In this episode of Barbecue Catering Smarts, Michael Attias welcomes Kersten Grigg, Owner of Big Daddy’s BBQ in Boise, Idaho. What started with Kersten’s parents smoking prime rib and ribs out of the back of a bar eventually grew into a food truck, full-service catering, and a barbecue business now celebrating 20 years.
Kersten shares how Big Daddy’s catering operation evolved from almost entirely word-of-mouth growth into a more intentional sales and marketing effort across two restaurant locations. She explains why responsiveness is critical to winning catering business, how her team handles incoming leads, and why making the booking process as easy as possible can be the difference between securing an event and losing it to a competitor.
Michael and Kersten also dig into pricing, perceived value, and knowing which customers are the right fit. They discuss the importance of understanding what makes your catering experience worth the price—and why operators sometimes need to be willing to say no rather than compromise the quality and service their brand represents.
The conversation also explores technology and AI in catering, balancing automation with the personal touch customers expect, and the importance of continually adapting as the restaurant industry changes.
For Kersten, that willingness to pivot has been one of Big Daddy’s biggest keys to longevity. Her message to fellow operators is simple: be responsive, embrace the tools available to you, make things easier for your customers, and never stop adapting.
Barbecue Catering Smarts is sponsored by CaterZen Catering Software.
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✅ Responsiveness Wins Catering Business: Customers want to move through their to-do lists quickly. Answer the call, respond to the email, and make it easy for them to take the next step.
✅ Speed Matters After the Inquiry: Big Daddy’s aims to follow up with catering customers within 24–48 hours because waiting too long gives prospects time to find another caterer.
✅ Make Every Lead Trackable: Gathering the customer’s information and sending a baseline quote gives the team something concrete to follow up on instead of allowing an inquiry to disappear.
✅ Word of Mouth Can Start the Engine—But Marketing Accelerates It: Big Daddy’s grew largely through referrals for years before becoming more intentional with direct mail, offers, and outreach to local businesses.
✅ Turn Restaurant Customers Into Catering Customers: Big Daddy’s repeatedly reminds dine-in guests that catering is available, helping create crossover between the restaurant and catering sides of the business.
✅ Know the Value You Provide: Competing on price alone can undermine a strong catering operation. Operators need to understand the quality, service, and overall experience that justify their pricing.
✅ Not Every Customer Is Your Customer: Sometimes the right decision is to point a price-focused prospect elsewhere rather than compromise the experience your brand promises.
✅ Technology Should Support the Relationship: Kersten sees tremendous potential in AI and automation but believes catering—particularly weddings, funerals, and other meaningful events—still requires a personal connection.
✅ Don’t Get Stuck in Your Ways: One of Big Daddy’s keys to surviving and growing for 20 years has been its willingness to pivot as customers, technology, and the restaurant industry change.
✅ Make It Easier for the Customer—even When It’s Harder for You: Removing friction from the customer experience may require more work initially, but it can ultimately create a stronger and more scalable catering business.
🔹 “People just want a response and you can't make it harder than it should be.”
🔹 “Once they call, you just gotta answer. And you gotta talk to them.”
🔹 “The less complicated it is, the faster you get the booking.”
🔹 “If you miss that forty-eight-hour mark, they've already found someone else.”
🔹 “The goal is to provide a quality product.”
🔹 “I know that the service we're providing is far and above kind of what the other caterers around us in this little niche market are doing.”
🔹 “While not all transactions are personal, a lot of what we experience right now, especially with weddings and we do a lot of funerals, it is personal.”
🔹 “Don't be afraid of the tools that you're being given.”
🔹 “The only way you're going to grow in this economy and in this business is being able to pivot.”
🔹 “We take pivoting very seriously and we adjust.”
🔹 “You gotta be willing to make it less hard for everyone else, even if it makes it harder for you at the beginning.”
