Charlie and Derry sit down with Fernando González of Two Fifty BBQ in Riverdale Park, Maryland — one of the most talked-about Texas-style barbecue joints in the DMV. Fernando's road to the pit is unlike anyone's: he fell in love with Central Texas barbecue, started smoking Texas-style in El Salvador for Texans and expats near the US embassy, then brought it to Maryland — where a pandemic pivot and a Washington Post feature turned Two Fifty into a destination.

They get into brisket tamales and Salvadoran roots on a Texas menu, scratch-made chili, rising brisket prices, and what it takes to run wood-fired barbecue through a brutal summer.

Find @TwoFiftyBBQ on all social media platforms.

SINGLE TREE NATION Hosted by Charlie Eblen with co-host Dari Wells.

Brought to you by Toast.

Contact: [email protected]

#BBQ #TexasBBQ #SingleTreeNation #2FiftyBBQ #Barbecue #Brisket #Podcast

Single Tree Nation sits down with Terren Williams, owner and pitmaster of Slow Fire BBQ in Savannah, Georgia — a culinary-school-trained pastry chef turned Texas-style barbecue obsessive who's redefining what wood-fired barbecue looks like on the Georgia coast.

In this episode, Charlie Eblen and Derry Wells get one of the most story-rich conversations the show has had this year. Terren walks the guys through his path from Savannah to Powder Springs, Georgia — where his first taste of "barbecue love" came in the form of Johnny's BBQ hickory fries during two major breakups — through culinary school and a career as a pastry chef, into a stint running the second location of Mashama Bailey's James Beard Award–winning restaurant The Grey. Then COVID hit, he got let go, and he spent the pandemic DoorDashing and soul-searching until his nephew slid him some capital and told him barbecue was his calling.

Terren also gets deep into what real Texas barbecue is — his first Smitty's Market experience in Lockhart with fires on the floor and brick pits that singed his leg hair, cooking at the LA Food Bowl with Pat Martin standing right behind Aaron Franklin's setup, and the week he spent at Truth BBQ with Leonard Botello being shown everything from meat sourcing to fire management. Plus the philosophy behind Slow Fire — sustainable sourcing, low country flavors woven into Texas-style barbecue, garlic-infused tallow, and educating a Savannah market where most competitors are still gas-assist steel pits and sauce-heavy rib shacks.

The conversation covers the craft in real detail: brisket sourcing, wrapping and resting philosophy, garlic-in-honey fermentation, house-made Asian BBQ sauce on Brussels sprouts, the "Mac Crunchies" topping (ground Chili Cheese Fritos and Ritz crackers in brown butter), and why Turkey might be the most underrated cut in barbecue. Plus Charlie's now-legendary rants about the one-star review from the lady who ate every single rib clean off the bone, and the one-star from someone complaining that outdoor seating in coastal Georgia in summer is hot.

Also in this episode: Charlie's new t-shirt idea "Hot, Fresh, and Fully Rested" born live on the air, why he got denied for the license plate HOECAKES by the state of Tennessee, and the Ernest-from-Burnt-Bean ghost story callback.

⏱ Chapters: 00:00 – Cold open: motorcycle license plates and the HOECAKES denial 07:16 – Meet Terren from Slow Fire BBQ in Savannah, Georgia 09:00 – Toast POS and why every restaurant should be using Davo for sales tax 14:10 – First BBQ love: Johnny's BBQ hickory fries in Powder Springs, Georgia 17:15 – "Hot, Fresh, and Fully Rested" — a t-shirt is born 20:30 – Moving back to Savannah in 2019 and the Texas barbecue awakening 21:20 – Smitty's Market in Lockhart: fires on the floor and the real deal 24:00 – The rise of craft barbecue: Michelin stars, James Beard awards 25:30 – Garlic-infused tallow and imparting flavor into every rib 27:00 – Educating customers on what real barbecue actually is 29:15 – Sweet tea, Sonny's, and the Southern barbecue nostalgia problem 30:00 – Slow Fire's name, the slow food movement, and Savannah's barbecue desert 33:15 – LA Food Bowl: cooking with Pat Martin, standing behind Aaron Franklin 36:00 – William Darney's pastrami from Hometown BBQ and Pat Martin's rub recipe 39:40 – COVID, The Grey, and getting let go 41:15 – DoorDashing, soul searching, and the nephew who believed 44:00 – The community of barbecue and mentorship at Truth BBQ with Leonard 47:15 – The one-star review from the lady who ate every rib clean off the bone 51:00 – The one-star review about outdoor seating being hot in Savannah 52:20 – What to order first: brisket, turkey, and Saturday oxtails 54:30 – Low country flavors, boiled sausage with Georgia shrimp 57:00 – Mac or Beans segment and the Mac Crunchies reveal 59:15 – Tomahawk pork chops and the new menu direction 1:00:00 – The new location: 410 East 37th Street in Savannah 1:03:20 – Pastrami Reuben Thursdays, brisket smash Fridays, oxtail Saturdays 1:04:15 – Ethiopian berbere-rubbed pulled lamb gyros 1:05:20 – Friday Feel Good: never stop learning (Mike Rowe)

Connect with Slow Fire BBQ: 🍖 410 East 37th Street, Savannah, GA 📅 Currently open Thursday–Saturday 📸 Instagram: @slowfirebbq

🎙 Single Tree Nation — real conversations, single takes. Hosted by Charlie Eblen and Derry Wells. 🌳 Part of the Spread The Positive Network.

📻 Every Saturday morning on ESPN 94.9 The Fan from 8–9 a.m. 📧 [email protected] | 📞 (615) 307-0120

👍 Like, share, and subscribe so you never miss an episode.

#SlowFireBBQ #SavannahBBQ #GeorgiaBBQ #TexasStyleBBQ #CraftBarbecue #TruthBBQ #FranklinBBQ #SmittysMarket #TheGreySavannah #PastryChef #BBQPodcast #PitmasterInterview #SingleTreeNation #SpreadThePositive #NashvillePodcast #LowCountryBBQ #Oxtails #WoodFiredBBQ

Single Tree Nation sits down with Leng Yang the first-generation Hmong American pitmaster behind It's Different Barbecue Company in Buford, Georgia — an Atlanta suburb where he's redefining what Southern barbecue can look like when you refuse to pick a lane. In this episode, Charlie Eblen and Derry Wells get one of the most powerful backstories the show has ever recorded.

Leng walks the guys through his family's escape from Laos during the Vietnam War as the Communist Viet Cong retaliated against Hmong scouts who had worked with the CIA, the refugee camps in Thailand, and how his family ended up in Illinois while his wife's family was split off to France.

From there: growing up as one of thirteen kids in a pastor's household, moving from Illinois to Wisconsin to Florida to South Carolina, meeting his wife through an AOL chat mishap, and building a twenty-year career as a software developer — all before barbecue found him. Leng opens up about the year that changed everything: his wife's ruptured brain aneurysm in 2022, his own diagnosis with a rare skin cancer months later, and getting laid off from his corporate job in 2023.

His wife's response — "let's go after this" — became the foundation for the restaurant. Just over a year in, It's Different BBQ has become one of the most creative fusion barbecue concepts in Georgia, blending brisket fried rice, beef bourguignon, chicken parmesan sandwiches, pork belly with sticky rice, and traditional Texas-style plates under one roof.

The conversation also digs into the philosophy behind the name — treating barbecue as an ingredient, not a destination — the challenges of breaking into a tight-knit Buford community as an "outsider" from twenty minutes up the road, the ghost named Norman in his 200-year-old building, and the two Instagram stories (an Uber driver's lost Crocs and a Father's Day catering pickup that couldn't pay) that show exactly what "my family is trying to serve your family" means in practice.

Plus, the return of the Great Bean Debate: Charlie confesses he changed his bean recipe back to canned beans after customer pressure — and now gets more compliments than ever.

⏱ Chapters:

00:00 – Cold open: Southern summer heat and life behind a smoker

02:15 – Meet Leng from It's Different BBQ in Buford, Georgia

05:30 – The Hmong story: Vietnam War, CIA scouts, and refugee camps

08:00 – "Eighth person": one of thirteen kids in a pastor's household

10:00 – Learning to cook, the buddy who introduced him to real barbecue

11:55 – Twenty years as a software developer

12:15 – Wife's ruptured brain aneurysm and rare skin cancer diagnosis

13:20 – Getting laid off and taking the leap into barbecue

15:30 – Illinois to Wisconsin to Florida to South Carolina

17:35 – Meeting his wife through an AOL chat

18:35 – Norman the ghost and the 200-year-old building

20:15 – "Leng's Awesome BBQ" and why they killed the name

22:00 – The philosophy of "It's Different" — BBQ as ingredient, not destination

24:30 – The menu: beef bourguignon, brisket fried rice, and fusion plates

27:00 – Barbecue sushi and smoked strawberry ice cream ideas

28:45 – The Uber driver's Crocs and Instagram community

31:20 – The Father's Day family who couldn't pay

34:00 – What to order on your first visit

36:15 – Complaints about "tender" brisket and the importance of resting meat

39:20 – Mac or Beans segment

42:00 – The Great Bean Debate returns: Daniel Vaughn's scratch-beans challenge

45:30 – Charlie changes his beans back to canned — and the compliments roll in

48:30 – Dinner For Two: Joshua from the Bible

52:30 – Restaurant hours and operations

54:00 – Prime rib Sundays and cowboy prime rib Fridays

55:30 – Closing thoughts on the craft

59:30 – Friday Feel Good: how you measure people, and how they measure you

Connect with It's Different Barbecue Company:

🍖 Buford, Georgia (Atlanta suburb)

📸 Instagram: @itsdifferentbarbecueco

🎙 Single Tree Nation — real conversations, single takes. Hosted by Charlie Eblen and Derry Wells.

🌳 Part of the Spread The Positive Network.

📻 Every Saturday morning on ESPN 94.9 The Fan from 8–9 a.m. 📧 [email protected] |

📞 (615) 307-0120

👍 Like, share, and subscribe so you never miss an episode.

#ItsDifferentBBQ #BufordGeorgia #AtlantaBBQ #HmongAmerican #FusionBarbecue #BrisketFriedRice #CraftBarbecue #BBQPodcast #PitmasterInterview #SingleTreeNation #SpreadThePositive #NashvillePodcast #GeorgiaBBQ #FirstGenerationAmerican

Single Tree Nation sits down with Tim Hutchins, owner and pitmaster of Hutchins BBQ — the McKinney and Frisco, Texas institutions his father started on the side of the road in 1978. Tim was literally born into the business, living in a 10x10 room at the end of the barbecue joint as an infant, playing in cooled ash piles as a kid, and eventually taking over the family restaurant during one of the toughest chapters of his life.

In this episode, Tim opens up to Charlie Eblen and Derry Wells about growing up in a barbecue family, filing personal bankruptcy at 22 with over $200,000 in family debt hanging over his head, and the moment in 2011 that changed everything — walking into a place he'd never heard of called Franklin Barbecue and setting a new standard for what Hutchins BBQ could become.

The conversation gets deep into the craft and the business side of Texas barbecue: sourcing Creekstone Prime brisket (and why Franklin buys it all), the move to American Wagyu from Rosewood Ranch, RC Ranch, Greater Omaha, and Mishima, why the commodity beef market is broken with a 70-year low in prime supply, and how Hutchins burns through 9 to 10 cords of oak per week between two stores. Tim breaks down his 40% yield strategy, the M&M rotisserie pits vs. offsets debate, running eight rotisserie pits plus a Zeus at the McKinney store, and why fire management still matters even when you have all the automation in the world.

Tim also gets real about scaling craft barbecue — running 240+ employees, coaching versus bossing, and the honest limit of how many locations you can build before the feel starts to slip. Plus, why he charges what he charges for brisket, why "budget shoppers aren't your customer," and the philosophy behind trying to be "a five-star restaurant in a barbecue shack."

Also in this episode:

• The 2002 bankruptcy and the two-year payoff grind
• The 2012 fire and rebuilding culture
• Sourcing brisket in a broken beef market
• Wagyu vs. Prime yield tests on the block
• The Lucky Linker sausage machine game-changer
• Texas Twinkies, jalapeño cheddar sausage, and pork ribs
• Dinner For Two: Paul the Apostle
• Mac or Beans: pinto beans, real Texas style
• Friday Feel Good: Gary Vee on ego

Connect with Hutchins BBQ: 🍖 Hutchins BBQ McKinney: 1301 N Tennessee St, McKinney, TX 🍖 Hutchins BBQ Frisco: 9225 Preston Rd, Frisco, TX 🌐 Website: HutchinsBBQ.com 📦 Nationwide shipping via Goldbelly

🎙 Single Tree Nation — real conversations, single takes. Hosted by Charlie Eblen and Derry Wells. 🌳 Part of the Spread The Positive Network.

📻 Every Saturday morning on ESPN 94.9 The Fan from 8–9 a.m. 📧 [email protected] | 📞 (615) 307-0120

👍 Like, share, and subscribe so you never miss an episode.

#HutchinsBBQ #TimHutchins #TexasBBQ #McKinneyTexas #FriscoTexas #WagyuBrisket #CreekstoneFarms #FranklinBBQ #CraftBarbecue #BBQPodcast #PitmasterInterview #SingleTreeNation #SpreadThePositive #NashvillePodcast #BBQBusiness #TexasFood

This week on Single Tree Nation, we've got a rare two-guest show: musician Justin Andrews and coffee entrepreneur Darren Spicer — the duo behind Cowboy Mud Rub, a coffee-based spice rub built on Justin's grandfather's third-generation recipe.

The backstory is a good one. Darren built a drive-through coffee company in the Carolinas and sold it to Dutch Bros. Justin grew up in Oklahoma in a family of traveling bluegrass-gospel musicians — with a grandfather (a butcher) who smoked meat all night and cooked with a coffee-based rub he'd perfected over the years. Justin landed in Nashville after a run on Season 10 of The Voice, crossed paths with Darren over a coffee deal, mentioned the family rubs almost as an afterthought... and a spice company was born.

In this episode:

- Why coffee makes it work — the rub penetrates and breaks down the fat as it cooks, tenderizing it and locking in flavor. Even folks who normally cut the fat off a steak end up eating it. (And the caffeine cooks off, so no jitters.)

- The three flavors — Original (grandpa's untouched recipe, with Hawaiian salt), Maple Bourbon, and Spicy.

- What to put it on — steaks, brisket, burgers, prime rib, mac and cheese, eggs, even popcorn (the maple bourbon is a sleeper hit).

- Big ideas and squirrels — a first-ever Rutherford County Veterans Day Parade, dreams of Cowboy Kent Rollins on a chuck wagon, and getting Single Tree Nation onto Radio Row for the 2030 Nashville Super Bowl.

- Nashville then vs. now — Broadway before the barricades, CMA Fest back when it was "Fanfare," and surviving a Fourth of July crowd downtown. - Dinner for Two — Darren picks a childhood hero he can't sit down with anyone: Tune In

- Plus a "Friday Feel Good": take the high road, play the long game, and let time make you a better person.

LINKS

- Cowboy Mud Rub — all three flavors online: cowboymudrub.com | Instagram @cowboymudrub - Justin Andrews Music — on all streaming platforms; booking: [email protected]

Single Tree Nation airs Saturdays 8-9 AM on ESPN 94.9 The Fan (Nashville).

Reach the show at [email protected] or 615-307-0120. Like, share, and subscribe on YouTube.

Roger Vaughn has done just about every job in the meat business — driving no-AC box trucks for his family's sausage company, running the supply chain that fed KFC, Popeyes and Church's, brokering chicken loads from his car during COVID, even delivering pizzas on the side. Now his name is on the building at Off the Dock Foods in Nashville.

In this episode of Single Tree Nation, Roger sits down with Charlie Eblen and Derry Wells to talk about that wild career, why he calls himself "one of the wealthiest people in the world," and the BBQ philosophy that's carried him through it all: cook by feel, not by a thermometer.

It's part business story, part pitmaster masterclass, part Friday feel-good — brisket trimming and fire science, the only three Middle Tennessee joints still cooking on 100% wood, a white sauce headed to retail, and a "Dinner for Two" that lands on two awesome options.

CHAPTERS

0:00 Cold open

1:02 Show open with Charlie Eblen & Derry Wells

1:46 Meet Roger Vaughn of Off the Dock Foods

2:22 Inside Off the Dock: 70,000 lbs of poultry a week

5:19 A 1950s whole-hog sausage dynasty

6:43 No-AC meat trucks & a $20M business with no computer

8:41 GoldKist: feeding KFC, Popeyes & Church's

10:17 Going public & the Pilgrim's takeover

11:22 Butts Foods: building Nashville from scratch

12:12 The Dave story: an ex-con who built an $11M branch

16:27 Expanding across the South — and walking away (2018)

17:06 Burnout, nine months off, faith & a reset

19:09 Kelly's Foods & standardizing the chaos

20:48 Miami stories: Cuban coffee, dialects & a lost horse track

25:51 COVID: brokering chicken & delivering Jet's Pizza

27:31 The kitty litter plant in Dyersburg

29:05 The Off the Dock saga: "I don't want you"

34:41 "Every department was a Kramer"

37:15 Wealth, freedom & leaving a legacy

40:50 Sponsor: Dead Meat Society

41:51 Brisket debrief with Gary

44:22 The chicken Alfredo first date

46:17 Smoking at home on a Pit Boss (even at -17°F)

48:25 BBQ science: barometric pressure, wood & feel

51:04 100% wood vs. gas & liquid smoke

53:52 The economics of brisket: 99¢ to $8 a pound

56:17 "Barbecue is about feel, not a thermometer"

58:10 Dinner for Two: Ice Cube & Charles Barkley

61:50 Mac & cheese vs. baked beans

62:43 Building a sauce — and a white sauce going retail

65:58 Competition BBQ: Praise the Lard & Smoke on the Shores

68:16 Why a restaurant-great brisket can still lose

69:03 Roger's Friday feel-good closing

ABOUT THE GUEST Roger Vaughn is a partner at Off the Dock Foods, a Nashville-based center-of-the-plate protein supplier (poultry, beef, pork and seafood).

Off the Dock Foods: OffTheDockFoods.com | Office: 615-350-6170 (ask for inside sales)

ABOUT THE SHOW Single Tree Nation is a Middle Tennessee BBQ show hosted by Charlie Eblen of Single Tree BBQ with co-host Derry Wells. Airs Saturdays 8–9 AM on ESPN 94.9 The Fan. Get on the show or say hi: 615-307-0120 | [email protected]

Sponsored by Dead Meat Society — "join the Society, stay soft." DeadMeatSociety.com

Like, share and subscribe for more BBQ stories, craft and conversation every week.

Single Tree Nation sits down with Brandon Hoy, co-founder of Roberta's Pizza in Bushwick, Brooklyn — the wood-fired pizza institution behind the legendary Bee Sting, the two-Michelin-star Blanca next door, and ten locations across the country including the Roberta's inside Urban Cowboy in Nashville.

In this episode, Brandon walks Charlie Eblen and Derry Wells through a 35-year hospitality journey: growing up in Napa, working the butcher counter at Ernie's Meats, cooking at Roy's Kahana in Hawaii, bartending his way through New York City in the early 2000s, and opening Roberta's in 2008 with a borrowed pizza oven and a vision for a Brooklyn community watering hole.

He shares how he learned to make pizza from a dump truck driver in a small Italian town, why their Pavazzi 180 was the first wood-fired pizza oven of its kind in America, and how the legendary Bee Sting pizza — soppressata, Calabrian chili, and honey — predates the entire hot-honey-on-pizza trend.

Brandon also goes deep on the craft: barometric pressure and dough, hardwood selection and leopard blistering, why wood-fired pizza isn't really about smoke, and the mistakes home cooks make with backyard pizza ovens. He talks honestly about the burden of Michelin stars, the Dave Portnoy / Barstool One Bite era, and why "fun" is the most underrated word in a modern restaurant pitch deck. Plus — Brandon's official ruling on pineapple on pizza, the Beastmaster pizza that shouldn't have worked, the sweet potato pizza that didn't, and his Dinner For Two pick (1980s Anthony Bourdain and Eric Ripert).

In this episode:

-Growing up in Napa, Hawaii line cooking, and NYC bartending

-Opening Roberta's in Bushwick with $0 and a borrowed pizza oven -

Learning Neapolitan pizza in Italy from a dump truck driver

-Why Roberta's became "a pizza place that served beer instead of a bar that served pizza" The Bee Sting pizza and inventing hot honey on pizza

-Earning two Michelin stars at Blanca — and the burden that comes with them

-Wood-fired pizza science: heat, hardwood, hydration, and humidity

-Pineapple on pizza, the Beastmaster pie, and the sweet potato pizza that flopped

-Dinner For Two: Bourdain and Eric Ripert in their '80s prime What's next for Brandon and Roberta's Connect with Roberta's: 🍕 Website: robertaspizza.com

📍 Locations: Brooklyn, Nashville (inside Urban Cowboy), and more 📸

Instagram: @robertaspizza 🎙 Single Tree Nation — real conversations, single takes. Hosted by Charlie Eblen and Derry Wells.

🌳 Part of the Spread The Positive Network.

📻 Catch us every Saturday morning on ESPN 94.9 from 8–9 a.m. 📧 [email protected] | 📞 (615) 307-0120

👍 Like, share, and subscribe so you never miss an episode.

#RobertasPizza #BrandonHoy #BrooklynPizza #WoodFiredPizza #BeeSting #MichelinStar #PizzaPodcast #SingleTreeNation #SpreadThePositive #NashvillePodcast #BushwickBrooklyn #PizzaMakers #RestaurantBusiness

Charlie Eblen and co-host Derry Wells welcome John Bates of Interstellar BBQ — the Northwest Austin joint that landed at #6 on Texas Monthly's Top 50 — for an hour on the craft, the grind, and the genius behind one of Central Texas's destination barbecue spots.

John breaks down trading an eight-year scratch sandwich shop for brisket, the fleet of pits behind the smoke (from his beloved "Big Merc" to a Brazilian-built "True Bomb"), why post oak is the terroir of Central Texas, and the signature peach-tea glazed pork belly that became a very good problem.

Plus: the 2 AM start to a 21-hour cook day, turkey as the unsung star of Texas barbecue, free beans, and the now-legendary "make your beans from scratch" gut-punch from Texas Monthly's Daniel Vaughn.

CHAPTERS 0:00 — "I'd rather be busy than broke" (cold open)

0:42 — Welcome back to Single Tree Nation

1:43 — Sponsor: Toast POS

3:05 — Meet John of Interstellar BBQ (#6, Texas Monthly Top 50)

6:15 — The bean confession: Daniel Vaughn's scratch-beans rule

10:29 — Pork belly in the charro beans ("supercharged bacon")

13:03 — Origin story: scratch sandwich shop to barbecue

15:09 — The pits: Big Merc, Moberg & the Brazilian "True Bomb"

20:00 — Why post oak — the terroir of Central Texas

20:45 — Break / Dead Meat Society

22:20 — "How do you know it's done?" Cooking by feel

27:59 — The 2 AM start & 21-hour cook day

30:51 — Turkey, lamb & duck in beef country

32:40 — Mac or Beans?

35:31 — The peach-tea glazed pork belly

38:33 — Where the name "Interstellar" came from

41:00 — Dinner with anyone: the first person to eat an oyster

45:10 — What's next for Interstellar

46:54 — Barbecue classes coming this year

48:13 — No gatekeeping: why sharing recipes is good

52:01 — How to plan your visit (get there by 9:30)

54:09 — The "Interstellar Trinity" tray

54:38 — Free beans (up to a pint, on the house)

56:04 — Friday Feel-Good 57:00 — Where to find Interstellar

59:10 — Outro

Find Interstellar BBQ: Northwest Austin (near Cedar Park), TX

Open Wed–Sun, sells out ~3:00–3:30

· IG/Twitter/Facebook @InterstellarBBQ

Single Tree Nation airs Saturday & Sunday, 8–9 AM on ESPN 94.9 The Fan.

Hosted by Charlie Eblen (Single Tree Bar-B-Que, Murfreesboro, TN) & Derry Wells.

Email: [email protected] · Phone: 615-326-0120

· Like, share & subscribe.

#Barbecue #BBQ #InterstellarBBQ #TexasBBQ #AustinBBQ #SingleTreeNation #BBQPodcast #Brisket #PorkBelly #TexasMonthly

Charlie Eblen and Derry Wells head to South Central Texas for an unforgettable conversation with Ernest Servantes, co-founder of Burnt Bean Co. — the Seguin-based craft BBQ joint that earned a spot on Texas Monthly's Top 50 BBQ Joints: 2025 Edition.

Ernest opens up about what it really takes to cook with live fire: the patience, the time, the feel, and the obsession with detail that turned a small Texas pit operation into one of the most talked-about names in American barbecue. From "you got to look good to cook good" to "you only get one shot — you got to hit a home run," he doesn't hold back on the mindset that drives the craft.

He also shares a story you don't expect from a BBQ episode — about the spirit that lives at the pit, a presence named Andrew, and why the passion and love that goes into every cook is bigger than any picture of the food.

Charlie and Derry take Single Tree Nation on the road this week to The Trailer Park — Lebanon, TN's first permanent food truck park, just off Highway 109. 20+ trucks, a barn-sized event hall, fire pits, a playground, weekly bingo with 100+ teams, and a PB&J beer from Knoxville's Zool that outsells everything else on the bar.

We pulled up a picnic table and sat down with three of the people making it run.

Featured Guests

🍩 Camila Lopez — The Burro Churro (@theburrochurro) A year into the food truck life and one of the original Trailer Park residents (since mid-November). LA transplant turning a family churro recipe into traditional churros, churro bites, filled churros, churro sundaes, ice cream sandwiches, and the Dubai Strawberry Cup (chocolate-pistachio cream + crunch). A second trailer rolls out in April — book it for events, weddings, and pop-ups via Instagram.

🐟 Erin Powell — My Sister's Keeper Mobile Kitchen Run by Aaron's mom and her four sisters — five-strong sisterhood serving up southern comfort straight out of grandma's recipe book. They used to run a brick-and-mortar called Granny's Kitchen before the building changed hands. Opened day one at The Trailer Park (October 31). The salmon patties will make you call your grandmother to apologize. Hospitality runs in the family — most of them are caretakers by trade.

🏡 Heather McConnell — Owner, The Trailer Park (gotothepark-tn.com) Heather and her husband (a dentist) moved from Oregon, where food truck parks sit on every corner like Starbucks. She looked around Wilson County, saw nothing like it, and decided to build one. Pitching the concept to Lebanon's planning commission — "they looked at us like we had four heads" — was just the first hurdle.

Bought the land in '23, broke ground in '24, opened October 31, 2025. Now bingo nights fill the room, regulars stake out their lucky tables, and the PB&J beer sells two kegs a week.

Trailer Park Hours

- Mon–Thu: 11 a.m. – 8 p.m.

- Fri–Sat: 11 a.m. – 10 p.m.

- Sun: 11 a.m. – 7 p.m. -

🎯 Bingo Wednesdays • Live music select nights • Nonprofit nights

📍 Just south of I-40 / Hwy 109, Lebanon, TN - 🌐 gotothepark-tn.com — Instagram, Facebook, TikTok

Friday Feel Good "Learn from everyone, but don't let anyone think for you." — Dr. Jeremiah Johnston

Brought to you by Dead Meat Society — deadmeatssociety.com.

Catch Single Tree Nation Saturday & Sunday mornings on ESPN 94.9 The Fan.

Like, share, subscribe, and we'll see you out there.

Y'all be good.