‘Top Chef’ Competitor Manny Barella on Balancing BBQ, Fatherhood, and the Roses and Thorns of Reality TV

After trading law books for chef whites, Manny Barella’s journey from Monterrey, Mexico, to the “Top Chef” Season 21 stage has been a whirlwind. Now, the James Beard Award semifinalist and fan‑favorite contestant is channeling his heritage and hustle into his new Denver restaurant, Riot BBQ—a Texas-style barbecue concept with Mexican flavor. In this conversation, Barella opens up about the “roses and thorns” of how being on reality TV changed his life; the challenges of building a Mexican‑inspired barbecue concept from scratch; redefining work‑life balance as a new dad; and why true success means training and treating your staff well, and “buying back your freedom” without burning out. 

This episode is brought to you by Campbell’s Foodservice—where giving operators more is at the heart of everything they do. 

Transcript

Sam Danley: 0:00

Hey guys, Sam here. Today's episode of The Restaurant Innovator is brought to you by Campbell's a Food Service, where giving operators more is at the heart of everything they do. From more versatile, inspired products to more ways to save time in the back of house, Campbell's a Food Service is committed to helping you serve with confidence. Their portfolio is built around delivering more flavor, more value, and more solutions that meet the evolving needs of today's food service operations. Because when Campbell's Food Service says more, they mean more support, more innovation, and more ways to help your business succeed. Now onto the show.

Callie Evergreen: 1:03

I'm your host and FSR editor, Callie Evergreen, joined by my colleague and co-host, Sam Danley, Associate Editor. I'm so excited to welcome our special guest for today's episode, Manny Barella, who competed on season 21 of Bravo's Top Chef, finishing among the top five contestants, and has recently opened his own concept, Riot Barbecue in Denver as of June. Manny was also on the cover of FSR's inaugural Top Chefs issue last year. So this podcast episode has been a long time coming. First off, Manny, thank you so much for being here. And how have you been doing since the last time we talked?

Manny Barella: 1:39

Thank you for having me. Oh my God, it's uh it's two lifetimes have passed since the last time we spoke. Uh, but all good things, thankfully.

Callie Evergreen: 1:49

Love to hear it. Well, for those who may not be familiar, maybe let's rewind the clock a little bit. Can you kind of walk us through just your journey to becoming a chef and some of the things that you've accomplished? I know you went to law school initially, so I'm curious like how you ended up a chef.

Manny Barella: 2:05

Yeah, I wanted to be a lawyer real badly when I was in Mexico. This is all in Mexico. Um, I was uh born and raised in Monterey up until I was 24 years old. Uh I like to say that I'm a Mexican astrategias. Um, then uh went to law school, did about three and a half years, uh, realized that my moral compass didn't allow with what I needed to be a successful lawyer in Mexico. Um, and I just wanted to be part of people's good day, you know, and what what better way to do it than through food? You know, uh I tell my cooks that if we have people talking about what we do on their drive back home, that then our our uh work was done. Um then uh I just dropped out of school. I had a full ride because of football and everything, and I was just like, nah. I wanna just feed the inner child in me that will forever be hungry, and uh decided to uh to cook. Uh and then uh one bad day at this job that I had at this restaurant um just pushed me to look for what's the next step, and I found a J1 visa program. Uh, and I traveled to beautiful Tunica, Mississippi. Uh, and uh my first venture was working at a casino, changing chafers at the buffet at a casino in uh in Gulfstrike Casino in Mississippi. Uh did that. Uh then I went to uh Atlanta, Georgia, uh, work at St. Ridges with another visa, uh, moved to St. Simons, Georgia, and worked at Sea Island. I really used a total five-star the whole thing uh for about three years. Uh, then I went to Mexico for a couple months, um, and then ended up moving to Napa Valley. Uh, did two and a half years there working at a couple of restaurants, and I became a resident while I was there. And that was a quite experience because now I was not um depending on where people telling me where I should need it to go to work. I was like, I okay, I get to choose now. Right? Uh so by doing so, I moved to Boulder, Colorado to work at my dream job at the time, which was a Frasca Food and Wine. It's an Italian restaurant uh now a Michigan star. Uh and that's all I wanted to do. I don't know if if it's because uh Italians and Mexicans eat a lot of carbs, but uh I like to eat pasta in any possible way um and work at one of the best Italian restaurants, right? Um ended up uh finishing my tenure there, going to Ucchi. Uh I wanted a challenge, something that I had never done in my life, which was uh focusing on Japanese cuisine. So I did a year and a half there, then opened a Mexican restaurant, and I feel that that's when like my career uh really took off, right? When I was able to uh put my stamp on the menu, created the entire menu with family recipes at Bellota in 2020 during the pandemic. Um, did that for about two years, and uh that's when uh I got the nomination for James Beard, um the Star Chef for Brooklyn, etc. etc. And I feel that's when Top Chef kind of like put or set their eyes on what I was doing. Uh and ended up um my time there, and a couple months later got approached by Top Chef. And uh that was my life changed after that, to say the least.

Sam Danley: 5:28

Talk to us a little bit about the experience on Top Chef. Like what uh how did your life change? What are some of the like the big takeaways from that whole experience for you?

Manny Barella: 5:38

Yeah, yeah, I'm gonna be real honest with you, dude. I had not watched Top Chef before I knew that I was going. I mean, of course I knew about it, right? Like if you're serious in in this industry, you know about it. But I mean, after I mean, especially like in Napa, you know, working 15, 16 hours a day, the last thing you want to do is come home and watch other people come. Yeah, watch more people do what you just did all day. Exactly. Like I describe it as watching somebody cook with your hands behind your back and you're not even able to intervene. It's it's so it's it's so infuriating. Uh but I but um they approached me and I'm just like, I reached out out to my to my PR team at the time, um, and I was like, should I do this? And they were like, um, yeah, absolutely. So I was like, okay, let's let's see, let's see where this takes us, right? Um, and I can tell you it is the most rewarding and at the same time the most challenging uh experience of my life. You know, it uh pushed me to boundaries that I didn't even know existed. Uh I had to go back into the memory bank of techniques and recipes and flavors that I had forgotten at this time after so many years. Uh but the most important part is the people that I met there. You know, uh I consider them my brothers and sisters who were trauma bonded. Uh, you know, some of them assisted uh to my wedding. Um my wife talks to them uh like more times than I talk to some of them sometimes. If we're in each other's town, we always make a point of going to dinner. Like there's just like this brethren that comes out of it. Um and obviously what comes outside with with the with people, you know, when people are like, oh my god, I saw you in Top Chef and I was rooting for you. I had you on my team, and I'm just like, I'm sorry for the mishaps. Uh but but it's uh it's been a fantastic journey. Obviously, as time has passed, there is less and less of like, oh my god, are you many from TopChef? Uh when the reason was coming up, it it was uh quite common, obviously. Uh, but yeah, it's just uh we enjoy it while it lasts and we strike the iron while it's hot, but it has put me in in uh cities cooking at restaurants that I that I never thought I was going to. Uh it just um I'm so happy that I did it. I'm so so happy.

Sam Danley: 8:00

I love that. Would you consider yourself like a competitive person before that experience? Or did it like bring out a side of you maybe that you you like hadn't seen before? What was the the competition aspect like for you just on like a personal level?

Manny Barella: 8:18

Um I feel that any person in any career that strives for excellence needs to be competitive, whether you're competing with other people, you're competing with yourself. You know, I have never been someone that I want to like how can I scribe like beat you in a way that you like drag you through the ground. You know, and and I describe this uh during my season talking to them. Uh there's this uh leadership speaker that I love, his name is Simon Sinek. He talks about the difference between being rivals and being competitors. You know, when somebody is your rival, you want to drag them through the mud, you want them to lose, you want them to fail. When you uh have a competitor, it's like I want you to show your best self. I don't want you to make a fool of yourself, I want you to be proud about what you're doing here. I just have to make sure that I do better than you. And that's I feel that the kind of competitiveness that I have, where I don't want anybody to be embarrassed of their performance, but at the same time, I gotta make sure that I do better than them.

Callie Evergreen: 9:30

Okay, I have to ask. You you mentioned so like people would come up to you and be like, Oh, we had you on like our team. Does that mean people do like fantasy football style for like top chef? Oh yeah, I didn't even know that.

Manny Barella: 9:42

That's so so many people. Uh the com the common rule that I've seen is like after the first episode, that's when people choose uh who's who's where. Uh but yeah, there's there like people get really serious about it. Like they put money on the table. They're like, oh my god, I won $500 because I had the winner. I don't know. Well, we've been two years.

Callie Evergreen: 10:05

You know, uh any chance to gamble. We're in. Americans are in.

Manny Barella: 10:10

Exactly. Yeah. Uh yeah, but people people get super serious about it. Um, yeah, and Reddit and everything, which is another topic, right? Like uh we we were heavily advised to not go on online and then just read uh whatever that keyboard cowboys are uh writing regarding things that they cannot do. You know, uh another uh uh uh author that I that I like, um he mentions, he says, the way that I think about like approach on these kinds of competitions or whatever you try to accomplish in life, you know, David Goggins, I don't know if you have heard of him. And he says, if you are not trying to accomplish what I am trying to accomplish, then I don't really care what you have to say about me. You know, and and that's something that we we were telling each other. Like people are very quick to to criticize what's happening and what's not happening, what you did, what you didn't do. You know, like I always say, How do you do in talk show? Oh wait, you haven't been. You know, so you it's it's really easy to do it. And I did it, trust me. When I was started watching seasons, it's so easy sitting from for uh sitting on your couch eating ice cream and be like, oh, I would have done this and that. You know, it's so easy to do it. I used to do it too. Um, but now when you are on the other side, you're like, yeah, no, I'm never gonna criticize because you don't know. You you you get to see like 5% of what actually happened. Um, the good and the bad. Uh but yeah, it's uh it's it's been like an entire like it's it's been crazy in the best possible way. Uh it's it's I I never thought when I left Mexico that I was gonna be in Top Chef.

Callie Evergreen: 11:49

Incredible, incredible journey. And I mean, you've worked across like Fine Dining Casual and now Barbecue. Um, so tell me a little bit about how the idea for Riot Barbecue started and also your partnership with um with your pitmaster.

Manny Barella: 12:08

Yeah, so uh I when I spent some time in Texas, so when I was uh at Uji, they send they send you to Texas to learn from the like the source, right? And I I was like, there's a lot of uh barbecue places with a Mexican twist here in Texas. That is so interesting. Like I've never had anything like that, like I love the approach, and it just it I just like kept thinking about it, right? Because especially coming from modern Mexico, like I love red meat, you know, like I'm just waiting to get out. One day it's gonna happen, you know. And but that was it, it was just like that curiosity. Um, then fast forward uh uh after Bellota and during my time at Top Chef, I'm getting ready to open a Jaguar Boleta in Raleigh that we talked about uh last year. And the concept there is Mexican, I call it with a Mexican heart and a southern soul, and it had a smoke program. So I go, uh I'm I'm at home, and this is February 2023, and the restaurant doesn't even have a date to open, but I'm getting paid my retainer at that time, and I'm just like, well, I can be at home doing nothing, or I can try to just learn something, right? So I get connected with Patrick uh Kleiber, who is my my uh partner now. Uh, and uh I was like, Hey, my name is Manny, I have never held a brisket in my life. Can I just come down to your restaurant, AJ's? Um, and can you can you teach me? And he said, Well, we're not hiring, and I'm like, Well, I can do it for free, like I don't care. So I drove uh three times a week, about an hour and 15 minutes, to go and just clean brisket. Um, and I remember and uh I telling him at the time, dude, you make it look so easy. I know it's not, but you make it look so easy. And if I ever have a barbecue restaurant, I hope that it's like AJ's. Uh two and a half years later, I got to buy the space. Um so uh I learned uh from him, and then after that, as a curious mind, I started just doing it in my own like in my own style. You know, let me try this rub, let me try this technique, and we we just stayed in touch. Um after uh with Jaguar, uh things ended for um other reasons beyond my my control. Uh they end in September 2024. You know, I had just bought a house, my wife is pregnant, and I'm just like, oh shit, um I don't have a job. So that was that was freaking scary. Um, but I remember just looking at my wife and telling her, I got us. You know, like I feel that there's something uh uh I don't know if it's exclusive to immigrants, uh, but there was something in me that I was just like, uh I've been here before, I got this. This time it's a little different because I have two mouths to feed, not only mine. If it's just me, I have like a hundred recipes of fried bologna sandwich and I love them, you know, catsuna and rice. Oh my god, so many meals like that. Um so that's when Top Chef uh came in handy because there's a name out there that people know about that people would like to meet and try the food or whatever. So I started doing pop-ups. Um, I was able to go to Kentucky for a pop-up. I did it a couple times here in Denver. I did it just literally, just knocking on doors, finding spaces, selling tickets, you know, like the whole thing. Um, and uh so this started in September. Then on February, my daughter is born. And I was like, well, I guess I get paternity leave, a forced paternity leave, which is a blessing, a blessing in disguise. You know, like I got to spend every morning with her. Um this is in February, and then April. I talked to my other partner, Caleb, and we're talking about doing a pop-up, like a barbecue pop-up. And uh he tells me about this story on Riot. Um, so uh let me just tell you where the name comes from because it's super cool. Uh in uh 1898, the city of Denver was uh decided to do this huge barbecue to send the soldiers of the for that were going to the Spaniard War, and they had like 30,000 people, it's like it was a whole event. The problem is that uh they ran out of food, and uh there was a huge line, so they started giving free beer, so no food, angry people, hungry people. It turned into a riot. And uh because of that event, the national western stock show in Denver started, so it is known as the Denver Barbecue Riot from 1898, so that's why we're called Riot Barbecue, and we have like the story on the walls and everything. Uh, so we're like, yeah, let's do let's do a pop-up and just call it Riot Barbecue. And then AJ's closes because um the owner didn't pay taxes and it goes into an auction. So I called Patrick, how are you doing, bro? Do you need a job? Let's do a pop-up. We split half and half, and he tells me about the auction. So we just bid on it and got the space and um turnkey operation basically. And uh April the 14th, we got the keys, and June the 5th was the opening of it. And something that I told him is like, listen, I have been wanting to do barbecue with a Mexican twist for a long time, and I want to have brisket tacos in it, and I want to have this, not Tex-Mex. Uh, I want Mexican, not Tex-Mex. Nothing against Tex-Mex, but I just I just wanted real Mexican flavors. Uh, and I put my foot down and I said, basically, if you guys want to do a regular barbecue restaurant, then I'm out. You know, and I don't think that I even have to finish the phrase. You know, they we were all on the same page, we all wanted the same thing. So we started doing the RD and a couple ideas that I had, and thankfully Patrick and I see eye to eye on pretty much everything up until now. We're like, oh, this is great. I mean, if it tastes good, why are we battling, right? Uh, so we opened four months ago. Uh we have been running out of food multiple days because we have lines out the door, like the response from the city of Denver has been incredible, like beyond my wildest dreams.

Callie Evergreen: 18:34

Has anyone rioted yet?

Manny Barella: 18:37

Not yet, but some people have complained a little bit like how come what do you mean food? But like this is Texas style. We're counter-service. Uh, you know, we don't have like the sandwich with the fried onions and no, no, we have you want a sandwich, there's your bread, there's your meat, there are pickles and barbecue sauce. Like we are like super casual, straightforward. We wanted Texas style barbecue. Um, and the whole culture of until sold out is still being like taught to people here in Denver. Uh, but we smoke meats every day, you know, like we we keep it fresh. And uh, but I mean, if if you come late, you lose weight, you know. You come come in like come get in line and you can drink while you're waiting. I mean, I can wait in line all day with a margarita in my hand. Um, and uh I was just baffled that nobody in Denver had thought about opening a barbecue with a Mexican twist. I don't understand why it had not happened, and I'm so glad that nobody had done it before. Um, because uh people are are excited about it and people are liking it. Obviously, we have to deliver, right? It's not the concept doesn't make it. We still have to like make the food and make it taste good and have the systems, and most importantly, the culture of the restaurant, because we're I mean, we it's 13 employees in the entire restaurant, so it's an open kitchen. So if you have disgruntled employees, people see it. And people have mentioned that everybody looks in like they're in a good mood. And uh that's something that that I take a lot of pride on. We're like, hey, listen, you don't work for me, you work with me. We work for the people, and that's something that I instruct to them all the time. Like, I'm not like, yeah, I may be the one signing the checks, but at the end of the day, they are the one, they are the ones giving me the money to sign your check. So let's just make sure that people are taken care of. We're having fun at work when it's time to have fun, and we just make things better every day. And that's that's the whole mentality.

Sam Danley: 20:37

I love it. I love the history behind the name, too. That is such a cool, fun story. It's like level to Denver. Um, talk to us a little bit about the menu itself. Where and how are these like south of the border influences showing up? How are you bringing that to life on the menu?

Manny Barella: 20:56

So, um, my pride and joy of the dishes there are the spare ribs that we make. You know, when you go barbecue restaurants, you have your traditional rub. If you go on more on the south, or you get the smothering sauce, which I do not like if you go to Kansas City or to Memphis. And uh, at some point it just turns into which of the barbecue places is closer to my house? Which one is more convenient? Because it's basically the same flavor all the time, whether it's good or bad. So for me, pastor, pastor, I don't know the one you have the top with a pineapple on the top. Yeah, that for me is my death row meal. That's the absolute last dish that I will have in my entire life with flour tortillas and cheese, like not the foie gras, not the cachoe peppers, not this pastor. So it's like I wanted to have pastor, and I was like, let's try it on ribs. I have a great marinade. So we marinate ribs with Al Pastor Marinade for two days, and then we smoke them every day. So we have to like plan ahead, right? Um and uh the the I I what I've been looking and I could not find any other restaurant, not even Chat GPT, was able to find another restaurant that has smoked pork ribs al pastor. And uh that that is like the dish that I will order. As much as I love our brisket, that's the one. Um another one that has a heavy Mexican influence is uh Coleslaw. So instead of making a mayo dressing, what I do, I do a salsa matcha but with seeds, so I don't have to worry about the peanut. And then uh we turn it into um the best way I can describe it is like think about an extra crunchy peanut butter but kind of loose. So we make a dressing almost like a like a Thai peanut dressing but with the salsa matcha flavors, and that's what we dress the coleslaw in. Um and then our best best seller after brisket and ribs is the cornbread. So we make uh jalapeno cheddar cornbread, but we top it with Mexican street corn. And um, something that we do that is reminiscent of my childhood is that uh when you approach the guy with a corn, you can smell the burned corn husk. And I like I love working with char stuff, I like working with the bitterness and kind of balance it. So uh I burn uh onions and some get burned, some caramelized, so the sweetness and the bitterness kind of complement each other, and then we make a crema out of it. So the jalapeno cheddar cornbread is stuffed with charred onion crema, cotija cheese, uh fire roasted uh corn, and that has been by the unit is our best seller.

Callie Evergreen: 23:41

Yeah, those are I see it's I see it's out of stock on your website right now.

Manny Barella: 23:45

So yeah, and then obviously I mean we have we have the tacos, um, uh brisket taco. Uh something that we do is all the trimming from the brisket, we use the meat to make our jalapeno cheddar sausage. We have a sausage program, so every everything is from scratch. Uh and all the fat. Uh, I remember walking past a trash can one day, and I was like, there's so much fat in here. Like, I we need to we we need to give the animal an honorable death, right? We need to make sure that we utilize as much as possible. So we render the tallow, we sell it to these uh tortilla companies here in Denver, and they use our brisket tallow to make our flour tortillas for our tacos. And then the rest of the tallow, we smoke it and we jar it and we sell uh riot uh smoked beef tallow in little jars for retail. Uh so I tell people during the winter here in Denver, you can make a steak at home and then just brush it with the tallow and you can tell your friends that you were outside in the snow grilling and it's gonna taste like you were grilling. Um so that so that way we can we can utilize as much as possible uh of the product that we have, right? Uh and yes, we want to make money, but at the same time, I mean we wanna we wanna honor the the the ranchers that put the effort to grow the steers in order to make sure that we just make the most out of it.

Callie Evergreen: 25:09

I love that. That's that's awesome. And I love that you didn't even have to mention the word like sustainability, because it's like you you're doing it. You don't have to like splash it everywhere. You just have to describe like this is this is how we're honoring the the animal. And speaking of-I I guess we're doing it.

Manny Barella: 25:28

I had not even thought the first time using the word sustainability because we're right.

Callie Evergreen: 25:34

And you know, beef tallow is like I very, very popular right now too. And I feel like it's always like in the nudes of like, you know, the the anti-seed oil people, whatever your take is on that or not. But it's like it's definitely like a trend. And like speaking of, I guess, consumer trends and like zooming out a little bit, like your your pork ribs al pastor on your website. I'm looking at it and it's $12. And that's like blowing my mind. So like thinking about just how the consumer's wallet is being squeezed right now, everyone's talking about like inflation. Talk a little bit about like just like the value equation, how you're able to kind of keep prices low while still, you know, like paying your employees really well, and how just like the format of your restaurant allows for that.

Manny Barella: 26:19

Yeah. So uh, you know, that price that you see is for half a pound. First of all, let's just make it clear. But but even then, you know, like we sell the half a pound of brisket for $19. And you get half a pound of brisket for $19, you get a side, which is six dollars, or you're paying $25 for eight ounces of smoked meat and a side. And we have had people like, oh, you guys are too expensive, which I understand with the the where the countries and and like the the financial uh situation of everybody is very subjective. But at the end of the day, I say, you will not get eight ounces of beef and a side for $25 anywhere, not even Texas Roadhouse. You know, you like it, it is uh it is a good deal, all things considered. You know, when you get the the ribs, uh, you know, half a pound is like it's two big ribs. We use all McDonald's farms, which is local, they're big ribs. Um so obviously we're trying to stay within the ranges of what the barbecue world has to offer. And you know, you're never gonna make money brisket ever. I mean, if if you have a place that is only brisket with how the beef prices are, then you're doing it wrong. Though that I think the approach is more of let's make sure that we have the best brisket possible because that's what brings people in the door, and then you have other things that are more economical, uh, based on as in prices of through our vendors and ranchers and whatnot. Uh, and the system that we have, I mean, counter-service. I don't think I'm ever gonna open a full service restaurant again in my life. You know, is we have 13 people, three of those are my prep cooks, the other 10 are front of the house. So two dishwashers, three prep cooks, eight front of the house. That's what we have four, six days, two shifts. And that is uh I don't know why it took me so long to do this. Uh, because so we opened this and uh we uh they they get like the tips, it's like a tiple. Uh and obviously counter service, you will never gonna get that 18-20 percent tip pool. Um a tip, right? And I understand. I I don't think that you should do 20% with your counter service, uh, unless you feel that you got instructed and guided through the menu and explain, like it needs to be.

Sam Danley: 28:49

Yeah, you really gotta earn it in that context.

Manny Barella: 28:52

Um a hundred percent. Like you don't just grab something, turn the screen, and automatic 20%. No, I'm I'm not one of those. Um, then that's why I educate my my people at the restaurant. Like, oh, tell me about the pork ribs, and I want them to be able to talk about a pastor, tell me about the cornbread esquites, oh, what are the esquites? Oh, it's because uh chef had this memory from like I want them to be able to explain that in uh in a two-minute interaction. That's our goal. Two uh two two minutes per inter per uh transaction. Uh and you know, like between that and we have a little, when we had the line, I was like, you know what, guys, I think that we need to get a little like palettas card, you know, where uh and then but fill it with drinks. So when we have the line, we just go down the line with a handheld and we start selling beers and then drinks like in a baseball game. Um instead of people instead of just standing there, like, what am I gonna order? You're like, oh well, at least I have a drink in my hand. Um so all those all those ideas have brought uh certain Success uh to the concept and uh to the the restaurant itself where people that work there see that that the three owners, Caleb, Patrick, and I, we're there. You know, we're we may not be on the schedule, but we are there. Like I get there in the morning and I spend 90% of my time, I spend it with the prep team. Um, because uh, you know, it's I don't want to be like, oh, I'm gone for two weeks and I come back. It's it's a lot easier to to bring back one person. You know, you're getting a little bit out of line that trying to fix seven different problems, right? And in barbecue, by the time the food gets to the line, it's already made. You know, just cut against the grain, wipe your station, make sure the flour tortillas are cooked. Um, so um, there's a lot of little things that you don't think they're gonna have a lot of impact. And we were not thinking that one of them was gonna be the solution of all the problems, but when we take a step back, I think we have something really beautiful. Uh, and we're really proud of what we have accomplished because you can see people are happy, food is great, guests are happy, I am happy with the food. You know, we're at a point where like it tastes exactly how I intended it to taste.

Callie Evergreen: 31:20

That must be an incredible feeling.

Manny Barella: 31:22

Yeah, yeah. We have to get a third smoker. We have two smokers, we have to get a third one to keep up because we just don't have the space.

Callie Evergreen: 31:29

Good problem to have, right?

Sam Danley: 31:32

Exactly. So, you know, like the the pricing, the value equation, obviously that's something that's top of mind for a lot of people right now. I guess I'm curious, what were there other any big challenges or just kind of obstacles, creative or like operational, that you faced when launching Riot Barbecue in 2025, which is maybe not the friendliest of business environments. What was that like? What were some things you encountered uh just when opening it in this climate?

Manny Barella: 32:03

Well, um, I think the biggest challenge, and it had nothing to do with like the economy itself. It was more the fact that the previous restaurant there closed so abruptly. Um, and we really wanted to like put distance from that. You know, when people are, oh, I'm so glad you guys reopened. No, no, no, no, no. We did not reopen, we opened, we are not associated. Um, so Patrick, this is why it got challenging. So, Patrick, he was the pit master at AJ's for seven years. Uh, when we were talking about reopening, I wanted to do something with him because he's a friend of mine even before the business and everything, and he's something somebody that I admire. He got a uh uh big gourmand in 2023 from the Michelin guy, the only pit master in Colorado to get it. Um, so uh he's super, super talented. And uh I was like, Do you want to be a part owner? So we made him a part owner that way he can never leave me. Um so uh and then yeah, lock him in. Yeah, and no, I mean also they're like sweat, tears, and blood at that restaurant from him. He's the only pit master that has worked as a smoker. Like he he earned it. It was it was due. Um so uh that restaurant closed in the beginning of February, and we up we announced that we're opening in May. So there's really two months between the closing and our announcement that that we had to create that distance. Um, back in 2020 when I opened Bayota, a restaurant called Acorn that was a staple restaurant in Denver after seven years of being like top 10 restaurants in Denver cut closed. So for two years, Bayota, previously Acorn, and then Manny Barella from Bayota, previously Acorn. And I was like, can we forget about Acorn? Like, I feel that we have earned our own name. Uh so from the opening, when I talked to our peer team, I was like, I don't want that to happen again. We're gonna talk about it once when we are like opening with the with the media, and then from that moment on, somebody like, oh yeah, this and this with AJs. And I was like, um I'm happy to talk about Riot if that's what you want to talk about. That's how we set that boundary. Uh so that's some that that I think was like the biggest challenge marketing-wise. And besides that, like I man, I don't I don't need to touch wood. Yeah, so uh everything was a lot smoother than I thought it was gonna be. Uh it was when I was talking to my wife, and I was like, oh yeah, like we're thinking about opening this restaurant, and like we have a three-month-old baby. What do you mean you're opening a restaurant? Uh in the in like in this economy, and I remember just telling her, I have a feeling, just trust me, I have a feeling. Uh, in all my years cooking, this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. It's something so special because the location is very well known here in the city. The restaurant that was here was also recognized by the Michelin guide. We're bringing half of the staff because all of them had to walk out, just so you know. Uh, and when they applied for uh unemployment, uh the labor department told them that there was no records that they ever worked there because the previous owner had like fake W-2s. And yeah, yeah, yeah. Like they they got screwed massively. So something that we wanted to do is like, hey, who wants to come back? Like we will rehire you and let's let's just do it right this time. Let's make sure that everybody's paid right, let's make sure that taxes are being paid, obviously, because that's an IRS, you'll never run away from them. Um, and and our goal was to change the misconception that restaurateurs are taking advantage of their employees. Because, like I said, like they're they're making very good money with because they're on the tip, and we're a small team, we're a small family, right? And for me, it's like as long as I have food on my table and a roof over my head, I don't care how much money they're making. I want them to be happy. If anything, it just avoids attrition, you know, uh, and it shows they're happy to be there. Um, so everything was quite smooth, all things considered, right? There were challenges. We got broken into the restaurant like the day before we opened. You know, we got like the sound system was stolen. We're like, okay, have a restaurant, they said. Um, but uh yeah, like it we we we surrounded ourselves with a very good team. Uh everybody was on the same page, uh, everybody's very good at what they do. So uh we just stayed on our lane. Uh the creative uh component was very well defined of who does what. And not that we're like, don't don't tell me about the food. Like I am very open, like, okay, tell me, what are you thinking? Let's see. If it tastes better, trust me, I have no ego. I'll be like, damn it, man. I wish I would have thought about that. You know, if it tastes good, it tastes good. I don't care where the idea comes from. And um, that's something that I tell my cooks. There's a recipe book, take all the pictures you want. My recipes are your recipes. The only thing is that if you can do them better than me, you have to tell me what you did. Even if it's five years from now. That's the only thing that I ask in return. If you upgrade it, I need to know so I can do it also.

Callie Evergreen: 37:22

Sounds like a solid plan, yeah.

Sam Danley: 37:23

Yeah, I like that philosophy.

Callie Evergreen: 37:25

You know, I'm curious maybe what advice you would give to someone who's trying to maintain like that kind of healthy, like, I don't know, if work-life balance, if you would use that term. Um, but just being able to like be present for your staff, but also be present for your family and how you just navigate that as you know, a new dad and a restaurant owner in such a demanding industry.

Manny Barella: 37:48

Um, you know, I uh I'm glad you asked that because I had this conversation plenty of times, even before having riot. Uh I feel that after COVID, the mentality of like, oh yeah, I work six days a week, 70 hours a day, I'm such a badass, like that is that is gone. You know, now if you say that, it's more about are you that bad at training people that you have to be there all the time? You know, I feel that you have to train for your position. You know, it's like that's the only way that you're gonna buy your time back. And even if you remove that selfish thought, which is okay, you gotta be a little selfish sometimes, it's you're doing it also to develop someone else. You know, like, hey, you uh have you ever placed orders? No, I have never. Is that something that you're interested in learning? Oh, I would love that. Come over, I'll show you. And who knows, maybe one day, like I have to take the day off, but today we gotta place orders. Oh, I'm so glad that I taught this guy or girl how to place orders because then I don't have to go for one hour to the restaurant and cut my day in half. You know, that that's how you buy your time back and develop the next generation at the same time. Um, that is the the formula that has helped me the most on uh how to get my there's I don't know if there's another way besides hiring more people, you know. But at the same time, there are some people that they just want to be land hooks for the rest of their lives, and that's the life work balance that they have and that what it works, and that's also fine. You just need to find who wants to go to the next step, and they just water that plant a little more than the other ones, and that that's also okay. Um, that would be my best advice, just train for your position. Um, I call it being smart lazy. Like, well, I don't really want to do that. What is the best way and the most efficient way to do it in the shorter amount of time without sacrificing integrity? And and whatever the result is, uh, it's not a flawless uh mindset, you know, but it has helped me more than anything make relationship with cooks all throughout my pop-ups. I had my group of mercenaries that they were my cooks four years ago. And I will shoot them a text and like, hey, who wants to cook? And they will come under day off, or they will ask a day off on their jobs to come and cook at the pop-up, so we all get to hang out after so long because I just build very good relationships with them. Some of them are my friends and we hang out outside of work. You know, some of them like have met my daughter and come to my house, like even after years of not working together, because I feel that every interaction with my staff, the first 10 minutes, let's not talk about business. Hey, I heard your dad was sick. How is he doing? Well, how was your day off? How was a concert? How drunk did you get? Are you hungover? Like, you just like talk, talking on a more personal level for the first 10 minutes. I don't have time. We'll get 10 minutes early to work, so you make time, you know, because that's how you create the rapport, and then you get to business. Um, because it's important also for them to differentiate, like, hey, let's not let's not fool around, let's get these tickets out of the way, and then we can keep talking about fantasy football. You know, but like that it is okay. Can I play music? Let's just play music. But if we start getting distracted, we're shutting that off. You know, that's those are the boundaries that you need to set. But that way, people like like, oh, I I love this band. Chef loves this band too. Like, they know that about me.

Sam Danley: 41:24

You know, I'm curious, Manny, looking back at your journey so far, how how would you define success at this stage in your career for you on a personal or a professional level?

Manny Barella: 41:39

Oh my god. Uh wow, this is a nice easy one for you. I feel that for me, success, but uh like professional, financial, personal, uh, you know, like uh financial success. What I what I uh tell my wife is like, I don't need the like house lake, I don't need the boat, I don't need none of that. I like my the level of financial stability that I want is like if one of my dogs gets sick and I have to pay $1,500, I can still sleep like a baby that night. Like that is the level. Anything after that, trust me, is welcome. But I just want the options, you know, like oh oh my I don't know, like my I twist my ankle. Oh, let's just go buy just go buy a brace. Like, like without the problem of like it's $200. I don't know. Like, that's the level. When it comes to the personal success, um if I get to have dinner with my wife, play with my daughter, bathe my daughter, and put her to bed if it's my night because we alternate, um that that's a successful day for me. When I created the systems, I created the culture, I created the recipes for other people to execute them like if I was there, that for me is success. If I don't go to the restaurant for a week, I assure you the restaurant will not skip a beat. You know, I am there because of who I am as a person. Um, but the systems are there in place. And that that is for me that is success when I am not chained to a restaurant and I'm there because I want to be there, because I I need to be there in a way that we have a special event, or I want to be an extra hand or it's a Saturday service or something, but not because if I'm not there, the restaurant is not gonna do it. They're not gonna survive the shift. Um, yeah, and when it comes to professional success, I don't know, man. I think that uh uh the the ceiling is not I have not seen it, and I don't think that I ever want to see the the ceiling with a professional one because then I may get complacent. I'm afraid that I will get complacent. Um, you know, Danny from Top Chef, uh he told me one of the phrases that allowed me to take a little bit of a breather as a recovering workaholic. Uh, and he said, Sometimes you gotta stop and smell the flowers. And uh that's something that I never did. You know, you get to the peak of the mountain and you're like, Where is it, where's the next peak? Oh, it's over there, let me go. Instead of like, hey, yeah, just slow down, enjoy the view, you know, like appreciate what you have accomplished, and then just analyze, okay, what is it gonna cost me to get the next peak? Is it worth it? You know, because can I do it? 100% I can do it. But uh, but what am I gonna give in return? Am I gonna give bathing my daughter? Am I gonna give having dinner with my wife? Am I gonna give seeing my mom when she's visiting? Like there will be sacrifices here and there, but like I mentioned earlier, if you want the roses, it comes with the thorns. You know, and it's just part of the package. You know, the the sacrifices will be there. You just gotta manage which ones are you willing to go through, and most importantly, which ones are you willing to put your family through because I did it to myself. You know, like it's self-inflicted pain. But but my wife and and my kid, they're collateral damage always. So I have to take in consideration what it's gonna cost them for my decisions to go to the next peak. So when it comes to professional success, it's like, okay, I know what I want to accomplish in the near future, but I don't know what five years from now many is gonna think success looks like. Because I'm a very different person from five years ago. So that's why you're like, hey, let me just focus on the thing on the foreseeable future, and then we'll see what's next after that. Let's see how I feel, let's see where I'm at, let's see what am I gonna have to sacrifice that I don't even know that I will have to sacrifice right now. Um, so right now, all I want is to have the restaurant to be recognized outside of Colorado. I want to change the concept that Colorado barbecue is not good barbecue. Um, I want to prove myself in the barbecue world because this is a new venture for me. I've done French, I've done Italian, I've done Mexican, I've done Japanese, I've never done barbecue, but it's food. You know, once you understand food, I feel that the learning curve is a lot smaller. So I don't know. I just I just want to be able to uh to be proud of what I have done when I look back at what I have accomplished, what however that looks like. You know, like I don't have like success looks this color and this shape. I don't know. It's a feeling, I guess. It's a long, long, super long answer.

Callie Evergreen: 46:56

No, I really admire that. And thank you for being so real with us. I I really appreciate it. Um, you know, for for listeners starting to wrap up here, for listeners who are curious to learn more about you, about riot barbecue, how can they do so? Can you give them a good maybe social media website to go to?

Manny Barella: 47:14

Yeah, so riot barbecue uh Instagram, it's riot.bb. Um I manage the social media. So if you send a message, I'm gonna be the one um uh responding that to that. Uh in my personal is uh Chef Manny Bareya M-A-N-N-Y B asimbabo area lele. Yeah, you'll find it. Um yeah, so those are the the the two uh Instagram handles that I uh that I handle uh the most. That'll be the best way to do it. Um yeah, and we have the website, but you know, this time of day, nobody nobody goes to your website, they go to your Instagram page. We we we learned that uh we were like investing in getting a nice website, and we're like, nobody we get the clicks and nobody does that, uh or very few people, I guess. So yeah, the Instagram handles will be the best way. Um we're very active with stories and with events. For example, we're having uh Michelle Wallace. She is coming on November the 5th and the 6th. Uh, we're doing uh a Top Chef dinner experience, a ride at barbecue with uh Michelle cooking with me. Uh as soon as I knew I was gonna have a barbecue restaurant, I was like, I cannot wait to have Michelle come to Denver and cook together. Uh, she's a very good friend of mine, super fun uh person to be hanging out with. And then uh we're doing another one at the end of November. Um I'm this week I'm announcing it, but I can tell you right now, uh Sue uh from from Chicago for my season. Uh Sue is also coming to do a Korean barbecue pop-up. Uh and right, all of those things get announced on the Instagram uh um site. So it'll be the best way to to keep track on what we're doing and where we are accomplishing.

Callie Evergreen: 49:00

Love it. Wow, you've got a lot of exciting things coming up on the horizon. Congrats on all of your success so far and for you know becoming becoming a dad recently. And yeah, thanks again for spending some time with us today, Manny, and also our listeners out there. Stay tuned for more.