The GOAT of Michigan BBQ

Flannigan’s Goat is smoking up another summer of great eats

By Geri Dietze | July 11, 2026

We all have our favorite food trucks; in fact, it’s almost a personal relationship, a place where we can score our favorite foods, fresh as can be in a neighborhood near us. Flannigan’s Goat, the go-to source for Michigan BBQ, has set up at Short’s Pull Barn and Production Brewery in Elk Rapids for the summer.

Sharing the patio with Flannigan’s is Osorio Tacos y Salsas, the family-owned purveyor of fresh, authentic Mexican food, based in Williamsburg. Short’s is the perfect location, with an indoor/outdoor family-friendly vibe, along with 20 beers on tap, plus a selection of Short’s Starcut Ciders. (Dogs are welcome, too, in the outside spaces.)

Garth and Joy Parish have been working in the BBQ biz for years, but the foundation of the business was in place long before the duo took their show on the road. The Parishes were known by friends and family in the Sault Ste. Marie area as great cooks, and in 2016 they were invited by their friends at Bird’s Eye Outfitters to set up a food tent at a street festival. They were so well received that they started selling their BBQ out of the Outfitters’ coffee shop and lounge.

“I was just going to give them a hand,” Garth Parish says, but by 2019, he explains, “it really got to be too much work.” That’s when a friend reminded him of “the mark of success,” the point at which a business realizes it’s time to go big or go home.

The idea of a food truck began to take shape, resulting in the design and purchase of the sleek 34-foot, fully-equipped kitchen on wheels with a smoker in the back.

The story of Flannigan’s Goat, a family campfire joke, was the invention of a cousin with an interesting sense of humor. It was agreed that the name would belong to the first one in the family to start a new business. The honors went to the Parish food truck, and the logo, a goat’s head outlined in red, was designed by Garth Parish himself and is based on his heritage—the stag’s head of Ireland’s McCarthy clan. But the true origin and meaning of Flannigan’s Goat must remain in the family archive, or campfire circle, if you will.

The Art of BBQ, Michigan Style

Parish credits his father, “a very accomplished cook,” with his own knowledge of flavors and technique.

Flannigan’s Goat BBQ is called Michigan style for a couple of reasons: one is that Parish sources just about everything from Michigan, so the name is a good fit. The other is to gently counter the patrons from other BBQ regions who want to tell him how to do his job. “We don’t do it that way in insert-BBQ-region-here,” he says. But Parish knows his way around a smoker. “Michigan style is what we do,” he explains.

The Southern Pride smoker, made by a third-generation family in West Tennessee, uses Michigan sugar maple, a wood that has a “signature flavor, more subtle than hickory or mesquite,” Parish explains, adding that he “loves maple smoke; it reminds me of home and family.”

The process is time consuming and labor intensive, with smoke times averaging 10 hours, and fans line up to sample the results. On a regular week, Flannigan’s Goat sells about 380 pounds of beef brisket and pork, but a big weekend will see over 1,000 pounds go through the service window. (Wife Joy Parish works full time for the Bay Mills Indian Community in Brimley, but she commutes to Elk Rapids on weekends. The two college-age Parish sons also help out in the summer.)

Every rub and sauce is house made, as are the slaws and pickled accompaniments. The beef rub is based on his father’s all-purpose seasoning, and the pork rub is original to a friend’s Tennessee grandmother, both modified by Parish. The sauces are “all pretty close to every style” of BBQ, from Texas, to Tennessee, to Kansas City and beyond.

Order Up!

Start with one of the beef-based classics, like the Brisket Sandwich topped with Kansas City BBQ sauce and pickled onions or the Burnt Ends on Garlic Toast, with tender charred brisket, cheddar, pickled onions, and Kansas BBQ sauce on a grilled French roll.

On the pork side of the menu, we like the Lexington Pulled Pork Sandwich topped with Eastern Carolina BBQ sauce and pickles and the Tennessee Pulled Pork Sandwich topped with Maple Bourbon BBQ sauce and apple vinegar-style slaw. Sunday breakfast includes Green Eggs & Ham, the green coming from Osario’s fresh salsa verde.

And don’t forget the sides, as some of these are a meal in themselves. Try the Large Nacho Cheese Fries with pulled pork and nacho cheese sauce or the BBQ Fries with smoked cheddar, pulled pork, vinegar coleslaw, picked onions, pickled jalapeño, and Kosher dill. The Yooper Fries, the Michigan version of poutine, features smoked cheddar, pulled pork or brisket, and brisket gravy. The House Shells & Cheese is a family recipe combining a rich blend of cheeses, then broiled with smoked paprika.

Special sandwiches must be reserved for weekdays on a rotational basis when there is time to do them properly.

“We like to have speedy service,” Parish says, adding that weekends are generally too busy to prepare the more complicated specials, so fans looking for their favorite signature dish should plan accordingly.

Some specials to keep an eye out for are the Hawaiian Pig, with pulled pork, ham, grilled pineapple, jalapeño, pickled onion, and maple bourbon sauce on a grilled pretzel bun. The Korean Street Tacos are a big favorite, with pulled pork, vinegar slaw, Korean bulgogi, or “fire meat,” BBQ, cilantro, and lime. The Doug-E-2 Fresh serves up pulled pork, Shells & Cheese, Swiss cheese, and choice of sauce, all held together between grilled sourdough. (The eponymous Doug is the friend and sandwich creator who graciously allowed Flannigan’s Goat to use his name.)

Off-season Plans

In years past, Flannigan’s Goat operated with businesses, school systems, and seasonal events in the region, but, “We’re trying to take it slower in the winter,” explains Parish. “It’s hard to keep everything operating in the [cold weather.]”

Still, they do have some “long-standing” annual events such as the I-500 Snowmobile Race, marking its 58th anniversary in Sault Ste. Marie.

Find Flannigan’s Goat at Short’s Pull Barn at 211 Industrial Park Dr., Elk Rapids. facebook.com/flannigansgoat