T-Rav’s BBQ Lab returns to Pitt’s campus

Forbes Avenue came alive with the sounds of students making their way up and down the street… Forbes Avenue came alive with the sounds of students making their way up and down the street late Friday night, but one familiar voice rang out above the rest. Beneath a white-and-red-striped umbrella outside the IGA, T-Rav has set up shop.

Below-freezing temperatures did not deter hungry students from coming to see if what they read on their Twitter feeds was true. Fortunately for all who went searching, smiles and laughs of relief confirmed that the man shouting and dancing back and forth next to his grill cart was none other than 24-year-old Travis Huntley — better known as T-Rav — and he was back in business.

The brief disappearance of the South Oakland staple had left students yearning for a late-weekend-night snack.

T-Rav’s BBQ Lab previously operated on the corner of the Sphinx Cafe and Hookah Bar property on Bates Street in South Oakland but had been shut down earlier this school year due to lease disagreements.

The lease for the Sphinx Cafe states that if any changes are made to the property, including placing a grill outside of the building, the real estate company — Oakland Real Estate Co. — must be notified. The Sphinx owners gave T-Rav permission to operate without the company’s consent, so T-Rav eventually had to go.

T-Rav’s new set up at IGA came with ease, because the grocery store has had a hot dog stand outside of the buliding in past years. Ron Levick, the owner of IGA, told The Pitt News in November that he was happy to have T-Rav in front of the store.

Levick isn’t the only one statisfied with T-Rav’s return.

Students readily welcomed back the familiar smell of barbecue as they lined up for the grand opening Thursday night. The BBQ Lab will be opened permanently Thursday through Saturday from 10 p.m. to 3 a.m.

“To tell you the truth, I love it,” T-Rav said, referring to his new location. “It’s a lot closer to the freshmen, a lot closer to the students up the hill, and it’s a lot closer to the people of the city here in Oakland.”

The location and operating hours are not the only aspects of the BBQ Lab that have been altered for the business’s return.  Along with serving his classic menu items of hotdogs, hamburgers, cheeseburgers, pulled pork and kielbasa, T-Rav now flips veggie burgers and veggiedogs as well.

“I can finally join in the T-Rav experience that I have heard so much about,” sophomore Rachel Mauer said on the impact of the menu change.

A vegetarian, Mauer had not been able to order any of the items at the shop’s previous location. Her first experience with T-Rav’s would not go forgotten.

“I now know one thing: Rain, sleet or snow, there will be T-Rav’s in my stomach,” she said.  

Sophomore Meg Fromuth, a returning customer, was just as pleased with T-Rav’s reappearance on campus.  

“I’m so fantastically excited, I almost can’t explain it,” Fromuth said.

The convenience and accessibility of the new location did not go unnoticed by customers who found the walk no longer than those to the eating options that they otherwise faced.

T-Rav’s BBQ Lab is joining an area of Oakland that is characterized by its nighttime eateries. Essie’s Original Hot Dog Shop and McDonald’s are situated on the same stretch of Forbes, and Sorrento’s and Antoon’s popular pizza shops are no more than a few blocks away.

Students heavily populate the surrounding restaurants on the weekends, but T-Rav’s hot dogs and hamburgers, covered in homemade barbecue sauce, set him apart.

“A slice of pizza is just a slice of pizza, and it will always be there. Now homemade burgers from a cart, they will always be so much better,” Fromuth said.

Loyal customers like Mauer and Fromuth provide T-Rav with the assurance that his business will continue to grow.

During his break from serving students, T-Rav developed plans that he hopes to implement in the near future.

He currently operates Downtown on the corner of Fifth Avenue and Wood Street on weeknights and in Oakland on the weekends. Though he does not offer any daytime operating hours as of now, he is looking for another location at which to cook during the day in Oakland.

As for this summer, T-Rav said that he is unsure whether the BBQ Lab will stay as the smoke from the grill could upset residents with open windows living above IGA.

T-Rav and his customers openly exchange celebratory high-fives, shouts and jokes in greeting. As he dances and hums behind his grill, T-Rav acknowledged multiple reasons why his customers have returned.

“One reason has to be my famous sauce,” T-Rav said. “My barbecue sauce goes back four generations. I learned it from my granddad, and he learned it from his dad.”

The secret family recipe that dates back to the 1950’s reinforces multiple other reasons that customers have returned.

He said that great food and a good atmosphere will create a positive experience for the customers that come to order. And for T-Rav, it’s all about the experience.

Originally from Farrell, Pa., T-Rav said that he does not have the luxury of being in the comfort of his family all of the time.

“What makes me most excited about being back is seeing all of my loyal customers,” he said. “I actually like to call them my family, because they are my family away from home. Getting to see my loyal customers is being back with family.”

Looking from his grill cart to the smiling customers laughing and eating around him, T-Rav shared what everyone was thinking.

“Yeah, I’m home,” he said.