Lexington, KY - Six days a week, you'll find Rory "Mutt" Snowden in front of his Georgetown Street rib shack, smoking ribs from a 50-gallon oil drum that's been pieced together to make a grill. While he may be operating on a fairly small scale now, Snowden has dreams of making it big - that is, turning Tobago Ribs, his catering and take-out service, into a national franchise.
One taste of Tobago's ribs and you will agree that it has what it takes - with the secret, of course, being in the sauce. That's where Snowden's wife, Sharadon (who moved to the United Sates from Trinidad when she was 17), comes into play. After years of hearing friends rave about Sharadon's sauce, the Snowdens decided to test their product on a larger audience, opening their (literally) Mom-and-Pop business in 1994. Today, Sharadon makes gallons of the sauce at a time, and loyal customer after customer will confirm that it's the best they've ever had. In the short time I spent at Tobago recently, one customer, the driver of a Pepsi truck, said he'd been following Tobago to its various locations around town for years ("Dunk 'em good now," he said about his ribs); another happy patron called 10 minutes after he left with his take-out ribs to testify their excellence to Snowden - apparently, not an unusual occurrence.
"People have come from all over the states - all over the world, really - and said, 'I've been to Memphis, I've been to Alabama, I've been to the Carolinas, and these are the best I've ever had,'" Snowden said, adding "It's all her," with a nod toward his wife and "assistant."
The couple, who met at Fort Campbell when they were both in the army in the early '80s, has four children: Jarrell, Kairon, Keshawn and Keyla. (You will likely see Keyla's name in the paper starting in the fall, as the Lexington Catholic superstar is moving back to Kentucky from the University of Akron to play basketball for the UK Women's Basketball team.) While Sharadon, who works full time as a manager at the Nandino branch of the post office, insists that there're not many ingredients in the sauce, there's definitely something special about it, especially when companied with the grilling perfection that Rory has mastered after doing it "the same way, every day, every night, every morning" for 15 years now.
Much of Tobago's business comes through take-out, but they have catered a number of private parties and events - many at horse farms, with up to 300 guests. Snowden said he is always looking for investors who are interested in helping him expand his business into a franchise. "That's my dream," he said. "I feel like I'm as close now as I've ever been."
You'll find Rory Snowden stationed outside by the grill year round, in practically any kind of weather. You can smell his ribs from a mile away - but we recommend that you taste them.