BUSINESS FEATURE Texas Star Grill Shop Katy shop aims to educate area about grilling B efore Rick and Michelle Martin opened Texas Star Grill Shop, they and store
BY ASIA ARMOUR
That’s when we really took o .” That original idea, to streamline the grilling process and improve the Texas barbecue experience, carries on now in the way that Texas Star Grill Shop assists their customers, DeSantis said. “We’re going to walk you through the process of purchasing your grill, telling you everything you need to know about it,” DeSantis said. “We’re also going to assemble that grill for no charge and we’re going to deliver it free to your home. We’re going to set it up, and if you want a tutorial on how it works, we’ll help you with that. We take all that fuss out of it, so you can get grilling.” DeSantis calls Texas Star a one-stop shop, because it also carries Texas-owned rubs and spices and has a meat shop in house that sells Akaushi beef, one of the four breeds of highly-coveted Japanese wagyu beef. The business also partners with contractors who can help price an outdoor kitchen project, and sell parts if customers are just looking to replace something broken on a grill they already own. DeSantis encourages Katy residents to stop by on Saturdays, when the crew is barbecuing on the grills they sell, sampling meats for customers and giving out free beer, spritzers and water. “We’re letting people get some hands-on experience,” he said. “They can watch us cook as we try to show everyone how to use a product, and if they have questions we’re here to answer those.”
manager Pete DeSantis were food distributors together. DeSantis said he worked for the couple, who owned Texas Star Food. In 2007, the Martins traveled to Oregon on vacation to visit family and attended a party, where they rst laid eyes on a Traeger grill and were amazed by its performance, DeSantis said. Coming from the East Texas brand of barbecue, the Martins were familiar with fall-o -the-bone meat that is cooked low and slow in a tradi- tional smoker for six to eight hours, DeSantis said. However, the Traeger, a wood-pellet grill, produced the same results in signi cantly less time. The Martins immediately thought of how this would revolutionize barbecue back home in Texas, DeSantis said. The Martins opened the rst Texas Star Grill Shop storefront in 2008 in West University Place, where they sold Traegers and other wood-pellet grills. DeSantis opened the Katy location in April 2020, which is the third of four Houston-area stores. Since DeSantis has been with Texas Star from the beginning, he said he has seen how the brand has evolved and grown. “The original iteration was Texas Star Pellet Grill company,” he said. “We changed it to Texas Star Grill Shop because we wanted to diversify. We started selling all types of grills [and] outdoor kitchens. We wanted to become a real, full featured store.
Sta are out every Saturday fromnoon to 4 p.m. grilling and samplingmeats. (Photos courtesy Texas Star Grill Shop)
Texas Star Grill Shop sells di erent types of grills, from gas and charcoal to wood pellet. GRILL GUIDELINES Here are some of the bene ts of the grill types, according to store manager Pete DeSantis. WOOD PELLET GRILLS • Mix and match avors by switching out wood pellets • Set-it-and-forget-it ease of use • Cooking style versatility CHARCOAL GRILLS • No max temperature setting • Greater heat control • Value and longevity GAS GRILLS • Easier to clean and emits less smoke • Faster ignition time than a charcoal grill • More even heating SMOKERS • Classic low and slow barbecue • Smoke adds avor and
Rick (right) and Michelle Martin (left) started Texas Star Grill Shop in 2008.
Texas Star Grill Shop carries many Texas-based spice rubs.
Texas Star Grill Shop 22010 Highland Knolls Drive, Katy 832-913-6310 www.texasstargrillshop.com Hours: Mon.-Sun. 10 a.m.-6 p.m.
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KATY EDITION • APRIL 2022
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