Latest Edition of The Brew Features Lakeview Bar-B-Q

The Laurens County Chamber of Commerce hosted another engaging session of “The Brew” last week at Palmetto Brothers Dispensary in Laurens.

Each event begins with a presentation by a local entrepreneur about their business and challenges.  The presentation ends with 3-4 questions for the audience and then the conversation begins.  The presenter for this meeting was Tom Ashley of Lakeview Bar-B-Q Food Truck and Catering.

Ashley shared his journey to achieving his goal of owning and running a barbeque food truck and his goals for the future.

“Feeding people and seeing them enjoy the food is such a great thing,” said Ashley. “We appreciate the support of the local community and look forward to creating new experiences for our patrons.”

Tom and his wife, Shannon, are co-owners of Lakeview Bar-B-Q, LLC. Shannon is a Laurens native, and Tom moved to Laurens from Michigan as a teenager. They have been married for 18 years and four years they took their love of barbeque to the next level.

 “I started to experiment at home cooking for friends, family and church mission events,” said Ashley. “

In early 2020, Ashley started getting requests to cater and Lakeview Bar- B-Q, LLC was established. As business opportunities grew, they decided in early 2022 that it was time to expand with the purchase of a custom food truck.

Their food truck arrived in April 2022 and was featured at the grand opening of Palmetto Brothers Dispensary and has been booked ever since.

As part of his presentation to attending business owners Ashley outlined three goals for the Lakeview Bar-B-Q. These goals and the challenges they present were vetted with a lively discussion of engaged and invested business owners in attendance.

Goals for the business include:

• Create new menu items
• Expand business to other areas of the community
• Grow business to become full time

Ashley has been a professional truck driver for 28 years and is grateful that he has the flexibility to do both.

Lakeview Bar-B-Q is cooking up some great food with new menu items coming soon. Follow them on Facebook to get the schedule for the food truck and you can also find them at Palmetto Brothers Dispensary on the fourth Friday of each month.

More information about The Brew can be found under the “Chamber Events” tab on their website, www.laurenscounty.org.