A Family Legacy of World Champion Barbecue

Kelly Wertz and his family spent seven years raising food – corn, wheat, cattle, and alfalfa. Three of those years ended in drought and now they are selling the food – meat, appetizers, sides and desserts.

One thing stayed the same, however. The Nebraska farm was a family operation and so is the award-winning 4 Legs Up BBQ and Steakhouse, 2212 Main.

Wertz, his wife, Roni, and their children – Keelan, 17, and Kelsi, 15, all work at the restaurant. And as of a few weeks ago, Kelsi joined the rest of her family in becoming a certified judge for the Kansas City BBQ Society.

“Our kids have never really known anything different,” their father said.

At the Smoker - When the Wertzes aren't at a competition, the restaurant is always hopping with hungry customers. Pictured here, a member of the 4 Legs Up Staff prepares to remove the famous racks of ribs from their commercial smoker behind the restaurant.

Wertz may not have realized it at the time, but the idea for a life of serving food began at his 20th high school class reunion. The 1980 class of Trenton High School in Nebraska consisted of 23 people and about 40 attended the reunion.

“A classmate had said something about us catering,” Wertz recalled. “We had been doing a little cooking off and on. So I said, ‘well, okay.’

“We don’t remember what we cooked; it wasn’t BBQ,” Wertz said.  “But it worked, and we have been cooking for crowds ever since. After catering as a hobby and for a little extra money for a year or so, I started investigating smokers and BBQ.”
The recipe that blended the Wertz family and Great Bend was written by Kent Romine. They met Romine at the local BBQ contests that Romine organizes.

“Kent called one evening out of the blue,” Wertz said. “He asked our opinion on his idea for a BBQ restaurant in Great Bend. We were still in Nebraska and at some point we decided to come here.

Barbecue on the Road - A huge part of what peaked the Wertz couple's interest in BBQ was the competition atmosphere. Here, Kelly Wertz prepares some of his famous barbecue at the Winter Q, an annual competition that takes place right here in Great Bend.

“We had sold the farm in 2003 and had been doing a little BBQ,” Wertz elaborated. “We went to Omaha for our first BBQ contest in the fall of 2003. We didn’t win any awards but met good people and had good fun. It was a family atmosphere.”

Next, they went to a Denver contest, not as an entrant but intending to sell BBQ to an estimated crowd of 10,000. That estimate was a little off and the Wertzes found themselves facing a crowd of only 1,000 people.

“We were sitting there with all this meat left over,” Wertz recalled. “And the meat man had to be paid. So we set up at an intersection in McCook, Nebraska, and started selling BBQ. It took only two days.”

They opened their first BBQ joint in December 2004 in McCook in an old gas station. “Aren’t all BBQ joints in old gas stations?” Wertz asked. Then came Romine’s encouragement, and 4 Legs Up opened in 2006 at its Main Street location. And the awards started piling up.
The family has won 25 contests since 2007 and placed in hundreds of others. They are scored on ribs, pork, chicken and brisket. Last year, they loaded up their fully equipped trailer and traveled to 38 contests in several states.

Patrons -a-Plenty - The numerous customers that join the 4 Legs Up staff for lunch and dinner during their business hours, which are Wednesday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and again from 4:30 to 8:30 p.m. The restaurant currently accommodates 65 guests at a time.

While every contest is special to the family, some are more special than others. For example, they were named the 2008 Grand Champion at the Jack Daniel’s World Invitational Barbecue Championship. They placed first in chicken, third in pork, third in brisket and first in dessert.

Their toffee cake dessert has been named the Jack Daniel’s Grand Champion twice and it came in third once. It has also earned four perfect scores. Anyone who visits 4 Legs Up will notice the dozens and dozens of trophies and countless ribbons on the walls.

The hours at 4 Legs Up are 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 4:30 to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday; it has seating for 65 people. “For our volume and because of our small kitchen, we have to use those other three days each week for prep work,” Wertz commented. “You figure out how to deal with what you’ve got.”
 

4 Legs Up Family - Kelly and Roni Wertz, owners of 4 Legs Up BBQ and Steakhouse, are pictured in the center with the rest of their 4 Legs Up family. "In a small business, we really are like a family," Roni says.

The restaurant has a complete menu including sliced brisket, burnt ends, pulled pork, cowboy ham, pulled chicken, sausage, and corned beef and turkey. The regular menu also features ribeyes, prime rib, sandwiches, burgers, appetizers and 15 side dishes. The Wertzes also have a catering menu and they make all their own sauces.

Their recipe for smoked prime rib, which is on the menu Saturday evenings, is featured in a book entitled “America’s Best BBQ: 100 Recipes from America’s Best Smokehouses, Pits, Shacks, Rib Joints, Roadhouses and Restaurants.” Wertz is not sure what category 4 Legs Up falls into, but suspects it is a combination.

The smoked prime rib also was the Chef’s Choice at the 2009 Jack Daniel’s competition. “That’s pretty good, since the world’s best BBQ cooks are there, all trying to do the same thing,” Wertz said.

Looks Do Matter - Kelly Wertz prepares one of his competition entries for judging. " The food can't just taste excellent, it has to look excellent too," Wertz says. "They judge it first with their eyes and then with their mouths."

4 Legs Up employs 16 people, including the Wertz family. Some are full-time, others part-time. While business has been down in the last few months, by anywhere from 25 to 50 percent, Wertz said he predicts the cycle will end and things will improve this year.

“I have always been glad that Kent suggested this; Great Bend has been good to us in a lot of ways,” Wertz said. “We have had a lot more opportunities here than in Nebraska.”

One of those opportunities is a line of wood-fired pellet grills and Branch Creek wood pellets. The steakhouse is a dealer for Louisiana Grills and Country Smokers, manufactured by the Dansons Co. They come in six models and are easy for the home cook to operate.

“It is push-button BBQ, if you want to look at it that way,” Wertz said. “You get the wood-fire taste with the convenience of a gas grill.”

Recogition from Around the World - Pictured above is the prestigious award won as the 2008 World Champion of BBQ at the Jack Daniels tournament in Lynchberg, Tennesse. The award is a smaller version of the Jack Daniels statue in the town's square.

The Wertzes also offer cooking classes that are held either at 4 Legs Up or the Expo area; they also take their classes on the road. In addition to meat-grilling techniques, students learn how to use the equipment for casseroles, potatoes and desserts.

All their services and products are based on a “passion for BBQ, steaks, grandma’s home cooking and quality service,” Wertz said. “We start with the best products we can find, such as premium angus beef and natural choice angus steaks that are hand-cut to order. And we make our sides fresh every day, just like grandma did.”