It all started back when Joe Davidson was a graduate assistant at Oklahoma State University when he saved up $2000 to build 12 smokers he took to the Oklahoma State Fair. Well when the smoke cleared and the fair was over he had sold those 12 and had orders for 108 more smokers, thus Oklahoma Joe’s was born!

Well, Joe built those first smokers and over a million more smokers over the past 25 years, but that is just part of the Oklahoma Joe’s story. You see, Joe had a passion for BBQ competitions as well. He started going to them the same year Oklahoma Joe’s was started. His first one was the T-Town BBQ Cook-off in Tulsa. He won a 3rd in brisket and 5th in poultry and you would have thought he won a world championship from the hooting and hollering!

He has continued to win the coveted Grand Champion Overall Title at the Jack Daniel’s World Championship, The American Royal Invitational, The World Pork Barbequolossal, World Brisket Championship and over 300 more titles. Heck he even has won Best BBQ Sauce on the Planet and Best BBQ Dry Rub on the Planet multiple times. When we say Joe Knows BBQ, you can see that we mean it! It was during the early years of his competition career that he and his team members Roger Davidson, Todd Thompson, George Cantu, Randy Maxwell and others met Jeff & Joy Stehney and Jim Howell of the Slaughterhouse Five BBQ Team. Joe was never really convinced that Joy was pleased Jeff and Joe became close friends, but the BBQ world certainly is. Jeff and Joe consistently were butting heads out on the BBQ circuit. Seemed that if Joe wasn’t winning the contest Jeff was. Joe always said he did not care if he came in 2nd to last as long as Jeff came in last! But that never seemed to happen…

Delicious World Champion Brisket

For years Joe constantly would talk to Jeff about joining him to open an Oklahoma Joe’s BBQ Restaurant. Jeff would dream with Joe about it, but it wasn’t until 1994 when Jeff took the plunge and joined Joe in Stillwater, Oklahoma to open the first Oklahoma Joe’s Restaurant and shortly thereafter opened the now famous Oklahoma Joe’s gas station location in Kansas City, Kansas. I guess you could say the rest is now history… Joe and Jeff would say that it only took 10 years to become an overnight success!!! Joe is so excited to have an Oklahoma Joe’s Bar-B-Que in the Tulsa area right next to Bass Pro Shops. Make sure and say hello to Joe when you come in.