High Kaliber BBQ to open brick-and-mortar in Green Bay

Jim Paul

Contributor

October 6, 2025

GREEN BAY – After serving up Texas-style BBQ out of a food trailer in the Fox Valley for the last three years, High Kaliber BBQ is expanding into a brick-and-mortar location at 126 S. Broadway St. in Green Bay.

“It is going to be exciting to actually open the doors and sit back in the corner and see people sitting in seats,” Owner Dustin Johnson said. “Serving them food and talking to them, getting feedback [and] being in a new community and serving a whole new group of people [is something I’m looking forward to].”

Though he was born in Wisconsin, Johnson said he grew up around the country, the Bay Area of California in particular – which is where he developed an interest in the food and beverage industry.

Being around his father and partner – who managed hotels – Johnson said, played a big role in that interest, as “the two go hand in hand.”

Johnson said it was through his father that he met Teddy Rojas, who gave him his first hands-on experience – initially at Teddy’s Backyard BBQ and later at a restaurant inside a nightclub.

Johnson said he and Rojas even tried their hand at competitions, competing at the Country Music Awards BBQ Throwdown at Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas against some of the best pit masters in the country.

“We got smoked there and realized the competition scene probably was not for us,” Johnson said. “We were more about feeding people and enjoying that aspect rather than competing.”

Too good to pass up

Johnson said he eventually left California to return to his home state of Wisconsin, initially leaving his barbecuing skills behind, choosing instead to establish himself in a lucrative marketing position.

Johnson said during his time in marketing, he would occasionally bring his smoker to work and cook for his coworkers – who often encouraged him to do barbeque full-time.

“People kept asking me, ‘Why aren’t you doing this? Why are you doing marketing?’ – kind of pushing me,” he said. “I said, ‘I like what I am doing, I do not want to do the food thing again.’”

That resistance started to fade, Johnson said, when he was offered a deal on a food trailer that was just too good to pass up.

“I sat and took some time to think about it and thought, ‘Why not? Let’s do it on the weekends and have some fun with it,’” he said. “It was not super expensive.”

Johnson said he launched High Kaliber BBQ as a one-man operation, initially serving brisket and pork.

By learning from others he viewed as more experienced, Johnson said he began to embrace feedback, adjust his approach and started promoting himself on Facebook.

Before long, he said business began to boom.

In the beginning, Johnson said he did all the cooking on the trailer in his driveway, like his transient license allowed him to.

Then, he said he moved into a commercial commissary.

But even that couldn’t keep up – which Johnson said eventually prompted him to build his own 3,000-square-foot commercial kitchen.

In addition to serving the public through the food truck, Johnson said High Kaliber BBQ is also in high demand for its catering services, regularly serving barbeque at large weddings and corporate events.

High Kaliber BBQ’s ability to rapidly serve a large crowd of people, he said, makes it a great choice for catered events.

A plan for year-round growth

Though business thrives five months out of the year, Johnson said the winter slowdown makes it challenging to sustain momentum.

As a solution, he said High Kaliber BBQ’s next move is launching a brick-and-mortar restaurant on Broadway Street in Green Bay.

Though the High Kaliber BBQ brick-and-mortar location was initially planned for De Pere, with seven months of preparation invested, Johnson said when those plans didn’t come to fruition, he shifted his focus to Broadway Street.

“Unfortunately, it just got way too far out of the ballpark of the price range of what we were willing to commit to,” he said. “I got pretty much defeated at that point – my dream of doing the restaurant thing was pretty much dead.”

Then an ad on Facebook Marketplace, Johnson said, caught his eye – one that seemed almost too good to be true.

Curious, he said he reached out to the person who posted it.

“He contacted me back and said send me your concept,” he said. “I said, ‘How about I send you the business plan I have been working on for the last seven months…?’ And within five days, we signed a lease.”

These days, Johnson said he’s staying busy juggling the food trailer while preparing the new Broadway Street location for its grand opening.

The kitchen, he said, is undergoing a deep, top-to-bottom cleaning, while the rest of the space is being renovated to reflect the High Kaliber BBQ brand – moving away from the look and feel of the burger joint that previously occupied the building.

Johnson said there’s been a significant learning curve in transitioning from a food trailer to a full-scale restaurant, especially when it comes to permitting.

Unlike the trailer, he said the brick-and-mortar location requires inspections for plumbing, HVAC, electrical systems and health compliance – as well as securing an alcohol license.

Though the brick-and-mortar location will still serve delicious barbeque, Johnson said it will differ from the food trailer.

The restaurant, he said, will feature a more extensive and creative craft barbeque menu, which includes unique sandwiches and gourmet items that are not possible on the truck due to equipment limitations.

“We’ll have a sandwich called the Brisket Jam – it is going to be brisket, bacon jam, pickled onion, cowboy candy with a BBQ schmear on there,” he said. “Then we have a Cuban, gourmet grilled cheese and open-faced turkey sandwiches – it is going to be a different type of food than they are used to getting.”

Though the restaurant’s atmosphere will be a change of pace, Johnson said speed won’t be sacrificed – just like the food truck, meals will be served in under 15 minutes.

Customers, he said, can either grab their food and go or unwind with a beer while watching the game on the establishment’s giant 86-inch screen.

Though he hopes loyal customers of the food trailer will visit the restaurant, Johnson said the trailer will continue operating, offering the traditional, simplified Texas-style barbeque it’s known for – including chopped brisket, pulled pork, sausage, cornbread, beans and mac and cheese.

Johnson said High Kaliber BBQ is set to open at the Broadway Street location in early November.

He said he intends to host one or two soft openings prior to the official launch and is partnering with On Broadway Inc. to arrange the grand opening celebration.

In the meantime, check out the High Kaliber BBQ Facebook page for the whereabouts of the food trailer.