Today we’d like to introduce you to Trey Smith.
Trey, we appreciate you taking the time to share your story with us today. Where does your story begin?
Our big beignet dream started quite humbly in the kitchen growing up, where I learned the joy of simple food cooked with love from my mother. As my love of cooking grew, I was just “the guy who cooks” in my social circle. However, as a high school teacher with five kids, there was no thought to launching out as an entrepreneur
This changed after a discussion with my wife about making a change. She encouraged me take the leap into food, and after a lot brainstorming, the idea of beignets rose to the top. The experience of growing up in a pocket of Cajun country in Southeast Texas time living in Baton Rouge and New Orleans left me with a deep love of the bold flavors of Cajun and Creole food.
The idea was simple: What if we took all these flavors we loved and took it beignets? The idea of unique, sweet and savory French Quarter Beignets was born.
We started humbly enough as a side-hustle pop-up to my teaching career. My friend Tina owns a teashop and bookstore (and now bakery) called Leaves. She asked me to do a small, two-hour pop-up on Fat Tuesday in 2019. Having no idea what I was doing, I said yes. That small event ended up having line out the door and close to 90 orders. We haven’t slowed down since.
The rest of the year was filled with events at Fort Worth favorites like Martin House, Hopfusion, Crude Coffee, TX Whiskey Ranch, Rahr, and a ton of other great spots.
In January 2020, we got a chance to go full time in a small Airstream food trailer on the corner of South Main and we made the jump. COVID decided to pop-up three months later, and we rode the highs and lows of that, pivoting and scrapping to keep the dream alive. Along the way, we opened a different truck location, a stand at TCU’s Amon Carter Stadium, and planned out our first brick and mortar space.
2021 saw huge change for us. Our first physical location opened to a lot of fanfare with recognition by Texas Monthly as one of the best new restaurants in the state, and awards like Best New Restaurant (CultureMap Tastemaker Awards) and Best Donuts (Fort Worth Magazine). Over the years, we have put out over 200 different sweet and savory beignet flavors.
While it has been a fight from the start, the struggle became very real in late 2023. Debts from COVID years and a shaky economy led us to make the call to close in August. Our “last week” saw thousands of people coming out in 100+ degree temperatures to show support. The response blew us away, and we closed that Sunday with full hearts.
I paid some bills and my team, but I realized we still had a lot of product. I floated the idea of us doing a “pop-up night” the next Saturday, and several of our team stuck around. It was a success, so we did another. Then we did another. Then we added Sundays. Then went to full weekends, and Fridays, and weeknights, and so forth. Taking it week to week, we slowly rebooted the business. During this time, we called it “swinging and slinging.”
In January 2024, I came in full-time to work the shop with my family (with my crew handling nights and weekends). While sales were solid, we just could not get our debt down enough to make any traction. I looked at closing or selling to get a reprieve from the grind.
A few people kicked the tires, but nothing came to fruition, and I prepared to close again. We had given it our all. People loved our food, but the numbers don’t lie.
At the 11th hour, I received a message from a potential investor in a unique position, Jeff, a New Orleans native and Air Force officer, had the idea of building a beignet business one day. We came across his radar (pun intended), and started a long, honest conversation about our situation. Ultimately, Jeff and I partnered up, finalizing our deal early in 2025. The Dusty Biscuit was reborn.
Now, our financial situation is on solid ground, we are starting a capital crowdfunding campaign through Kickstarter to build out a food truck. This November is our fourth anniversary of our shop, and the sky is the limit.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
Far from it. We have been a bootstrap project from the beginning. Jumping out full-time in 2020 was risky, but COVID hitting made it impossible. We pivoted to add family meals, online cooking classes, and anything to stay afloat in little Airstream lifeboat. By the sheer love of our customers, we grew in that time.
The buildout for our shop took much longer than expected with delays due to the pandemic, and we started our shop with very little available capital. Being a novice business owner, I was constantly rocked by the bills, supply shortages, equipment repairs, etc. that just kept coming.
As we stated before, we “closed” in August 2023, but the sheer stubbornness that comes from knowing you have a golden concept in the right conditions kept us pushing forward.
A concept I have clung to through all of this is “falling forward.” Missteps and struggles come, but if you keep pushing then even falls can be progress.
Six years in, with fresh life, the work is kind of just beginning.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about Dusty Biscuit Beignets?
We put out unique sweet and savory New Orleans-style beignets that you cannot get anywhere in the world. Our take spans from the classic French Quarter beignet and Cafe au Lait to the creative end of the spectrum. Regular menu offerings include sweet beignets like Bourbon Street (maple bacon), Cowtown King Cake, Browned Butter, and more. Savory Beignets like our Everything Beignet, Sausage Sliders, and Dusty Cristo – a take on a classic Monte Cristo. Our Bayou Bacon Tots are also a huge crowd favorite.
Other specialties include:
Frosty SnoBalls
Beignet King Cakes (during Mardi Gras)
Seasonal Specials
Occasional offerings like gumbo, boudin balls, and more.
Our shop is our home base, but we are available for pop-ups, catering, events, and more!
Is there anything else you’d like to share with our readers?
We’re pushing for our food truck development and the Kickstarter Campaign launching in November. We just recently were named the Best Donut in Fort Worth for the fourth year in a row. Down the road, we’re looking to grow and add locations and offerings.
Online ordering available through our website, Uber, DoorDash, and GrubHub.
Pricing:
- French Quarter Beignets – $5/order of 3 or $16/dozen
- We have more pricing on our website, but I don’t know if it is needed.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.thedustybiscuit.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/thedustybiscuit
- Facebook: https://facebook.com/thedustybiscuit
