4Rivers Smokehouse owner John Rivers shares his story

WINTER GARDEN, Fla. – As one of the most talked-about barbeque restaurants in the Orlando area, 4Rivers Smokehouse proudly inaugurated its second location in Winter Garden, Florida this April.

Having not attended any culinary institute, founder and owner John Rivers has managed to create unique sauces for his famous and much-loved Angus brisket and pulled pork recipes. Facebook fan, Cindy LeGros said, “4 Rivers has the BEST brisket.”

The former president of a pharmaceutical operation, Rivers decided to quit his high-ranking job position and make his passion for cooking his new life and career. Rivers is a firm believer in doing what you love, and even though he admits that the first few weeks at the smokehouse were tough, he absolutely loves it. “I’m having too much fun right now,” he said.

Rivers' barbeque “business” originally began as a church fund-raising event in hopes of raising money to help a family in need. Today, 4Rivers Smokehouse employees make sure to set a monthly budget and continue the tradition of fulfilling donation requests for various organizations and people in the community.

Valencia professor and customer of 4Rivers Smokehouse, Ken Carpenter, has witnessed some of the busiest days at the smokehouse. “There was a line out the door,” said Carpenter. “I spent 20 minutes in the line."

Rivers said that parking is even sometimes a problem because of the tremendous overflow of loyal customers that want to go in and get their 4Rivers barbeque.  “It’s a very busy place,” said Rivers. “There’s no downtime.”

The rush of the people coming in and out of the restaurant still excites Rivers despite all of the hard work he and his employees put in. “Saturday is my favorite day of the week,” said Rivers. It is the day that he gets to personally serve his customers on the line along with his employees.

Although 4Rivers is considered to be a Texas smokehouse, Rivers confessed that his recipes are inspired by many other American barbeque cooking traditions, including those of Kansas’, Alabama’s, and the Carolinas’.

4Rivers Smokehouse serves the Ocoee, Clermont, Windermere, and Winter Garden areas. Rivers revealed that a third location in Longwood is already in the works, with hopes of one day reaching his goal of 24 locations.