Smokin’ Aces BBQ was founded by the Jordan family of Plant City, Florida in May of 2012. Co-Owned 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. With help of Robert’s wife Patricia, his father Edward, Lawson’s Hardware of Plant City, and family friends Tammy & Chad Gasaway, Smokin’ Aces BBQ finally launded 4 months after it was founded in Spetember of 2012.
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. Mozart owners, Mo and Jerry were instrumental in our growth and stuck with us while we went though the financial struggles a lot of small businesses go through. Our operation expanded from being open 2 days a week to 3, to 4 and finally 5 days a week Tuesday through Saturday. Originally, Jordan family members only worked at Smokin’ Aces as a 2nd job sometimes putting in 60-70 hours plus a week each to sustain the business. One by one, they were able to commit full time to the family business however as the reputation grew along with the customer base.
After a tough summer rainy season, Smokin’ Aces BBQ was gaining momentum through the fall/winter months of 2013 until a few days before Christmas, we received what could have ended up being a death sentence for a young business trying to establish themselves. County zoning officials informed us that we would have to cease operations at our corner due to it being zoned as industrial property. Over the next few weeks, we would 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 what would ultimately save our family buiness, 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 time food provider for their customers and we were in need of a full time location. Joe Keel gave us a trial period to try out based off of the food reviews of his employees and customers from when we worked a special event at the winery in December of 2013.
We began at the winery on January 15th,2014, and continued operations there until February 2016 growing our business to heights we only dreamed possible. Duriong our time at the winery, we launched our first restaurant in September 2014 in Lakeland right doen the road from our original location wherer our food trailer was setup. We were also ale to launch a fill serive steak, seafood and BBq restaurant called Smokin’ Aces Steakhouse in August of 2015. Smokin’ Aces Lakeland was closed in January 2018 to so we could focus on one loaction. We are now open 6 days a week at our Steakhouse location and offer fill catering services!
YOU MAKE EVERY MOMENT SPECIAL
We would not be where we are today without the help of several individuals and businesses and we are truly grateful for everything we have had to opportunity to achieve. We are especially thankful to our wonderful customers and cannot show our appreciation enough. We look forward to what the future holds!
– Jordan family