Tuesday, April 7, was a bittersweet day for hungry Baker students, as the BBC closed down and Moose’s Backwoods BBQ opened in its place. Frank Foye, the owner of the BBC restaurant, has decided to shut the doors to put more focus on the gas station side of the Santa Fe Market business.

“It was cheap… and you could get half off in the evening,” one BBC fan, sophomore Kyle Fecteau, said. “The best part was going up with the guys, getting it, and coming back to eat on the roof of Sig Ep.”

This decision created an opportunity for Angela Barnhart, owner of Moose’s Backwoods BBQ, to expand her business from her current portable stand to a brick-and-mortar location.

“We are just expanding into the restaurant so that we have more seating,” Barnhart said. “We wanted a building location instead of our portable one. We keep growing. We’ve had a lot of Baker students and families request more barbeque.”

Moose’s Backwoods BBQ opened four years ago after Barnhart’s barbeque became heavily requested by family and friends. The portable stand traveled to festivals and local fairs before settling in Baldwin City at its current location.

“We had a lot of people in the community requesting our food so we went to being open a few days in Baldwin. Later, we grew to be open more days and weekends,” Barnhart said. “The more we grew the more we decided it was time to change and make the move.”

Although the portable location will continue to appear in fairs, Barnhart believes the restaurant location offers the chance to expand the menu to feature more barbeque options in a drive-through format, as well as offering breakfast, lunch and dinner hours.

In addition to the menu expansion, Barnhart believes the Santa Fe Market location gives the business more opportunities to reach Baker students.

“We’ve had so many wrestlers and softball players that are excited for our business. They’ve been the ones saying ‘I hope you get a building,’” Barnhart said. “We are excited to meet their needs as far as somewhere to hang out and enjoy some barbeque and burgers. We would like to see the college students spend their money on food here, rather than in Lawrence or Kansas City.”