Yellow faded to black (maybe dark gray) on the walls of the little building a door down from Sinclair. Who bought it? What’s it going to be? Oooh, little flower boxes – must be a salon or gift shop.
Nope. By early summer 2021 the prominent hand-painted sign said “Pigaro’s”. Ah, barbecue. A BBQ place or two has come and gone over the past couple decades or so in Alliance and I planned to try our latest. The word-of-mouth reviews had been good, and (bonus) they recycled.
In Box Butte County, recycling is more the norm than the exception for restaurants. Some establishments toss mostly cardboard and paperboard in the bin while others collect a combination of plastic, tin cans and a few other items as well. At the time my wife and I first ate at Pigaro’s, the owners, Sara Leisy and Jacob Rogers, asked about recycling and how they could make it easier for Mo, who had the route then. Break down the boxes and bag the containers, was my answer. Currently, the business’ white Keep Alliance Beautiful container is filled with big tin cans, jars, cardboard and plastic.
The locally-owned business has been open for close to eight months. The couple’s views on recycling at home carries over to the restaurant. “We’re always happy when we have small amounts of garbage go out to the trash,” Leisy said. “Personally we like to keep our (carbon) footprint as low as we possibly can.” Rogers added, “(We) have a smaller trash can, (recycling) saves us from having it dumped several times a week.”
Rogers’ cooking may be familiar from when he and Leisy had a bar and grill in Hemingford then a smoker trailer prior to the Covid 19 pandemic. They contrasted the financial and ecological differences between each building. “We adjusted,” Rogers commented, “did the trailer life – less overhead. It was fun . . . but it’s nice being in a building.”
The Alliance location is smaller and more efficient regarding the utilities. Leisy recalled sticker shock upon seeing their initial electric bill at Hemingford, which she said, “took our first good weekend” to afford. Rogers explained that the barbecue format allowed them to set up “a warm and efficient kitchen” without a lot of refrigerators and freezers requiring power and space. “Everything’s fresh made the (same) day,” he added.
The heart of any barbecue is the smoker. Parked outside, the metal meat preparer relies on a steady diet of hardwood. Leisy said they spent a lot on wood at first. Now the smoker dines on locally-sourced logs from Flannel Brothers, a tree and stump removal business. Both parties benefit as the latter could simply dispose of the wood in the landfill or elsewhere. “It is nice having a choice of hardwood,” Rogers said.
Prior to making northwest Nebraska their home, the couple was accustomed to municipal recycling services. Rogers talked about how long the practice has been the norm in Lincoln while Leisy mentioned Oregon. They would like to expand options for dine-in patrons with a station to rinse styrofoam food containers and deposit them in a Hefty Orange Energy bag, and another receptacle for aluminum cans.
Rogers emphasized, “(The key is) making recycling efficient and easy for people to get them going.”