Smoky BBQ food truck that drew crowds opens its own kitchen in Kennewick
.jpg "Ron Swanby, owner of Swampy’s BBQ Sauce and Catering, moves into its new home, a custom-built kitchen in Kennewick.")
Swampy’s BBQ Sauce and Catering, the savory, smoky staple of East Columbia Drive, has moved into its forever home.
Owner Ron Swanby moved his truck-based business into a custom kitchen built adjacent the Port of Kennewick’s Columbia Gardens Wine & Artisan Village, 215 E. Columbia Drive, near the cable bridge.
It was a short move for Swampy’s, which has called Columbia Gardens its home base for nearly four years. Its food truck and smoker were the first to move into the wine-oriented village when it opened a food truck plaza in 2020.
‘BBQ sundae’
Swampy’s has a dedicated clientele after years of serving its barbecue and savory side dishes from a truck, which moved around downtown before it found a permanent base on Columbia Drive.
The menu features burnt end hoagies, brisket, pulled pork, smoked turkey, a trough of barbecue it cheekily calls a “BBQ sundae,” grilled cheese and brisket, biscuits and gravy, loaded potatoes, bacon mac and cheese and more.
Swampy’s held a soft opening in its new kitchen in early March and plans a grand opening 2-6 p.m., March 22. The festivities include a ribbon cutting, an expanded menu, entertainment and surprise guests.
While the move was just a few steps, the new building fulfills a dream that took some four years to bring to fruition.
Betting on business
Swanby said the new kitchen is the key to turning Swampy’s into a profitable business. As a food truck, it frequently traveled to events and catering jobs, translating in lost business at Columbia Gardens.
Swanby concluded that for Swampy’s to sustain itself, it needed a fixed brick-and-mortar base that would be open regular hours at Columbia Gardens.
He pitched the idea to the Port of Kennewick when it first considered selling sites at Columbia Gardens to private developers interested in setting up restaurants, cafes, wineries and breweries in the area.
It sold a sliver to Swanby and his partner Pipeworks iLLC, in 2022 for about $37,000.
The team broke ground on the compact, 800-square-foot kitchen in 2023.
The $350,000 project is large enough to accommodate Swampy’s, a walk-up window for customers and and restrooms. It has a plaza with covered seating and an outdoor fan for those hot summer days.
The kitchen is available to other food trucks who need a commissary kitchen, a legal requirement for mobile food businesses in Washington. Red Mountain Commercial Kitchen in Kennewick and Pasco Specialty Kitchen are two well-known examples of commissary kitchens that support area food trucks.
If you go
Swampy’s opens for breakfast at 7:30 a.m. and begins serving lunch at 11 a.m.
Follow it on Facebook @Swampysbbqsauce or Instagram @swamphsbbq for daily specials.
.jpg "Ron Swanby at Swampy’s (1).jpg")
About Columbia Gardens: The Port of Kennewick created Columbia Gardens Wine & Artisan Village on property nestled by Duffy’s Pond in 2016 to bring the public back to the Columbia River waterfront with a wine-themed destination.
Today, it boasts two wineries, Bartholomew and Monarcha, and two wine tasting rooms, Gordon Estate and Muret-Gaston Wine Bar.
The food truck plaza features Boblastic Tri-Cities, Botanas Culchi, Culture Shock Bistro, Frida’s Mexican Grill and Taste of Wok.