Firehouse has BBQ on board

She said they usually take the truck to all of Princeton’s events, as well as other community festivals such as Wild West Days in Zimmerman, county fairs, the ERX racetrack, Granite City Speedway, Rat Rod Rally and many other activities in the region. After the Mille Lacs County Fair Aug. 7-9, the Stramdbergs will begin service in Princeton each Friday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. and sometimes longer if sales are going well. When the family does not have plans or activities, they might also bring the truck out on Saturdays.

Sara Stramdberg said the Firehouse BBQ truck will be at the Family Pathways Store during Princeton visits for a while, but she’s also talked to several other businesses in town about parking on their property, including Rum River Automotive, the site across from Hy Tech Automotive and Thrift with a Twist. She said generally she posts on the Firehouse Facebook page the times and places the truck will be around town.

The couple created the food truck themselves, which includes a built-in smoker. Menu items offered from the Firehouse BBQ truck include meals and sandwiches of brisket and pork, ribs, pastrami, cowboy nachos, a cowboy sundae and sides such as macaroni and cheese, cowboy beans, coleslaw or chips.

Sara Stramdberg said the ribs are a favorite. “Like this past Saturday, I did six racks of ribs and sold out in two hours.”

She said cowboy nachos, invented by her son, consist of chips, beans, pulled pork and cheddar cheese sauce as well as sour cream, if the customer wants it. Stramdberg’s husband and son created the cowboy sundae, which makes a meal in a cup with beans, pulled pork, a dill-pickle spear and a scoop of coleslaw.

“We do not sauce anything,” she said, reasoning that the custom-rubbed and smoked meat has “nothing to hide.”

Sara Stramdberg said Kurt Stramdberg served on the Princeton Fire Department for 21 years, and that came into play as they named the business. Firehouse seemed appropriate and catchy.

“It just fit us,” she said.