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Location: Magothy Beach Plaza Pasadena, MD 410.360.1600 www.andrewevansbbqjoint.com
The BBQ Joint
The worlds of fine dining and barbecue don’t have a lot in common. But moving from the former to the latter was a natural progression for Chef Andrew Evans, owner of The BBQ Joint.
ers alike. Evans recently competed in an episode of Food Network’s show Beat Bobby Flay , and he hopes to soon expand the Pasadena location. Through it all, he said, working with St. John Properties has been a great experience. “I’ve experienced some bad [landlords], and I couldn’t ask for a better one than St. John,” he declared. “They’ll help you in any way they can. They really want you to succeed.”
Before serving as a celebrity judge for the 2004 Jack Daniel’s World Championship Invitational Barbecue competition, Evans had no real experience with barbecue. But, he said, once he started tasting the en- trants’ food, “I was hooked. It’s easily one of the top five food experiences I’ve ever had.” Soon, the philosophy-major-turned-chef went on a quest to learn about barbecue, cooking for his family on his off hours and forming a competition barbecue team. He eventually sold his former restaurant and opened The BBQ Joint’s first location in Easton, Maryland, in 2010. In July 2013, he opened a second location, in Magothy Beach Plaza in Pasadena, Maryland. Evans had been looking to open a new location for about a year before meet- ing Bill Holzman, St. John Properties’ vice president of retail leasing. Holzman sug- gested the Magothy Beach Plaza location, and Evans said he fell in love with it. “It was big enough to get the kitchen right, there was plenty of space for the dining room, there was room for outdoor seating — it was a perfect match of the willingness on St. John’s part and our needs for the space,” he noted. Evans added that his Pasadena location is convenient for corporate catering in the Baltimore, Annapolis and Fort Meade areas.
Evans and The BBQ Joint continue to impress both culinary experts and custom-
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