Rachel Shuster

You know the kind of BBQ that you dream about? Well that’s the kind of BBQ being served at the Mill Street BBQ Company, located at 242 Mill Street in Worcester.

While only opening just in March of this year, owner Scott Tefft and his brother and business partner, Bob are no strangers to the BBQ food scene. Their food has been around long before the Mill Street location.“I have worked in the local restaurant scene for a while, since the 80s” Scott Tefft says. “I worked at Legal Seafood, was a corporate manager for Applebee’s, worked in the circuit in Worcester area for few years, and opened up a diner in 1990.” Plot twist! “I then got a call from the Sheriff’s office to work a job, so I started working at a jail at night,” Tefft adds.

In 2013, after their BBQ catering business grew immensely, they bought a food trailer and began serving BBQ at events throughout New England. (Tefft retired from the jail in 2011 to focus on BBQ full-time) “When we added the food truck, it broadened our catering business. We would go out to events and people were able to try our food,” Tefft says. “We did school events, weddings, corporate events, etc. We went from a little catering business cooking 2,000 pounds of food in my driveway to this amazing expansion.”

As the business continued to grow and demand from patrons increased, the time to open a shop arrived, and here we are today!

“We are off to a good start,” Tefft says. “We were really busy in beginning and got all of our systems down. Things are going really well.
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While Tefft still has a team for the food truck and a team for the catering portion, he now has a great team at the Mill Street location to add to his impressive list! The team over at the Mill Street location is cooking up delicious BBQ with starters such dirty tots, chicken drumsticks wrapped in bacon, BBQ trio sliders, chili and southern fried pickles to start. All starters range from $6 – $12. Sandwiches include BBQ pulled pork, smoked turkey and house cured bacon, southern fried chicken and grilled Cajun jumbo shrimp Po Boy. All sandwiches range from $13 – $16.

There is also a lunch menu with additional menu items served at lunch time prices! Entrees include BBQ beef bronco rib (aka beef on a stick!), bucket of St. Louis ribs, IPA fish and chips and BBQ ½ chicken dinner with mac n’ cheese waffle. All entrees range from $15 – $22.

Quite possibly the best menu item? The BBQ Sundae! It looks like an ice cream sundae but made of delicious BBQ. Choose your base of either mac n’ cheese, baked beans with cornbread or country rice, then top that with your choice of BBQ! “We’ve created some pretty cool creations,” Tefft adds. They also have the BBQ split which kicks the sundae up a notch, even bigger and more delicious, looking like a banana split! Both the sundae and the split, depending on toppings, are around $20.

If you need more reason to try the food, let Mill Street’s list of accomplishments from various BBQ competitions settle that for you. “We’ve competed the last four years in the Wachusett Mountain BBQ fest and won best pulled pork all four years and won for our chili in 2015 and 2018,” Teffts says. “Bay Path Regional High School had a Chili Chow Down in February, and we won for our chili, competing with over 35 restaurants.”

As for the atmosphere, Mill Street offers a cozy, comfortable environment to chow down. “It’s very warm,” Tefft says. “We have flame lights that resemble eating by a fire pit, an outdoor patio that seats 60 people, and since we are right on Coes Pond, we have a beautiful view. I’ve been told it’s like being out at Key West.” Mill Street also has live entertainment three to four days a week, a full bar and Keno.
Tefft also plans to have fun events like a cornhole championship, with live music and a lunch buffet outside.

For more information, visit www.millstbbqcompany.com or call 508-762-9990. See you there!