Our story – from food truck to franchise chain

It all started with smoke, hunger and a shared kitchen.

Two colleagues with Big Bone Brews-t-shirts in the bar

2015

A food truck and a dream

After several years in the financial world, Ludvig decides to do something completely different. He travels to Texas to learn everything he can about BBQ – meeting pitmasters, studying techniques. Once back home, he buys a smoker, names his food truck Texas Tribute and starts cooking from scratch – with no previous kitchen experience. He soon realizes that the truck is not enough to do all the prep, so he rents a kitchen in Kungsholmen to prepare the food there.

2016

The meeting that became an idea

Working in the same kitchen is Niklas – a chef with 15 years of experience from restaurants in Sweden and the USA, born in New York and influenced by the city's food traditions. They start talking BBQ – and quickly find a common drive in craftsmanship, entrepreneurship and taste. When the premises are to be demolished, they find an industrial space in Årsta, where they found Brisket & Friends together in May 2016.

2017

Sweden's best street food

Brisket & Friends wins the award for Sweden's best street food. The small restaurant in Årsta is starting to fill up – with smoke, guests and curiosity from Stockholmers.

2018

Gulddraken

DN's prestigious Gulddraken award goes to Brisket & friends.

2019

Upplandsgatan, PKLK & first NM gold

We open our second restaurant on Upplandsgatan and begin a collaboration with PKLK Bryggeri. The same year we win best meat dish in our food truck at the Nordic Street Food Championships.

2021

Göteborg & the franchise seed

We are opening in Gothenburg and realize the importance of local presence. The idea of a franchise is starting to take shape.

2023

Södermalm & new NM gold

We open our third own restaurant on Södermalm and once again win best meat dish at the Nordic Championships.

2024

Franchising for real

We are converting Gothenburg to a franchise. Those taking over are our former employees – the restaurant manager and the head chef – who will now continue to run the restaurant under their own management. We are also opening two new franchise restaurants: Kalmar and Sickla.

2025

Linköping: BBQ at home

We are opening in Linköping – our second franchise restaurant run by a former employee in his hometown. He knows the area, the guests know him. For us, local commitment and personal pride are the foundation of every successful venture.

What we believe in

We believe in smoked meat, cooked over time. In authenticity. Every brisket we serve is smoked overnight. All of our sides are made from scratch in every restaurant.

Kind of like in Texas!

The simple and pure type of BBQ from Texas

Ludvig Åström is the BBQ enthusiast who left the financial world to travel around Texas and learn the art of smoking meat for real, Niklas Elshazly is the chef with 20 years of experience in professional cooking both in Sweden and the USA. Together they decided to open Brisket & Friends!

”We smoke all our meat in real American-built smokers from Oklahoma with hickory wood that we import from the USA! We love Texas BBQ. The type of BBQ you can find in and around Texas. Depending on where in the US you are, there are different types, more sauces, less sauces, different smoke wood, etc. It is the simple and pure type of BBQ from Texas that we have fallen in love with, where Brisket (Smoked Beef Brisket) takes center stage! We smoke all our meat fresh overnight at each restaurant, make all our sides before opening. A warm welcome to any of our restaurants”

Two team members from Brisket and Friends