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WAUSAU – When Aaron and Jennifer Sloma opened the newest Parker John’s BBQ & Pizza location in Stevens Point last fall, they said they anticipated the usual excitement and crowds that accompany a new restaurant opening.
What surprised them, however, Aaron said, was the sustained momentum that continued well beyond opening week.
“The opening exceeded our expectations, and it lasted,” he said. “You usually see the two-month honeymoon period and then things quiet down, and we expect that. After we opened in mid-October, we expected January would slow down. It never slowed down, and it’s been extremely well received, which made the Wausau decision a little easier.”
Buoyed by the success in Stevens Point, the Slomas said they are preparing for another expansion – this time bringing both Parker John’s BBQ & Pizza and a second concept, TENDEEZ Hot Chicken, to the former 2510 Restaurant property in Wausau.
The new venture, he said, is expected to open in late 2026 or early 2027, with Parker John’s likely opening first, followed roughly a month later by TENDEEZ.
Aaron said a bakery operation is also expected to remain part of the property.
The Slomas said for them, the Wausau project represents more than another restaurant opening – it reflects years of refining concepts, testing new ideas and strategically expanding westward from the Fox Valley.
“We’ve always played around – Jen and I have been in the restaurant business forever,” Aaron said. “Prior to the Parker John’s brand, we owned a supper club with a huge banquet hall attached, owned an American fare diner for eight years and had both of those businesses while growing Parker John’s as well. We have since moved on from them, but we’re not solely engaged in or only have experience in barbecue food.”
Aaron said that broader restaurant experience ultimately led to TENDEEZ, the company’s Nashville hot chicken concept.
Testing the waters
Aaron said the first TENDEEZ launched inside the Oshkosh Parker John’s in summer 2024 as an experiment of sorts.
The Oshkosh location, he said, featured a separate dining room and entrance, allowing them to create an unstaffed kiosk-style operation where customers could order, retrieve food from heated display cases and leave without interacting with staff.
“Just like a food truck might test the waters before going brick and mortar, we did testing before we committed to expanding the concept to a casual, quick-serve restaurant,” he said.
After nearly two years of operating the concept, the Slomas said they expanded the Oshkosh TENDEEZ operation in June 2026 into a full counter-service model, the same approach planned for Wausau.
Aaron said the TENDEEZ model is a simple one, featuring jumbo chicken tenders marinated in their buttermilk dip and breaded by hand in-house.
“There’s a decent amount of prep that goes into it,” he said.
The menu, Aaron said, centers on Nashville hot chicken tenders and sliders with spice levels ranging from “Lame” to the aptly named “Yikes.”
He said the chicken is paired with house-made ranch, comeback sauce, sweet pepper slaw and, at the Oshkosh location, specialty buns produced by a Fox Valley bakery.
“It’s meant to be quick service, get people in and out and be completely different from the full-service sit-down barbecue concept that it shares the building with,” he said.
Aaron said the ability to operate multiple concepts under one roof played a key role in the decision to expand the Wausau project to include TENDEEZ Hot Chicken.
“When you have the size of kitchen we do in Oshkosh and Wausau, you’re able to execute two concepts off one line,” he said. “There are some synergies you can take advantage of and give the customer base two concepts. We’re able to execute them with one staff under one roof.”
One opportunity after another
Meanwhile, Aaron said the Stevens Point location – which The Business News featured in its Dec. 8, 2025 issue – had been years in the making.
“We’ve had our eye on the Stevens Point location for four to five years,” he said.
The Slomas said they had previously acquired the former Grazie’s property in Green Bay, but the Stevens Point location was initially sold to another buyer.
Later discussions with the developer who purchased the building, Aaron said, ultimately reopened the door for the project.
“He said, ‘What were you going to do with it?’ – and I said, ‘Make it a Parker John’s,’ and that’s where it went,” he said.
Aaron said that relationship eventually helped spark the Wausau opportunity as well.
“We’re in our soft opening and [the developer] was like, ‘I have a spot in Wausau I want you to look at,’” he said.
Aaron said the Stevens Point restaurant quickly proved the strength of the Parker John’s BBQ & Pizza brand in Central Wisconsin.
He said he credits part of that success to familiarity among college students and younger customers already acquainted with Parker John’s through other markets.
“Stevens Point is a college town, and there are plenty of kids we know who go there,” he said. “Those kids travel, and they talk and know what Wings Wednesday is.”
Aaron said the company also saw opportunity in Wausau’s growing business community and relative lack of large-scale barbecue competitors.
“Central Wisconsin is beautiful and Wausau is an amazing community,” he said. “The size of the population and the fact nobody is doing full-service barbecue at the scale we do allows for our concept to be well received.”
Catering, Aaron said, also plays a major role in the company’s business model and expansion strategy.
Across its half-dozen-plus restaurants, he said Parker John’s is expected to cater more than 200 weddings this year, in addition to corporate events, company picnics and graduation parties.
In addition, Aaron said the company maintains its own fleet of delivery vehicles and drivers rather than relying on third-party delivery services.
“We control the delivery from the time [the order] leaves our building to the time it goes to the guest’s door,” he said. “We don’t partner with third-party delivery partners to ensure [the quality].”
Aaron said the barbecue side of the operation remains highly labor-intensive, with smokers running continuously at every location to produce brisket, pulled pork, ribs, wings, sausage and burnt ends around the clock.
“Pulled pork is king in Wisconsin,” he said. “Brisket reigns supreme in Texas, but pulled pork runs supreme in Wisconsin.”
With the addition of the Wausau location, Aaron said the company will operate eight Parker John’s-related restaurant locations, including a seasonal concession operation at Road America, along with two TENDEEZ locations.
He said the Wausau project also reflects their desire to make each restaurant visually distinct.
“We want the exterior on 2510 to make a statement piece,” he said. “We’re [working] to put a grain silo at the entrance of the building to draw attention. We do want all our restaurants to be unique. Anything we can do to make them a little different from one another, we try.”
The Business News will check back in with the Slomas when the Wausau location opens its doors for an update.For more details on Parker John’s, as well as its TENDEEZ brand, head to parkerjohns.com.
