At the heart of the Bandana's story is a dedicated family of restaurateurs who developed the southern style smoking process in Florida, dating back four generations. That's where the blend of that slow smoking process and the family's recipe of unique flavor enhancing dry rubs was perfected.

This combination requires 11 to 14 hours in the smoker, to produce our signature, Bandana's Bar-B-Q taste. Only American hardwoods are used in this unique process because the smoke compliments the ultimate taste of the barbeque. Bandana’s introduced southern style barbeque to St. Louis, MO, in 1996. The reception was overwhelming. Today, Bandana's has grown to a force of 23 stores in Missouri, Illinois, Iowa, and Kansas.

We Cook It Slow But Serve It Fast
We really know how to slow cook great tasting barbecue just the way barbecue lovers like it. And we serve it in a fun and friendly environment that appeals to both business people at lunch, and families anytime. Kids love our clean and casual interiors but parentsappreciate our fast service. We experience more table turns per day than restaurant industry standards. We can provide a pleasant dining experience for a table of four and have them back on the road within 30 minutes. Faster table turns translate into more sales per mealtime period. Our servers realize more income from these fast turns, and that makes them more loyal. Bandana's has a lower turnover rate than industry averages.

Carry Out Represents 25% Of Our Total Revenue
Carry out means Big Profits at Bandana's. That's a nice business to have. Without tables to serve and bus, each meal represents an easier profit. Customers can call ahead or just stop by on their way home to pick up our delicious food. Our barbecue is the ideal Carry Out meal. Our "To Go" orders are packed in insulated Styrofoam containers that keep them warm on the trip home. Our restaurants have reserved parking, so Carry Out patrons are in and out in a flash.

We Use Catering As Our
Primary Sampling Device and
It's Profitable
Bandana’s catering sales in excess of 10% of total revenues. So you can imagine how seriously we take this service. For this reason, each Bandana's Bar-B-Q Restaurant has a staff of employees that work specifically for the catering side of the business. We've catered office parties and social gatherings for Boeing, Edward Jones, Enterprise Rent-A-Car, Energizer Battery Company, Monsanto and the University of Missouri. Everybody enjoys barbecued food, but they really love Bandana's. We like to think of our catering business as our primary sampling device. Invariably, some questions about Bandana's and our great tasting food will come up at these events and we want our people to tell the appropriate brand stories that support the award-winning Bandana's brand.