TA S T E
The Common
Grounds member
feature gives your business the
opportunity to showcase “a day in the
life” of your employees and customers.
Each month, one of the door prizes at
the Business After Hours event will be a
Common Grounds Lakeland Chamber
coffee mug & the opportunity to
submit a 350 word article about
your local business.
SMOKIN' ACES BBQ
CO-OWNER ROBERT JORDAN WITH HIS
WIFE PATRICIA AND THEIR THREE CHILDREN,
ROBBIE JORDAN, JENNIFER JORDAN
AND JOSH J0RDAN.
WWW.SMOKINACESBBQ.NET
22 | F O R U M F O R B U S I N E S S
a
of
local business
o n e c u p at a t i m e
Smokin' Aces BBQ was founded by the Jordan
Family of Plant City, Florida in May 2012. CoOwned by father Robert Jordan and sons Robbie
& Josh, the original name was going to be
"Dad's BBQ". The name "Smokin' Aces BBQ" was
suggested by Robert's daughter Jennifer while
playing a family game of poker and the name
stuck.
We started out in front of a small car lot on US
92 in Plant City only open 2 days a week with just
a few cardboard signs with pink duct tape spelling
out BBQ as advertising. No logo, no banners, no
ads, no credit card machine... Just a cash only
operation with a small flip cell phone as a contact
number.
After about a month, we transferred to the
corner of County Line Road and US 92 on the Plant
City/Lakeland border in front of Mozart's Designs
where we would be stationed for over a year.
When the County decided to re-zone we had to
set up at multiple locations for 3 days at a time as
county laws allowed. We were in desperate need
of a home base to establish a full time operation.
In January 2014, we received an opportunity to
set up at the Keel & Curley Winery in Plant City,
Florida owned by Joe Keel & family. Keel & Curley
was in need of a full [YH