![]() Shields says two soft openings - one for friends and family and another for the public - helped to work out transition kinks from the food truck world to a more traditional restaurant scene. The Oakmont Barbeque mobile food truck, currently parked on-site, will remain in operation. The Off The Rails name is a nod to Verona’s rich railroad history and hints at Shield’s food truck jumping “off the rails” to a permanent location. “After several years at home, we invited friends and family over for barbecues and perfected the craft and finally moved up to a larger capacity smoker and the food truck was a big part of that,” Shields says. “I started off loving to cook and that turned into a passion for barbecue. “The Brisket Mac is our top seller,” he says.Ī Pittsburgh native and self-taught barbecue pitmaster, Shields keeps his recipes top-secret, opening up his first business, Oakmont Barbeque Co. Louis spare dry-rubbed ribs, brisket nachos and brisket mac ’n cheese, pulled pork and more. It’s what makes his meats authentic, like his ever-popular St. Shields uses industrial-sized smokers - cooking hundreds of pounds of meat for 14-plus hours. Shields says he will offer the same great barbecue from the food truck menu, offered in a quick-service atmosphere, with indoor seating for about 30. Located at 549 Allegheny River Blvd., Off The Rails is housed in a former gas station and used car lot. “The food truck helped pave the way for this.” “This is a hobby-turned-business, and I always wanted to open a brick-and-mortar restaurant,” says Shields, 52, of Oakmont. More information and updates can be found on Strange Roots’ and Off the Rails’ Instagram pages.Off The Rails Barbeque and Drafthouse opened March 14, serving up hearty, slow-roasted barbecue from Ken Shields, the man behind the well-established food truck Oakmont Barbeque Co. Strange Roots’ Gibsonia location, which boasts a massive outdoor space, will also have live music on Fridays and Saturdays during warm months. After that, they’ll be open for the season initially on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays, and will expand their hours later this spring. Off the Rails BBQ and Strange Roots Experimental Ales will be celebrating a Grand Opening Weekend April 28 through April 30. “Eventually, I’d like to move one of our smokers out to Gibsonia, so we can do ribs and chicken right on site.” Photo: Strange Roots Experimental Ales “All of the brisket and pork is smoked on our offset smokers from Austin Smoke Works, and smoked with hardwoods,” Shields says. Shields, who transitioned his successful Oakmont BBQ food truck into Off the Rails, a BBQ restaurant in Verona in 2020, says that the menu at Strange Roots will be slightly abbreviated from the restaurant’s menu, but will include customer favorites like brisket sandwiches, brisket Mac & Cheese, pulled pork, and Off the Rails’ best-selling St. “They decided that BBQ was a good fit for the Gibsonia location, and I have to agree,” says Ken Shields, the owner of Off the Rails BBQ. The partnership began to take shape late last year when Strange Roots decided to replicate the success they found in a similar partnership with Pittsburgh Sandwich Society in their Millvale location. The brewery has announced that Off the Rails BBQ will be taking over their kitchen, serving brisket, pulled pork, ribs, and more BBQ favorites. Something new is coming to Strange Roots Experimental Ales in Gibsonia.
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