The rate of young professionals leaving Cape Cod to find their slice of success is a high one. It makes those who do succeed here a special breed because it is not an easy road for most. There are some whose road is more difficult than others and when those people find success it is an even sweeter and more gratifying experience.
Such is the case of Adrian Vickers of West Barnstable. Vickers is the owner of The BBQ Sandwich, a barbecue food truck. They have some of the most delicious, unique, and satisfying sandwiches one can find. His meats are all cooked that day in his smoker or on his grill, sliced to order inside his converted construction trailer, and served on buns to throngs of customers.
The BBQ Sandwich spends a lot of time at the Sandwich Mini-Golf course on Rt. 6A, Vickers arrives at his spot around 8am to set up to open at 11am. His passion and attention to detail are palpable as he begins construction on a day of heartily portioned sandwiches. He makes a ‘Plain Jane’ barbecue beef sandwich and a ‘Canal Scraper’ made up of ‘Pit ham’ smoked for two days along with onions and the secret ‘Shark Sauce.’
However as mouth-watering as those choices are they cannot stack up to his number one seller: The ‘Hooked On Sandwich.’ Made from Maryland-style ‘Pit beef’ and covered in ‘Shark Sauce,’ it is unlike anything that is made anywhere on Cape Cod. Why is it called the ‘Hooked On Sandwich?’ Vickers happily explains.
“First I chum the streets (with the aroma from the smoker),” he says with a smile, “that brings the people in. Once they’re here and they try it I’ve got them hooked.” Customers ask for it when they arrive and Vickers keeps on slicing, usually serving more than one hundred people per day from the time he opens until the time he has simply run out of food to sell.
The BBQ Sandwich is developing a reputation for its incredible authentic Maryland-style Pit barbecue food and also for its friendly, jovial, and creative owner. However as things continue to trend upward for Vickers a few years ago his world was quite a different place.
It is one thing to overcome the limited opportunities and seasonal nature of Cape Cod to succeed. It is an even more remarkable victory to also overcome some very serious personal demons on the road to success. Vickers’ is a story of redemption and survival first.
The owner of The BBQ Sandwich used to summer on the Cape as a child camping with his family in Truro for weeks at a time. His parents were gourmet cooks themselves, wowing fellow campers with the cuisine they would create and share. Adrian got his love of cooking from his parents.
Adrian found success in construction in Maryland until the stock market crashed in late-2008. His son Benjamin had just been born and people were focused more on simply saving their homes rather than improving them. In 2009 Vickers lost his father suddenly only two years after losing his mother to cancer. Soon thereafter the business ultimately failed. By this time he had been drinking heavily for years and the addiction had a hold of him. His daughter Layla was born in 2009 but the hard drinking did not stop. Adrian and his wife Heather lost their home shortly after Layla’s birth. He felt helpless.
“It felt like piece by piece everything we had worked toward was being taken away and all I could do was watch it happen.” With no home and no business Vickers felt lost trying to find a new road to take in the next phase of his life. It was a wakeup call from a doctor that changed everything.
“A doctor told me that if I didn’t stop drinking I wouldn’t be around see my sons 10th birthday,” Vickers says. “That really hit home.” Adrian has been sober since 2011.
“My children saved my life.”
He remembered his childhood and the happy times all centered around his time on Cape Cod. With nothing left for him in Maryland Vickers packed up his family and made Cape Cod his permanent home bringing with him a new passion for life. He also brought with him his knowledge of the Maryland ‘pit-style barbecue.’
Now in his second year with The BBQ Sandwich in addition to selling his sandwiches from his home base to swarms of customers Vickers is now doing private catering, weddings, and some work with Barnstable Village for their Summer Concert Series. His goal for the future is to make The BBQ Sandwich a franchise for others wishing to get in on the business; in the meantime he will still be manning his post at Sandwich Mini-Golf.
A jack of all trades Adrian has focused his creativity elsewhere as well creating spectacular intricate wood carvings.
“I will always carry my passion for landscape design with me,” he says, “I recently started doing wood carvings and calling them “Address poles” complete with lighting on top and surrounded by landscape and hangers for plants or flags.”
Adrian Vickers could have been another statistic lost in the sea of addiction. He pressed on and with the love and support of his wife and children he found his calling. Adrian has advice to those looking to succeed on the Cape.
“I’m still trying to succeed,” Vickers explains, “but I think a true way to make it on the Cape is to work within your community and give back as much as you can. That’s where you will find your support.”
Wise words from a man who has seen the highs and the lows and never gave up hope that one day he would be able to succeed again.
Visit The BBQ Sandwich Thursday through Sunday at Sandwich Mini-Golf at 159 Rt. 6A in Sandwich. They open at 11am. Also check them out at TheBBQSandwich.com and on Facebook.
Chris Setterlund, who lives in Yarmouth, is a lifelong Cape Codder and the author of In My Footsteps, a guide to historical sites on Cape Cod.
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