Our team is a testament to food bringing people from all walks of life together. We each have our own experiences and personalities that add to the group but are tied by the common thread of hospitality. Get to know us, there’s always room at our table.
Lisa Richards – CEO & Cowgirl Queen
What is your cowhand name?
The BBQ Queen
What is your cowboy quote? “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger. Except for a cowgirl, cowgirls will kill you.”
What is your favorite Western movie or TV show? The Big Valley - I always wanted to be Barbara Stanwyck
What is your favorite BBQ related memory? My dad taught me how to grill when I was 9 years old - this was the time where he would teach me and we would have our most heartfelt talks growing up. This was always a safe, comforting place for me to catch up with my dad and share some wonderful memories throughout the years.
Kristen Villasenor – Senior Event Coordinator & Rodeo Princess
What is your Cowhand name? Cowtippin’ Kris
What is your cowboy quote? “If you’re not makin’ dust, you’re eatin’ it”
What is your favorite Western movie or TV show? Tombstone
What is your favorite BBQ related memory? Neighborhood block party cookouts and kid bike races growing up in Indiana.
Taylor Richards – Director of Operations & Warehouse Wrangler
What is your Cowhand name? Smoke Stack Richards
What is your cowboy quote? “Where the leather is scarred, there is a great story to tell.” -Jimmy Tart
What is your favorite Western movie or TV show? 3:10 to Yuma (movie), Deadwood (TV)
What is your favorite BBQ related memory? When I was a youngen’ me, my pops, & his pals saddled up and headed out into the Sierra Nevadas with a huge train in tow. We worked our way through the wilderness to a small lake up in them mountains. We posted up our camp, sent our rides out to graze the land, then fished and explored to our hearts' content. Best part was one night one of my pops pals disappeared for some time only to come back charging the camp in a black bear hide. I haven’t seen so many grown cow poke scramble so fast. It truly was an experience of a lifetime.
David – Lead Smoker
What is your Cowhand name?
El Vaquero
What is your cowboy quote?
This town ain't big enough for the both of us
What is your favorite Western movie or TV show?
I really never grew up watching any western movies or tv shows but I do listen to country music. I enjoy listening to Luke Combs, Kane Brown and Brett Young just to name a few.
What is your favorite BBQ related memory?
When I was younger my family and I would gather around every easter at Otay Lake, come to think about it and it has to be one of the best memories I have. Being able to be around the family, socializing, playing games, barbequing and just letting the day pass by without any concerns.
Christina Pancheri – Event Coordinator
What is your Cowhand name?
Cookie
What is your cowboy quote?
If you don't like the road you're walking, start paving another one
What is your favorite Western movie or TV show?
The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly
What is your favorite BBQ related memory?
Learning how to properly run a two-ton Myron Mixon smoker; the procedure of feeding the fire to get the perfect amount of smoke, the amount of love and patience that goes into smoking meats low and slow for hours, and how amazingly delicious the food tastes when smoking methods are executed to perfection.
Gina Mizrahi – Event Coordinator
What is your Cowhand name?
Firecracker
What is your cowboy quote?
“Never look down on someone, unless you’re helping them up.”
What is your favorite Western movie or TV show?
The Yellowstone
What is your favorite BBQ related memory?
Family BBQs in Tepotzotlan (very close to Mexico City). I come from a huge family and once a month we would all get together and go to Tepotz where we would spend the day in the river and BBQing!
Marlene Diaz – Account Manager
What is your Cowhand name?
Smile Shootin’ Marly
What is your cowboy quote?
“Country girls. They’re sweet as sugar, hard as ice, cross her once, she’ll shoot you twice!”
What is your favorite Western movie or TV show?
Disney’s The Lone Ranger
What is your favorite BBQ related memory?
Every summer my family gets together at our family ranch in Mexico, and we enjoy a weekend with our 100+ relatives. Some of the best BBQ I’ve ever had was at those reunions. What made the meal so special was being able to enjoy it with the people I love the most.
