you," he demonstrated.
The pulled pork smokes for about 12 hours. It also comes with hot pickles and a hot barbecue sauce. If you're looking for a side dish to go with your Hot Boy, the fried cabbage with bacon is a popular choice.
Serese: So, you didn't like cabbage until you started making it?
LaWayne: Exactly. There's a lot of things I don't eat and then I make it and I'm like "Aw man, this is good!"
What's also good here — the award-winning "New Skoo" ribs.
His secret?
First, his house seasoning. Second, good old-fashioned wood to smoke the meat. The end result is meat so tender — it falls off the bone.
Serese: So how do you do yours? Do you sauce them up?
LaWayne: Nope. All the sauce comes on the side.
Serese: So, it's good you don't need sauce?
LaWayne: It's so good you don't need sauce.
He also made his popular BBQ Nachos. It starts with Nacho Cheese or what he calls - liquid gold. You pick your meat. He made the pulled pork nachos for us. The nachos also come with barbecue sauce and sour cream. It's made complete with a few jalapenos on top.
Serese: How good are these nachos? So good you'll come back for more?
LaWayne: Definitely. Everybody comes back.
Over the years, LaWayne has stayed true to his backyard barbecue flavor.
"Everybody who comes asks, 'What kind of style do you use - Memphis? Kansas City'? We call it home style. We started with backward barbecues. So, just the same way we would cook for our families - is the same way we cook here," he said.
Wayne's New Skoo BBQ is at 4865 Center Street. It's open Monday through Saturday — and they cater.
Here are the prices of the items we featured in the story.
Hot Boy $9.30
Pulled Pork Nachos $10.49
1/2 Slab $16.50
To see the full menu, go to waynesnewskoobbq.com
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