Meet Mike Henry | CEO of Mike Henry’s Barbecue Co

We had the good fortune of connecting with Mike Henry and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Mike, do you disagree with some advice that is more or less universally accepted?
I’ve been a business owner pretty much all my life and I’ve never been afraid to bet on myself. Of all the businesses that I’ve started , they have all driven by my passion for that thing. There’s a saying that “If you do what you love and love what you do, you never work a day in your life”. I’ve always been a good cook but when I discovered the science behind bbq; I absolutely fell in love with it and I haven’t looked back. We the restaurant got started I had a partner and he actually believed in the vision more than I did. TIL this day I’m grateful that we fulfilled that vision; and even though we are partners anymore, I made sure to continue to follow my passion for making the best bbq anyone has ever tasted.

Can you give our readers an introduction to your business? Maybe you can share a bit about what you do and what sets you apart from others?
Mike Henry’s Barbecue Co. is a restaurant located in Rancho Cucamonga Ca that specializes in Central Texas brisket. We take pride in not only having the best BBQ in the Inland Empire but our sides are also very good.

Getting to where we are was not easy; training everyone to be on one accord and keeping the same consistency with all of our on a daily basis took years of training. And now that we have that we are still striving to get better everyday.

I’ve learned so many lessons along this journey but the one thing I’ve learned and that’s to learn how to delegate the things you aren’t good, not to spread yourself too thin. And one other thing; PAY YOUR TAXES!!! I can’t stress this enough, hire a cpa to handle your sales tax and payroll tax and any other taxes that you can think of. I’ve seen too many businesses go out of business because of this.

What I would like everyone to know about me is that I’m the ultimate people person who really cares about what people think even though I can’t control what they say. You’re going to have people who love your product and people who don’t. But remember this , “A dog doesn’t bark at a parked car”. If you don’t have haters , you aren’t moving fast enough.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
If I had a friend come visit me the first place I would visit would be the HAVEN CITY MARKET and get some Bbq from Mike Henry’s Barbecue Co for lunch of course. Then we would visit Victoria Gardens and walk around to some of the shops there or go grab a few cocktails from the State at Victoria Gardens. For dinner we could go to Elviras in Claremont if you like Mexican food or maybe the Meat Cellar if you like a prime steak dinner . Afterwards we can head back to Haven City Market to the speakeasy “ Raphael’s” to top the night off.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
There are so many people that I can thank for being there for me through this business journey but I can only thank God for the position that I’m in. When I reflect on everything that I went through to get to where I am today, God is the only one that could have taken my situation to turn what might seem like the worst scenario; into the best thing for you. So I would have to say all the credit goes to my Lord and Savior up above. It’s because of my faith in God that I did not panic when things around me were chaotic.

Website: https://Mhbbqco.com

Instagram: Mhbbqco_1

Facebook: Mike Henry’s Barbecue

Image Credits
Photos provided by Brian Oliva