Eric Batke always wanted his career to positively impact people.
Batke worked as a video editor in his previous line of work — something he sincerely enjoyed but ultimately grew tired of.
“I honestly just wanted to have a simpler world impact,” he told LINK nky. “Making videos for people was cool, but I feel like I wasn’t really satisfied with the impact that it was making on the world.”
His search for fulfillment led him to another industry altogether: food service. Eric, along with his wife, Savannah, founded Celia Jo’s BBQ in 2023. The business name is a nod to Eric’s niece of the same name.
His involvement with barbecue dates back to 2019. It started as a hobby, but grew into something Eric felt comfortable transforming into a full-time small business.
“Barbecue is the thing that I’ve just been doing the longest, and the thing that I’m the most familiar with,” he said. “I have about six years experience.”
Like Eric, Savannah had a similar experience regarding her career. Before Celia Jo’s, she worked at a marketing firm for three years before deciding to take a year off.
“It was definitely a big risk, especially in the food business,” she said. “We’re not unaware of all of the statistics of how successful food businesses are. I guess we’re pretty adventurous in the sense that we’re okay to take that risk, and I want to see what happens with it.”
Celia Jo’s menu features a variety of smoked meats cooked in Eric’s offset smoker. Customers have a wide selection of choices, from USDA Prime brisket, pulled pork, pork belly, spare ribs to vegan jackfruit. Celia Jo’s offers a variety of sides, including mac and cheese, mashed potatoes, esquites, and smoked pecan Caesar salad. For dessert, they have banana and dirt pudding.
Currently, Celia Jo’s operates out of the Incubator Kitchen Collective in Newport; a nonprofit, shared‑use commercial kitchen and food business incubator. Eric said Incubator Kitchen has provided them with cheap rent, kitchen access, and low overhead costs.
“We’re completely self sustained right now,” Eric said. “We have no investors, we have no loans–right now it’s just us slowly building things up from the groundmand that’s only even possible because of the incubator.”
Celia Jo’s, though lacking a brick-and-mortar restaurant or food truck, is a popular presence at events throughout the Greater Cincinnati area. Eric and Savannah’s restaurant operates as a pop-up, appearing at various stores, bars, and festivals, such as Covington’s Mayfest and Oktoberfest.
Eric and Savannah hope to differentiate themselves from the competition by their branding, which they describe as family-friendly and colorful. Eric noted that many barbecue restaurants traditionally use a faded Americana and grungy western-style branding. The couple places a strong emphasis on using Instagram to promote this distinction.
“We knew it was important to have a really solid brand, one that really was a good reflection of who we are, and really something that was a little bit different than what you would see in small food businesses, and especially barbecue businesses,” Savannah said. “We wanted that to be more of a not so macho masculine brand, but something a little bit more family oriented, or just more approachable to everyone.”
Eric said he finds great satisfaction in witnessing a person’s first reaction to trying a dish he created. From his perspective, this initial response is one of the most rewarding parts of cooking and selling barbecue.
“There’s immediate impact and immediate happiness that comes from eating good meal,” he said.
Looking forward, Eric and Savannah’s ultimate goal is to open a brick-and-mortar restaurant with an expansive outdoor space. In addition, the duo expressed interest in offering catering services for corporate events, wedding receptions and other large gatherings
“We would love that to be have a big open space, something with some outdoor dining or even, like some grass,” she said.
