Carol Johnson | Southern Indiana Business Report
BEDFORD – Kansas City-style barbecue is coming to downtown Bedford.
Phat Daddy’s, a restaurant that started in Ellettsville in 2023 and has a second location in Scotland, will open in August at the corner of 15th and I streets.
Owner Bruce Parrott, who lives in Bedford, is excited for the opportunity to bring authentic Kansas City barbecue to the Lawrence County community. He began searching for a new location when he learned his lease was ending at the Ellettsville restaurant.
Parrott is currently making some changes to the building’s interior. Because the building on the Bedford square was previously a restaurant, Parrott said he won’t have to make many modifications.
“It’s going to be nice to be here,” he said.
Parrott was working in construction and had no plans to turn his barbecue hobby into a side hustle until he and his wife Kasey were invited to set up a barbecue stand at a festival in Spencer in 2020.
“We set up a table, a tent and a grill. We started at 11 o’clock and sold out by 1,” he said.
On the heels of that success, they made plans to attend a second festival. This time Parrott brought twice the meat.
“We sold out at 2,” he recalled.
Catering jobs followed and Phat Daddy’s was born.
The restaurant offers an extensive lunch and dinner menu that includes ribs, brisket, platters, wings, sandwiches, salads and a line-up of “loaded” fries and nachos. Daily specials like a half-rack of ribs and fries are just $10. Sides include homemade slaw, macaroni and cheese and what Parrott called “the star of the sides,” fried brussel sprouts and sweet potatoes drizzled with a balsamic honey glaze.
In just a few short years, Phat Daddy’s has earned the attention of southern Indiana barbecue aficionados. The eatery has won awards for best wings, best soul food, best caterer, and best barbecue restaurant.
Slow-cooked barbecue is Parrott’s specialty, but he credits his wife Kasey for her role in creating a business plan.
“She has played an integral part in Phat Daddy’s,” he said. “She’s the brains of all this.”
When reflecting on his early influences, Parrott said food “is in my blood.”
His dad was a general manager for Pizza Hut when the family lived in Gary and later worked as the nutrition director for the Area 10 Agency on Aging when the family moved to Bloomington.
But he said it was the weekend barbecues with extended family that sparked his passion for barbecue.
Parrott didn’t just love the taste of his family’s barbecue, he loved the reactions of people when they took that first bite of brisket.
“My dad and uncles would get all these accolades for their barbecue and it made everybody so happy,” he said. “As a kid, I thought, ‘I want to do that.’”
But there was a pecking order to the barbecue process, so Parrott started at the bottom, dumping the ashes and cleaning grills. Eventually he got to season the meat.
“My uncles always told me, ‘You can burn the potatoes, you can burn the bread but you can’t burn the meat,’” he said with a smile.
To stay up to date on the restaurant’s plans for opening, follow Phat Daddy’s BBQ Facebook page.