April 28, 2023

Courtney Richmond has realized a longtime dream of owning a food truck.

The Brandon resident got his start cooking in the area a couple of years ago, setting up his smoker in a parking lot along Splitrock Boulevard and serving ribs, pulled pork and more.

He saved up his money while working other jobs in food service and construction, and bought a trailer for Chef Courtney’s Homemade BBQ Sauce & Catering.

Now, he’s doing pop-ups in Sioux Falls and booking public and private events.

His menu typically includes ribs, pulled pork sandwiches, burgers, bratwursts, hot dogs, homemade potato salad and baked beans.

Richmond’s signature item, though, is his barbecue sauce.

“It’s a family recipe,” he said. “My mom passed it down to me before she died.”

He’ll even recommend putting the sweet and tangy sauce on his potato salad — “it’s pretty good.”

Richmond grew up in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, and moved to Minneapolis when he was a teenager. Cooking was always a part of his family, and he learned from his parents, aunts and uncles. He earned a degree as a culinary specialist from Minneapolis Community & Technical College, and eight years ago, he moved to the Sioux Falls area.

Now, he’s working to build up awareness of his business and his food.

“Right now, it’s going to be full time,” Richmond said. “I was going to try to get me another job, but I said, You know what? I might as well go ahead and stick to it. You never know, it might come out.”

Richmond uses his Facebook page to let customers know where to find him.

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