About Us

In early 2006, my wife Tammy voiced her desire to attend the first-ever Stagecoach Country Music Festival. And because tickets weren’t exactly in our budget at the time, I discovered a loophole—for less than 1/3 of the cost, we could attend as a competing BBQ team! I thought this plan was genius, but Tammy looked at me and said, “Ha! When pigs fly!”

And so our team was born.

We’ve continued on to compete on the BBQ circuit in the “pro” division, and have enjoyed much success. We have placed first numerous times for our brisket, tri-tip, pulled pork, and pork ribs. We’ve also been crowned “Grand Champion” at one of California’s largest BBQ contests.

Having success and sharing our food with others eventually led us to opening a small catering business. As this business began to grow, it became apparent we needed a larger workspace—could a restaurant be a possibility? (And by this point Tammy had told me again and again, “Dale, when pigs fly!”)

Wondering if we could really pull it off, we took When Pigs Fly BBQ to the 2013 and 2014 Stagecoach Music Festival as vendors, and served over 4,500 meals each year during the three-day festival. (We were also privileged to cook meals for the Zac Brown Band and Darius Rucker!)

With the waters tested, we finally felt ready to pursue our dream. In April 2014, our need for more space became as reality as we broke ground on our first restaurant inside our Chevron gas station in Vista, California.