LAUREL — Owners Todd and Christina Payne of Burnin' the Bone BBQ Smokehouse in Laurel had quite the shocking discovery Tuesday night after seeing that not one, but two, of their beloved briskets were stolen right off their smoker.
They say there's no such thing as life without love, but at Burnin' the Bone, there's no such thing as barbecue without brisket. It's quite a fan favorite at the restaurant.
"I had the ribs once, but the brisket is my favorite," said Linda Parsons, a restaurant regular.
"The brisket and nachos (are our favorites)," said Jennifer Bloom. She and her daughter eat the brisket nachos every Wednesday afternoon.
"I mean, smoking meat isn't the easiest restaurant to run. You got 12 to 20 hours to smoke the brisket and stuff, so it's a lot of hours," Todd said.
Todd and Christina opened the restaurant in August. Over the past few months, they've developed a small core of regular customers.
Everything seemed normal until Tuesday night.
"Yeah we should've had cameras up, but we also didn't expect anyone to steal a brisket off our smoker either," Todd said.
The heist began around 8:15 p.m. Todd went to drop Christina and their kids off at their house. When he returned to the restaurant to check on the smoker, he realized that two of the briskets were missing.
They say it likely wasn't an animal, as the smoker is industrial size with a heavy handle.
The two filed a police report Wednesday morning. They spent the rest of the day adjusting their menu.
"It also puts a damper on how much brisket we'll have today, and possibly tomorrow, depending on when he'll get to the store to get more," Christina said.
However, devoted customers showed up to support the business.
"I think it's horrible," Parsons said.
"It's stupid and it sucks. People are mean. They took food out of (the Payne's family's mouths). It's just really crappy," Jennifer Bloom said.
Now, Todd and Christina are installing precautions, like video cameras and a fence, to ensure that the incident doesn't happen again.
Precautions for an avoidable situation, the Paynes say.
"I'd tell them that we are very generous people. We would've fed them. If they would've came in and asked me for food, I would have given them a brisket off my smoker," Todd said.
