Atlanta restaurateurs Anita and Howard Hsu strike Southern gold with Sweet Auburn BBQ
Not your average BBQ. Anita and Ron Hsu, Atlanta restaurateurs have created a unique blend of Asian culture and Southern style. Growing up in a culinary family, the brother and sister duo opened Gezzo’s West Coast Burritos in Henry Country after graduating from the University of Georgia. Howard started to experiment with smoked meats and his special BBQ recipes won awards at different cook-off competitions and festivals in the city. Sweet Auburn Market saw how much Atlanta loved the Hsu barbecue style and invited Howard and Anita to open a permanent, counter service stall in 2012. The two decided to add a Sweet Auburn BBQ food truck business with great success.
Business boomed so much that in 2014, the Hsu’s expanded again, opening a full service, fine-dining restaurant including a full bar and cocktail menu in the Poncey-Highlands district of Atlanta. Anita and Ron Hsu have checked all the boxes for restaurant entrepreneurship. The Sweet Auburn BBQ brand includes a food stall, 3 catering food trucks and a brick-and-mortar location. Catering services include corporate catering, weddings, festivals, as well as event hosting at their Poncey-Highland location.
Their catering offerings include boxed lunches, catering platters and warm buffets. They make it easy for patrons to get a quote and schedule catering services.
As the city has a mix of different cultures in the South, the Hsu cooking style is what they’ve coined “Atlanta style BBQ.” When guests visit any location, they are greeted with Southern hospitality and are served fresh food and vegetables that the South is known for, including marinated meats with sauces and dry rub options.
Howard Hsu states that sometimes they use a cooking technique where depending on the meat, they baste and marinate it during the cooking process. Howard describes, “My philosophy is pretty straight forward, we want to use high quality meats, use good sustainable and local wood and deliver a consistent fresh, beautiful product for our guests.”
Anita explains that they add an Asian influence on many dishes including, the lemongrass ribs with a coconut ginger sauce and the award-winning Wu-Tang wings which feature a sweet and spicy chili sauce and a spicy Asian BBQ sauce. Their pimento cheese wontons are listed as one of Georgia’s official foods on exploregeorgia.org.
The king of Memphis melt was voted by the Huffington Post as one thing to try before you die. Sandwiched between two slices of Texas toast, it’s made with either pulled pork, chicken or beef brisket and topped with pepper jack cheese, slaw, lettuce and a fried egg. They also offer an amazing brunch on Sundays (at the Poncey-Highland location) with traditional breakfast items like pancakes, potatoes and eggs, and special items including burritos and chicken and waffles. It’s a great time to bring the family!
Seasonal items like the Sichuan collard greens and apple kimchi with fresh, local apples from Ellijay are available on the menu during their peak. At the Poncey-Highland location, cocktails, local beer and wine are offered. Their featured cocktail is called “Don’t burn the house down,” which is a whiskey drink where a log is burned, and the smoke is infused with the drink – a must have for all the whiskey lovers out there!
“They are super great to work with and always looking out for our best interests as far as quality and pricing are concerned…,” Anita states. Howard Hsu says that ACityDiscount is a part of their success as restaurateurs. They have bought everything from drink dispensers to buffet tables and merchandizers.
For more info on Sweet Auburn BBQ please visit their website,https://www.sweetauburnbbq.com/.
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