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Just like your air-conditioning, summer is on full blast. That means it’s time for family parties, carnivals, fundraisers, and other gatherings where folks come in search of one thing: good eatin’.
Since the mid-90s, Grills on Wheels in Preston has been bringing everything, including the kitchen sink, to these special events. Owner Butch Frase said he started with a small butcher shop in Easton, “we were selling barbecue pigs to people, and I got the bright idea, well, I'll buy a grill and I'll sell ‘em a pig and rent the grill to ‘em, and that turned into them not just renting the grill but hiring me to cook the meat.”
Grills on Wheels travels from Preston to Delaware, Washington, D.C., New Jersey, Virginia, and everywhere in between. When I asked why Frase has kept his headquarters in Preston rather than moving to be near larger markets, he said, “Because this is where I was raised. This is home.” Frase lives on a large piece of property out in the Southern Caroline farmlands.
A small operation, Grills on Wheels runs on about a half-dozen or fewer employees at a time, “depending on the number of parties per weekend.” Frase said that his staff are mainly friends and family, with a great deal of support coming from his son and daughter.
“We go to people's facilities, businesses, backyards, and basically cook a variety of meats on a grill. We do not use kitchens… we cook everything on the grills.” Frase explained that Grills on Wheels can also serve full-blown catering menus, including homemade sides. Confident grill-masters can choose to rent one of Frase’s five grills instead. Amateur chefs who want to impress their families and leave their pride intact can visit the Grills on Wheels website for Frase’s personal recommendations.
The business has gotten to be a part of a lot of special events over the years. “Fundraisers for Boy Scouts, the baseball teams, the softball teams, just so much,” Frase said. They recently catered a 90th birthday party. Though he said he has slowed down due to his age, Frase is a part of every aspect of Grills on Wheels, managing the back-end business transactions while still grilling the occasional back-end of a pig.
His favorite part of the job is “meeting the people.” In fact, Frase believes it is his down-home personality, paired perfectly with his down-home cooking, that is so appealing to customers, “I think that our food is very good quality, we do get a lot of compliments. I'm very fair in my pricing…I think there's enough business out there that we will continue to stay busy, even with the competition. As long as you provide a good service, quality product, and fair pricing, there's always somebody that will hire you.”
