Choo-Choo’s Catering food truck amps up in Parrish for New Year’s holiday and football

Bobby “Choo-Choo” Hinton knows there’s going to be a higher-than-usual demand for his barbecued slabs of ribs, chicken dinners and pulled pork sandwiches this weekend.

There’s something about the calendar turning over to a new year, combined with a bounty of pro and college football games that seems to stoke appetites among those who have experienced his hickory smoked barbecue.

“I let it smoke, smoke, smoke,” he said. “The smoke is the key to the whole thing.”

Hinton, 70, is the third generation of his family to practice the barbecuing art. The two earlier generations had brick-and-mortar stores in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

But that’s not for Hinton, who has long had a roadside barbecue stand in Parrish. This year, he bought a new food truck, what he calls his “exit plan,” should he ever decide to retire.

Hinton serves barbecue from Choo-Choo’s Catering food truck from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays in the parking lot of Oil Masters Quik Lube, 8710 Old Tampa Road.

But he advises that he often sells out before 3 p.m.

“Come early. If you don’t, it’s not my fault,” he said.

Long-time customer Jason Waters will vouch for Choo-Choo’s popularity.

“I travel a lot, and wherever I go, I ask locals who has the best barbecue,” he said, adding that none compare to what Choo-Choo serves.

“It’s the best,” Waters said.

“He’s a good, genuine person. He is good to everybody, and everybody knows and loves him,” Waters said.

Waters has also seen when fans arrive too late to get their plate of ribs or chicken.

“The look on their faces is so sad when they come with money in hand,” he said.

Choo-Choo’s origin

Hinton is originally from Chattanooga. He played center for the same Alabama A&M football team that featured receiver John Stallworth, who went on to 14 seasons of Hall of Fame stardom for the Pittsburgh Steelers.

Hinton played pro football for two years in the Canadian Football League and was later a career trucker for AAA Cooper Transportation.

“Everything I have, I owe to AAA. God bless, he was great to us. And I saved my money,” Hinton said.

After he moved to Florida, folks nicknamed Hinton “Choo Choo,” as in the song “Chattanooga Choo Choo,” and the name stuck.

Twenty-four years ago, at the invitation of the owner of T&T Shell, 6001 Palmer Blvd., Sarasota, Hinton opened a roadside barbecue stand across from the original Detwiler’s Farm Market, and has been there ever since.

General manager Ricky Reed now assists Choo-Choo with the operation of both locations.

Hinton has lived off Erie Road in Parrish for 30 years. He began selling barbecue in front of the former Kmart off U.S. 301 in Ellenton and then at the Parrish Marathon station before settling in next to the Quik Lube.

“The traffic never stops,” he says of the ready customer base.

The menu

Choo-Choo’s big smoker can handle 30 slabs of ribs and 30 pieces of boneless, skinless chicken breasts at one time.

But before he gets to the smoking, he applies the “Tennessee Rub,” his family’s specialty, on Monday or Tuesday, and then lets it marinate in cold storage until the weekend.

Once the meat finishes smoking, he places it on a steam table, awaiting the next customer.

Customers can choose from slabs of ribs, dinners and sandwiches.

A slab of ribs and three sides sells for $35. One-half slab of ribs with two sides is $20.

A rib dinner and two sides is $15. A chicken or pulled pork dinner with two sides is $10. A rib sandwich is $10 and a chicken or pulled pork sandwich sells for $8.

Sides include baked beans, potato salad and coleslaw.

The most popular menu item? The pulled pork sandwich.

All of it — the ribs, the chicken and the pulled pork — has brought fans to Choo-Choo’s.

“I have a real big following, like the Grateful Dead,” Hinton says of the cult following of the legendary 1960s-1970s rock band.

What to know

▪ Name of the business: Choo-Choo’s Catering, Inc.

▪ Parrish address: 8710 Old Tampa Road.

▪ Sarasota address: 6000 Palmer Blvd.

▪ Parrish hours: 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday

▪ Sarasota hours: 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday only

▪ Phone: (941-) 812-0385

▪ Online: none (“I’m old school,” Hinton said. “If you don’t know me now, you don’t know.”)

Also offered: catering for parties, weddings and major events