CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — Amigos Backyard Barbecue and Catering is in a special place.
Just beyond the chips aisle and the candy aisle inside of a Snappy’s convenience store, Amigos Backyard Barbecue and Catering offers traditional foods that the owners describe as the types of food you’d make at a barbecue in your backyard -- hence the name.
“People, still, they’re like 'Man you don’t see barbecue, you know inside a gas station,' " said co-owner Pete Trevino. "I say 'Well, it starts with a dream.' ”
He said the idea for his dream business started off small, and they tried out different recipes that they hoped to serve at their business.
“Instead of investing, like, our personal money, what we did is that every Saturday we would host a plate sale with different ideas of what we were going to offer in the store,” he said.
Trevino said he was doing a benefit at a Snappy’s when the owner came up to him and tried out his food. He said it was then that the idea to have his business at the Snappy’s began.
Amigos Backyard Barbecue and Catering opened last December, but during the pandemic, opening a business came with some struggles.
At first they were only allowed to serve food through their drive-through, and using curbside pick-up.
“You stop and wonder and think 'How did other people survive? How did some people end up?" said Amigo's co-owner Julian Vera. "But we stayed consistent in what we did. You know, we fought that battle.”
The name also came about because Vera and Treino are amigos, or friends in Spanish.
Vera said The Big Freeze also put a damper on the amount of business coming in, but now that the state is 100 percent open, revenue has gone up.
He said he is not worried for hurricane season, because he’s seen customers consistently coming in -- even on rainy days.
“The hardest thing was, you know, being cautious for your customers," Vera said. "You have to supply your customers with consistency.”
The business also contributes food to fundraisers, such as the one held for Jessell Lopez, the baby girl who was found unconscious and later died from her injuries earlier this month.
Vera and Trevino will soon open a food trailer to preparing meals at CHRISTUS Spohn Hospital Shoreline. They will be donating meals to kids at Driscoll’s Children’s Hospital very soon, as well.
The business is located at 7125 S. Staples St. in Corpus Christi.
