How it all started...
Denny Westphal has always enjoyed cooking, and grilling, grilling, and cooking. He was always willing to try new recipes, creating as it went along, sometimes going over the edge and really messing things up. If a recipe turned out, he was a chef. If I flopped, he was a doofus, and tried again.
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In the summer of 1996, friends of his from South Carolina, John, and Louise Menne, moved to Wisconsin. At a cookout, they mentioned how they had this wonderful BBQ sauce that they really liked but couldn’t find anything like it in Wisconsin. He was young and cocky and asked them to let him try to create a BBQ sauce that they might like. They explained to him what they liked about the sauce from South Carolina, and what they didn’t like about the sauces they have tired in Wisconsin. And so, it began. With the story they gave him, he started by emptying the cupboards and refrigerator, and with his mad scientist suit on, he started cooking. After a few trial runs, he felt he had something that John and Louise would enjoy. Of course, he added a little more kick-it-up to the flavor and gave a jar to the Menne’s. They absolutely loved it!
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So, for the next several years, he made BBQ sauce, and Louise made salsa, and they traded back and forth. Shortly after that Denny started giving host gifts at friend’s cookouts, followed by the family and friends Christmas gifts. This was followed by requests of, “Hey, can I have some?”, which soon turned to “Hey, where can I buy some?”. That got him thinking about starting a business so he could start selling it and possibly make some money. He spoke with a few friends in the food industry, and they said the BBQ sauce is a tough market to get into. In short, they scared him away from pursuing it further. He was having fun making the sauce and watching everyone enjoy it, so he just continued to make it for personal usage, those that asked for it and to hand out as gifts.
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Somewhere along the way, he was camping with some friends for the weekend and at about 3 a.m. his cellphone rang. Half asleep he answered the call. On the other end was some girl, he had no idea who she was. She started yelling “T-Bone! Where are you? The party is still going!”. By this time all his friends woke up and could hear her calling him T-bone. After a pleasant discussion, this “little red head named Beth”, realized she had the wrong number. His buddies wouldn’t let this situation go, so now he was T-Bone.
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Anyway, back to the sauce. A lot of people were finding their way through friends, family, or knocking on his door, asking for this BBQ sauce. Some started asking him what he put in it to make it so flavorful. He would tell them that it was a secret. More than once the response was, “Oh! It’s a mystery?” Hmmm, T-Bones Mystery Sauce? Not long after that, he was at a get together and he was told about all the different things everyone was trying with the sauce. Remember that cocky man at the beginning of this story? He would tell them it was just a little magic in a jar. Hmmm, T-Bones Magical Mystery Sauce?
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T-Bones Magical Mystery Sauce, A sweet and tangy sauce with a little bite. Grandchildren came along and he made a sauce without the bite. That's how T-Bones Mild Mystery Sauce was created. Those buddies from the camping trip were asking for a sauce with more kick! Something with some bite to it but maintain the flavor. So, once again, he put on the mad scientist suit and came up with T-Bones Smokey Chipotle Mystery Sauce.
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After 20 years of requests for more sauce, sometimes cases, he decided to take the leap into the BBQ sauce business.
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In the year of 2021, Denny decided it was time to pass this mystery sauce torch to another to continue with his dream. His son, Nick Westphal, was more than ready to take the business on. Today, the two of them are working together to bring T-Bones Mystery Sauce to a shelf near you!