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September 1, 2025
WAUTOMA – KRB’s – or Klinger’s Real Barbeque – located at W7304 Fairway View Drive in Wautoma, is serving up more than just slow-smoked meats – Owner Ed Klinger said it’s bringing back the authentic style of barbequing.
With a focus on made-from-scratch meals, local sourcing and a family-style atmosphere, Klinger said KRB’s combines traditional barbeque techniques with a strong sense of community.
Guests and employees alike, he said, are treated like part of the KRB’s family, reflecting the business’s deep-rooted values.
Starting KRB’s
Klinger said he is no stranger to the hospitality industry, having owned Moose Inn Supper Club and Catering in Wautoma for about 30 years.
Looking back, he said that developing the catering operation taught him to manage large quantities of food for big events – experience that, in hindsight, proved invaluable for KRB’s.
Klinger said when the opportunity came to acquire the building for KRB’s, it had been sitting vacant for five years.
Because he knew the previous owner, Klinger said he was able to negotiate a lease for the building during their first year of business.
Even though KRB’s opened during the COVID-19 pandemic, Klinger said business took off.
“We were supposed to open in April, but we ended up opening in May, and when we opened up, it was kind of the perfect storm with COVID and the outdoor dining,” he said. “It did so well that we saw the potential and bought the previous owner out within a year.”
Things went so well, Klinger said, that in 2022, KRB’s opened a second location at N2826 County Road QQ in Waupaca.
What makes KRB’s special?
With KRB’s, Klinger said he set out to create an authentic barbeque restaurant – done the “right way” – right down to the way customers order and receive their food.
So, what exactly is the right way to barbeque?
According to Klinger, it means doing it the old-fashioned way: using real wood that’s been dried for more than a year, carefully trimming and seasoning the meat in-house and smoking it over a real wood fire that requires constant attention.
Klinger said his love for cooking with fire started when he was just a kid.
He said he remembers being captivated when his grandfather smoked salmon after his fishing trips to Canada, intrigued by the method of using indirect heat.
That early interest, Klinger said, grew into a love for grilling, but now that he’s taken it to a professional level, “it’s totally different.”
He said he has a deep respect for traditional methods – and for the entire journey food takes from start to finish.
Klinger said for him, it’s less about speed or efficiency as much as it’s about creating a great product that tastes great.
“I really appreciate the passion behind cooking and things that are made from scratch,” he said. “Like a real hollandaise sauce compared to [store-bought]. I think it tastes better when they’ve made it from scratch.”
Staying true to that philosophy, Klinger said he also believes in minimizing waste.
That’s why, every week during their open season (April to November), Klinger said he makes a gumbo using the flavorful pan drippings from their smoked meats.
Klinger said it’s not just the smoked meats at KRB’s that make its menu stand out – dishes like their homemade mac and cheese and grilled chicken salads have also become customer favorites.
Since opening in 2020, he said the community and tourists alike have embraced KRB’s with a passion, calling the food some of the best they’ve ever had.
Barbeque according to Klinger
When he was a kid, Klinger said “barbeque” simply meant burgers on the grill.
Even today, he said he sees it as a broad term with multiple meanings.
For him, Klinger said barbeque is the process of slow-roasting tougher cuts of meat – like brisket – where the true value comes from putting in the work to smoke it low and slow for 15 hours, tending it with care to bring out the best flavor.
Klinger said the barbeque at KRB’s is influenced by several styles but centered on Texas-style brisket, seasoned with a salt and pepper rub and served with sauce on the side.
The true key to great barbeque, he said, lies in maintaining the perfect bed of wood – one that produces smoke that’s neither too thin nor too thick.
“There’s a science to it,” he said. “Thankfully, we have a great system set up, from the wood – which is supplied and aged for a year – to the smoker named Big John, which was fabricated by local auto mechanic John Wenninger.”
Like everything at KRB’s, Klinger said Big John comes with a story of its own.
Though Klinger said he had initially considered using propane and a fabricated smoker, a conversation with Wenninger led to a better idea.
After purchasing a 7,000-gallon raw steel tank from a company in southern Wisconsin, Klinger said Wenninger got to work – adding three doors to the front and building a rear smoking chamber that creates indirect heat.
The result, Klinger said, is a custom reverse-flow system that delivers meat and flavor unlike anything else around.
“Barbeque is done a lot of different ways around the world,” he said. “It’s kind of a medieval cooking method – an ode to a time when we didn’t have a stove and a burner.”
Klinger said he has a knack for barbeque, and though he stopped short of calling it a fad, he’s well aware of its rising popularity in public culture – from television shows to social media.
He said this has fostered a growing understanding that barbeque isn’t just for professionals – that with the right planning, anyone can do it.
Klinger said even his younger staff, aged 14-20, are catching on.
“Barbeque isn’t like flipping a steak,” he said. “It’s a long process, and I tell everybody… if you do it at home, you better be preparing it Wednesday if you want it for Saturday.”
Minimal vibe, maximum flavor
Klinger said he prides himself on being somewhat “old school,” using the mantra “less is more” when it comes to the atmosphere and vibe of KRB’s.
Menu options – which are written on a chalkboard – he said, are limited, and when the restaurant runs out of something, it’s simply out until it’s available again.
Unlike other sit-down restaurants, Klinger said KRB’s has a slightly different ordering process – with guests paying for their food at the counter, and it being ready, typically, within a few minutes.
The most popular meats at KRB’s, Klinger said, are brisket and baby back ribs, with homemade mac and cheese, baked beans and cornbread leading the way when it comes to sides.
For first-timers at KRB’s, he said he suggests they get two meats and two sides.
A focus on local
Though he’s drawn to the farm-to-table philosophy, Klinger said his approach is more in line with farm to community – just because of the volume of food KRB’s does.
He said he’s a big supporter of local farmers, many of whom he considers close friends, and from whom he sources ample produce.
For example, he said he sources baby red potatoes for KRB’s from the Flyte Family Farm in Waushara County – using 1,000 pounds every week.
Every Tuesday, he said, Flyte delivers 20 50-pound bags of baby reds.
For meat, Klinger said he sources from StoneRidge Meat and Country Market in Wautoma.
“All our producers are people from this area – they pay their taxes in this area, they spend their money in this area,” he said. “I could go with [national suppliers], but the way I see it, if I pay a local producer, they employ people in this area, and the dollars stay local. It’s part of our core values.”
Klinger said for him, staying local is about more than just sourcing ingredients – it’s about building relationships, fostering trust and creating a network of mutual support with local producers.
He said his focus on keeping things local doesn’t stop at the food – it includes tap beer, too.
All brews on tap at KRB’s, Klinger said, are from Wisconsin, except for Shiner Bock – a popular American-style dark lager that naturally matches its Texas-inspired barbeque.
Staying true to that local focus, he said the Wautoma location features selections from Knuth Brewing.
“(Brewery owner) Dave Knuth was born and raised here – he does an amazing job,” he said. “He invested in a new building to brew beer, be a restaurant and also a wedding venue. I’m proud to know people like that being from this little town.”
Klinger said he takes pride in sharing these stories with customers, believing it helps strengthen and support the community in meaningful ways.
Between outside and inside, Klinger said KRB’s can seat around 190 people (40 inside and 150 outside).
During peak season, he said, they serve anywhere from 500-600 guests a day, with weekends drawing even larger crowds thanks to live music.
Head to klingersrealbbq.com for additional details.
