Why this BBQ spot might be serving up Louisville's best slow-cooked meat and southern sides

Though summer is still more than a month away, the temperature here lately has me feeling like pool season — and therefore barbecue season — is already upon us.

Shack in the Back BBQ, a family-owned restaurant that has been operating out of a food truck, opened its new brick-and-mortar location just in time. I caught up with owner Barbara Sivells, who told me how her husband’s dream led them to where they are today.

“My husband (Mike) is from Hopkinsville,” she told The Courier Journal. “I'm from New York, and we met 32 years ago. I was a waitress at the Radisson Hotel, and he was a bellman — and we made fun of how each other talked. Ever since I met him, he had always said, ‘I'm going to have a barbecue restaurant one day.’”

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The couple eventually ventured to the Bluegrass State together, and Barbara understood Mike’s obsession with barbecue — it was everywhere. At the time, they were refinishing and washing log homes for a living, and when a particular client asked them to clean her home, the next part of the restaurant dream was born.

“We had a customer who wanted us to wash her shack in the back when we were restoring her home,” Barbara said. “When she said that, we were like, ‘That's it — that's the name!’ That was 10 years before we (opened) the restaurant.”

She and Mike had been eyeing a little spot on Manslick Road for their future eatery; they’d always thought it would be the ideal place to set up shop. Then one weekend in 2006, they saw that it was for rent. Mike was ready to make their move.

“I told him, ‘You’ve lost your mind,’” Barbara recalled. “It (was) a month before Derby and (we were booked solid), pressure washing half of Louisville. I said that if it’s meant to be, and we make it through Derby, then we’ll check into it. Come Monday, he was already over there signing on the dotted line. Now we owned (the) restaurant.”

Fortunately for the Sivells, it all worked out, and they spent the next 15 years serving barbecue out of their 900-square-foot space. In September 2021, however, the property was sold — and they were given less than two weeks to vacate. Undeterred, the Sivell family created a portable shack on wheels and began serving takeout, food-truck style.

“Our employees have been out there (in the) wind, rain, sleet, and snow,” Barbara said. “We put up tents, (and our) customers would still come, despite the conditions, to get their barbecue fix. We have been very, very lucky. Our employees stuck in there with us … and the customers kept on coming.”

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Despite the challenges of operating out of a much smaller space — amid a pandemic, no less — the Shack in the Back BBQ team made it through and celebrated its grand opening in a new space on Saturday, May 14. Located just down the street from the original shack, the newly renovated restaurant is in a former bank building.

With 4,400-square-feet to work with, gone are the days of customers dining under tents. The new location boasts ample indoor seating on the ground floor, a few tables in an upstairs loft area, and several seating options out on the pet-friendly patio. There is also a bar which currently serves beer, wine, and bourbon; there are plans to expand alcohol options in the future. As far as food goes, loyal customers can count on the same slow-cooked meats that Shack in the Back BBQ is known for.

“I’d say the most popular (dish is our) turkey ribs,” Barbara said. “You eat them like chicken wings, and it’s something that we pride ourselves in. We say we’re the home of the turkey rib — we (brought) them here from Georgia.”

Other menu favorites include the baby back ribs and the burgoo.

“No two burgoos are the same,” Barbara explained. “It’s just like chili; everybody has a little twist. … (Ours) has 10 different vegetables in it (and) all of our smoked meats. Ours is a little western Kentucky, so it’s got a little vinegar and a little twang — it’s good.”

Though the restaurant has had a few minor struggles with supply issues, it hasn’t been anything the team couldn’t handle.

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“The challenge really is that you get so used to using a particular product,” Barbara said. “Then, as trivial as it might be, you're using clear Solo cups to put your sauce in, but now you're using a black Solo cup. We just adapted we would do whatever we needed to do to make it work.”

Fortunately, staffing shortages have not been a problem at all. This success is something Barbara attributes to the fact that all the employees — even those that aren’t blood relatives — are like family.

“For 15 years, we were in 900-square-feet,” Barbara said, “so you had no choice but to come close with everyone that you worked with. I feel that maybe with that closeness, that family, that loyalty, I think … it would have been very hard for them to leave.”

Even at the start of the pandemic, none of the employees had to be laid off; and since then, they’ve hired additional team members.

“Through it all — the good, the bad, the ugly — we kept pushing through,” Barbara said. “And … we made it — and we are so glad to be back.”

Given the evolving nature of the coronavirus pandemic, our weekly restaurant review column's focus will shift for the foreseeable future. Each week, Lennie Omalza will interview restaurants that are fighting to adapt and survive while serving our community. Please send coverage suggestions to Lifestyle Editor Kathryn Gregory at kgregory@courier-journal.com. 

Shack in the Back BBQ

WHAT: This is a family-owned barbecue restaurant that serves meat that is slow-cooked daily on old-fashioned pits.

WHERE: 10706 W. Manslick Road, Fairdale

SERVICES: Indoor dining, outdoor seating, online ordering, and catering; 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Saturday; closed Sunday

CONTACT: 502-363-3227, shackinthebackbbq.com