By Cassandra Sottile
Elm Staff Writer
Smoke, Rattle & Roll opened a location in Kent Plaza, near China House, on July 22. This will be the second location for the chain; the first is located in Stevensville on Kent Island.
According to the Bay Times, owner Josh Shonts of Centreville first began operating the food truck of the same name in February 2016. In December of the same year, its first brick and mortar location in Stevensville opened.
Shonts, a career chef and former general manager for Five Guys, created his own company because personal customer interaction was important to him.
“We are not a traditional barbecue. We are more of a barbecue fusion restaurant, serving more than just wings and pork, but also tacos, nachos, burgers, and our house-made special sauces,” said Randi Bone, catering manager of the Chestertown location.
In addition to serving “barbecue fusion food,” SR&R’s “mobile kitchen” runs locally, and caters to sites as far as Virginia for a myriad of events such as food truck competitions, NASCAR races, and town festivals. SR&R also caters around the Chestertown area and throughout Maryland.
Bone said that the Chestertown community, especially the students of Washington College, are important to SR&R.
“A major factor for the location opening here in Chestertown rather than in Centreville is because of the College. Yes, Chestertown is a bigger town than Centreville, but the College is the center-point of the town, and a large contribution of the community, which is something we took into account when deciding on a location,” Bone said.
SR&R offers various discounts and specials, such as a 10 percent discount for WC students, and boneless wing specials on Thursdays.
Additionally, the restaurant has an immense fundraising presence, according to Bone.
They are a community-based company, and as such, seeks to give back to it as much as possible.
SR&R fundraises for different schools around the area. They recently raised $4,000 for victims affected by tornadoes as part of the relief effort Kent Island Strong. Currently, SR&R is holding their fundraiser Back the Badge, which honors Deputy First Class Warren Scott Hogan, a Queen Anne’s County policeman who was critically injured following a gunfire exchange in Chestertown in December 2016.
The ongoing fundraiser, which is running from now until Oct. 14, aims to raise awareness about law enforcement and first responders. The fundraiser will end with a golf tournament, where first responders and their families will eat for free, courtesy of SR&R.
“We wouldn’t be here without the community continuing to come to us for service, so we like to give back whenever we can,” Bone said.
Smoke, Rattle & Roll is open until 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday, and open until 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday. They looks forward to meeting WC students throughout the semester.
Students can call 443-282-0261 for carryout and can view the menu on their website www.smokerattleandroll.com.