3 local BBQ purveyors capture national acclaim, snag two ‘No. 1’ awards

Three local barbecue purveyors — one a restaurant, one that focuses on catering special events, and one a mail-order barbecue-sauce-and-rubs company founded by a local restaurant chef — collected some impressive hardware and awards at the National Barbecue & Grilling Association 2018 Awards of Excellence.

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Company 7 BBQ in Englewood captured 1st place in the all-purpose beef rub category for its "Rescue Rub." The category drew 45 entries from throughout the country.

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UrbanQ Smokehouse, a Waynesville-based mail-order company in its first year that sells sauces and rubs to backyard barbecue enthusiasts, won a first-place "People's choice" award for its Smokehouse Blues BBQ sauce. It also placed third in the "Fruit-Based Sauce" category for its Smokehouse Blues sauce, and sixth in the beef-rub category for its "It's All About the Meats & More" seasoning.

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UrbanQ Smokehouse was founded in recent months by Chris Cavender and his family. Cavender oversees 1572 Roadhouse Bar-B-Q on the grounds of the Ohio Renaissance Festival near Waynesville. For more information or to shop for rubs and sauces, go www.urbanqsmokehouse.com.

>> RELATED: Local BBQ restaurant snags ‘Best Sauce’ national award (May 2017)

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Historic BBQ based in Lebanon captured second place for "Best Label" for its BBQ Sweet Zing, and fifth place in the fruit-based sauce category for the same Sweet Zing sauce, and it also captured third place in the "Tomato/Spicy" sauce category for its Historic BBQ Spicy sauce.

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Historic BBQ caters parties, festivals, corporate events, luncheons, graduations, birthdays and other events. For more information and to see a menu, go to historicbbq.com/catering.

The first-place award for Company 7 was warmly received by the founders of the restaurant located at 1001 S. Main St. (Ohio 48) in Englewood.

>> RELATED: Local BBQ restaurant wins a 1st-place award in national competition (December 2016)

“Rescue Rub is one of our best secrets — we use it in almost all our dishes,” said Mary Grilliot, co-founder of Company 7. “It works well with pork, chicken, turkey, fish, almost any meat. It is equally delicious on sides, eggs, gravies — again almost anything and you can buy Rescue Rub for your use at home. HOWEVER, one word of caution: Rescue Rub is very powerful, so start seasoning with a restrained hand. One bottle of Rescue Rub will last you a long time, even though you will find yourself using it on most dishes.”

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Grilliot said her family has been developing Rescue Rub for more than 30 years.

“It is wonderful to see it nationally recognized,” she said.

>> RELATED: Local BBQ restaurant wins national acclaim for its sauces (July 2015)

Company 7 BBQ, with an atmosphere that evokes a 1920s-era firehouse, opened in December 2010. For more information, go to www.company7bbq.com.

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