Crazy Gringo BBQ | Our Story

Barbecue Born From Fire and Family

Crazy Gringo BBQ started with a father, a backyard grill, and the belief that food is how you hold people close. After Jon’s father passed away in 2016, he found a way to stay connected through cooking and barbecue. That passion led to the founding of Crazy Gringo BBQ in 2019 and eventually a brick-and-mortar restaurant, built on family, community, and great food.

It Started Around a Campfire

It started with Boy Scout weekends — Dutch ovens, campfire cobblers, and the instinct to feed people. That drive to gather everyone around something warm and good never left.

A Grill as a Housewarming Gift

In 2012, my dad's housewarming gift was a BBQ — because of course it was. For years, lighting the coals together was our favorite reason to get the whole family in one place.

The Clearance Smoker That Changed Everything

After my dad passed from leukemia in 2016, I was pretty lost. Then in 2018 I found a clearance pellet smoker at Walmart, threw on a pulled pork that same afternoon, and something clicked back into place.

From Backyard to 1,000 People

That first cook became an obsession — ceramic grills, drum smokers, a Cedar Creek Asadera, a 4th-place competition finish, and eventually catering events for a thousand guests on a 500-gallon offset.

Home at Kings Brewing

Today we're inside Kings Brewing in Historic Downtown Upland — craft BBQ with real Latin soul alongside craft beer and live music. Pull up a chair; this is exactly where we're supposed to be.