Today we’d like to introduce you to Bambi Pride-huff
Hi bambi, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
South of 20, LLC started out as a joke between me and my now husband when we started seeing each other. both going through rather difficult divorces. we had known each other through my now ex husband as they had been room mates in college. I lived in north dallas and my now husband lived in Ennis about 45 min. south of dallas. having to drive through the heart of downtown on 45, most of the time in the middle of Rush hour traffic. I would be on the phone with him and jokingly say “oh my just get me south of 20.” this is was so traffic would get better. when he got sick and lost his CDL loosing his career and our only income with our daughter on the way we had to figure something out. I was running our E-Commerce Amazon FBA business Southern Small town goods. It wasn’t making enough to support us though. My husband dream his whole life was to own a restaurant/ food truck. a family member had a cafe in Historic Down town Sanger ( I know most people dont know where that is… its 15 min north of denton and 45 min. south of Winstar World Casino at the Oklahoma boarder.) with this now being added to the business that we were going to run, my husband said we need to do an LLC for the businesses. we went right back to that joke that we would always say to each other, it just worked, and south of 20,llc was born. my mother in law made the choice to purchase that cafe and we opened Aug.4th,2023 with a 1 month old with us all the time. it was a rough road with a 2 month closure due to unforeseen equipment problems and an insurance claim that had to be filed. we didn’t quit though we redesigned our menu, tested out new options, got new equipment and figure out how social media could become our best friend for being a community that did not want outsiders in to become a profitable cafe. we reopened and made a lot of friends with the regular customers that we had. it was a fun journey. in that we were asked to do catering for corporate events a lot and being that we had a little human with us on a 2.5 hour drive to the cafe 6 days a week, we just couldn’t do the catering to. when our lease was up we looked everything over and made the choice to move into a food trailer under the same name Bear’s cafe, a name sake to our late dogs, my husbands service dog, and my late grandfather Norman Pride who had Big Bear in Indiana when my father was a teen. we now operate out of a 20ft concession trailer for Bear’s cafe serving catering needs for events as well as residents events at apartment complexes around the DFW and Austin areas. we also have plans to open a cheese cake/ dessert truck and I was a mobile notary.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
It has not be smooth at all. Between funding issues and equipment failure and then doing it all with a tiny baby, it has not been easy. But I will say it is worth it. I know that it is teaching my daughter to be tough, smart about what is done for what comes next, as well as it will pay off in the end for a future income for her and our family. most importantly it shows her and my husband that you can dream and make it your reality if you stick to it and work through the problems as they happen.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
Well mostly right now south of 20 is focused on Bear’s Cafe our food truck and getting that line of business up and on its own 2 feet. We are a unique twist on bbq favourites. We are unique in that we because of our experience in brick n mortar in Sanger have the ability to do a wide range of options and can customise to what our Client needs. With that said we are known for our Brisket Egg Roll. Now I say this and you think a little asian egg roll right? But no that’s not us….. think of this 2lb deep fried to golden perfection burrito and you would be a lot closer to what a Bear’s Cafe Brisket egg roll is. So this is what it is…. A 12” flour tortilla filled with our signature smoked brisket and our home made signature Mac n cheese then topped with our made In house signature BBQ sauce rolled up into a burrito and then deep fried. Sounds amazing right ? We wouldn’t have this unique option if we had not had the struggles of the cafe in Sanger. We are set apart by the simple fact that we can customise to that event and that client. I think for me I am most proud of the ability to come up with recipes that do our name sake justice, while being a family recipe and still being broad enough to be liked by most everyone. That look on someones face when they take bite of a brisket egg roll for the 1st time and say how amazing it is.
Have you learned any interesting or important lessons due to the Covid-19 Crisis?
Covid-19 was and is a game changer for the food industry as a whole. It has made it so that people would rather go to a food truck for a quick bite rather than a sit down place for an everyday meal. It was also shown us that in my opinion and experience that you have to be able to pivot at a moments notice.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://Bearscafesangertx.com
- Instagram: http://www.instagram.com/bearscafesangertx
- Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/bearscafesangertx
