A beloved local institution has gone national with an innovative method for delivering restaurant-quality meals to tables across the nation. And it’s not just your average restaurant quality, either, but prime steaks and savory seafood grilled, Santa Maria-style, over a live red oak fire.
The Hitching Post I, founded in Casmalia 56 years ago by the Ostini family, recently announced the launch of BBQ 2 You, a mail-order service that’s a first for the venerable eatery. Famous for dishing up corn-fed, mid-western beef grilled over a perpetually glowing barbecue pit, the Ostini family now also offers their signature steaks, lobster, and sides to diners not lucky enough to live within driving distance of their Central Coast location.
“We started BBQ 2 You a couple of months ago,” said Terri Ostini Stricklin, production manager of the new division. “Nobody barbecues like we do here in the Santa Maria Valley, and the food’s gaining popularity across the country, from Alaska to Maine.
“We have a lot of people locally who’ve tried it,” she added. “They want to taste it before they send it out to friends, and the feedback we’ve gotten is all good.”
Delectable items—including filet mignon, New York strip steak, an artichoke appetizer, and mixed veggies—are first seasoned with the restaurant’s special blend of herbs, and then quickly grilled, flash frozen, and vacuum packed in cooking pouches. Each shipment is delivered via second-day air and contains preparation instructions, which generally involve little more than heating a large pot of water and setting a timer.
“It’s so easy,” Stricklin declared. “You can come home from work, put on some water to boil, and have dinner in 20 minutes, because there’s no thawing time required. It’s not exactly like eating in the restaurant, but it’s the next best thing.”
According to Stricklin, the most popular offering so far has been “New York, New York,” a dinner for two comprised of twin Certified Angus New York strip steaks, an artichoke appetizer, and a mini-loaf of garlic bread. Other individually packaged items include baby back ribs, six-ounce filet mignons, lobster tails, mixed vegetables, and the Hitching Post’s famous garlic bread.
“We just added linguica and a two-pack tri-tip roast to the mail order menu,” Stricklin said. “The tri-tip and garlic bread are the only things we don’t recommend boiling in the bag. Those you just finish off in the oven.
“It’s so unlike the restaurant business,” she laughed. “I’ve worked at the Hitching Post for 38 years and you know when people are happy, and 99 percent of our customers are happy. But you don’t know when the food gets shipped somewhere else, and we want to make sure everyone is happy.”
The idea for BBQ 2 You began with Stacey Mosti, the daughter of Stricklin’s brother, Bill Ostini, who owns the Hitching Post I.
“Stacey came to us three years ago and said, ‘We have to do this,’” Stricklin explained. “She’d ordered food from an online company, but it was mediocre, so she figured if they could send out mail order food, we could do it a whole lot better.
“We spent a couple of years doing research and development,” Stricklin continued, “shipping all over the country, trying out different methods of preparation to see how it worked.”
With Mosti handling marketing and Stricklin overseeing production, the family leased space in Santa Maria to use as the USDA-approved kitchen they needed for the enterprise. They installed a walk-in freezer and cooler, as well as the requisite barbecue pit backed with a pile of neatly cut red oak.
Asked why they chose the Santa Maria location, Stricklin replied, “All six of us kids were born and raised in Santa Maria, so it’s home to us. If it wasn’t for this city and all our loyal customers, we wouldn’t still be in business after all these years.
“People keep saying that this is a rough time to start a business, because of the economy,” she continued, “but we’re optimistic. When times get tough, people know that with us, they get what they pay for.”
Steak lovers who’d rather do the grilling themselves can order the same quality aged filet mignon and New York strip steaks (lobster tails, too) served at the Hitching Post through BBQ 2 You. For a meal reminiscent of dinner in Casmalia, simply dust the beef with a little of the restaurant’s proprietary seasoning and cook over a hot fire—preferably red oak, but propane or briquettes will do in a pinch. Serve sizzling hot and dig into a Santa Maria-style tradition in the comfort of home.
INFOBOX: Get ready to eat
For more information or to order from BBQ 2 You, visit www.bbq2you.com, e-mail info@hitchingpostproducts.com, or call 1-800-510-1339. BBQ 2 You is currently taking holiday orders. Gift wrap and personal message cards are available upon request.
Hitching Post I is located at 3325 Point Sal Road in Casmalia. For more information, call 937-6151.
K. Reka Badger travels via second-day air. E-mail comments or ideas to rekabadger@hotmail.com.
This article appears in Oct 30 – Nov 5, 2008.
