The Carolina Clipper Mustard Sauce, a Rochester favorite from Sticky Lips Pit BBQ, has won third place for mild mustard in the 2013 Awards of Excellence from the National BBQ Association. The annual competition recognizes the very best in barbecue sauces, dry rubs and seasonings, marinades, accessories and more. Almost 600 entries were received [...]]]>

The Carolina Clipper Mustard Sauce, a Rochester favorite from Sticky Lips Pit BBQ, has won third place for mild mustard in the 2013 Awards of Excellence from the National BBQ Association. The annual competition recognizes the very best in barbecue sauces, dry rubs and seasonings, marinades, accessories and more. Almost 600 entries were received for the 2013 Awards of Excellence.

In addition to providing the very best in barbeque at two Sticky Lips locations, owner Howard Nielsen is presently working to expand the original Culver Road restaurant, now celebrating its 9th anniversary. The 33,000 square foot building, which sits on two acres, is being totally renovated for retail. Nielsen is currently looking for tenants for this space, to be named the Culver Atlantic Crossing.

We recently moved from Rochester to Los Angeles. My problem: I can’t seem to be able to buy your BBQ sauces online. Is there any way to do this? Please help… I am 7 months pregnant and I MUST have some Carolina Clipper Sauce, [...]]]> Here’s a recent email we received regarding our Sticky Lips sauces.

We recently moved from Rochester to Los Angeles. My problem: I can’t seem to be able to buy your BBQ sauces online. Is there any way to do this? Please help… I am 7 months pregnant and I MUST have some Carolina Clipper Sauce, and also the Cherry bomb sauce.
Thank you!
– YP

Family and friends of a Penfield Youth Wrestling coach gathered to raise money for him and his family.

They came out to Sticky Lips Barbeque in Henrietta for Penfield Wrestling Coach Scott Kropman. Kropman says he found out he had Stage IV Neuro Endocrine cancer when he went for a check up [...]]]> From whec.com

Family and friends of a Penfield Youth Wrestling coach gathered to raise money for him and his family.

They came out to Sticky Lips Barbeque in Henrietta for Penfield Wrestling Coach Scott Kropman. Kropman says he found out he had Stage IV Neuro Endocrine cancer when he went for a check up after getting hurt at work this summer. This type of cancer is incurable and it’s not possible to go into remission. But Kropman is taking medicine to keep the cells from spreading further.

The husband and father says he is staying positive.

Kropman said, “The biggest thing they told me that could help me is positive attitude. You know, I have a wonderful family of seven, these are two of my boys right here. I have a wonderful wife, great friends, I have a wrestling family that I can’t even explain what they’ve done for me Everything around me makes me positive so how can’t I be positive?”

Also at Monday’s event, Kropman and his wife renewed their vows.

We all had a great time ringing in 2013 at the Sticky Lips Juke Joint!

Master of ceremonies Frank De Blase with musician Tommy Brunett.

Dick Storms with the Public Market Band.

Natalie B sang a few tunes with the Public Market Band.

The mysterious and elusive New Year’s [...]]]>

We all had a great time ringing in 2013 at the Sticky Lips Juke Joint!

Master of ceremonies Frank De Blase with musician Tommy Brunett.

Dick Storms with the Public Market Band.

Natalie B sang a few tunes with the Public Market Band.

The mysterious and elusive New Year’s Baby made an appearance.

Tommy Brunett “in Times Square” as the ball dropped.

Chrisom Bebee of Chili is always on the move as she serves hungry patrons during the busy lunch hour at Sticky Lips BBQ Juke Joint. Photo by Shawn Dowd, D&C.

When it comes to barbecue, music and dancing, Sticky Lips BBQ Juke Joint tackles all [...]]]> Written by Britney Milazzo
For the Democrat and Chronicle

Chrisom Bebee of Chili is always on the move as she serves hungry patrons during the busy lunch hour at Sticky Lips BBQ Juke Joint. Photo by Shawn Dowd, D&C.

When it comes to barbecue, music and dancing, Sticky Lips BBQ Juke Joint tackles all three.

And owner Howard Nielsen of Rochester said “big things” are in the works for his small franchise with expansion plans and a possible opportunity to be on a culinary reality show.

“It’s exciting when you have the opportunity to do big things,” Nielsen said. “But first things first. We need to manage our restaurants here, then plan forward when the right time comes.”

The “juke joint” opened on Jefferson Road last October as Nielsen’s second Sticky Lips barbecue restaurant. Nielsen said his goal was for it to be different from the original barbecue pit on Culver Road in the city.

“The food is the same, but it’s bigger here. It holds 400 instead of 100, and we host bands and encourage our customers to get up, dance, eat and have fun,” Nielsen said.

And locals like Beth Godden of Greece, Corey Ludwig of Penfield and Greg Ventura of Greece agreed as they all used the phrase “I love it!” to describe its loud, fun and friendly atmosphere.

“It’s much bigger than the original Sticky Lips,” Ventura said. “There’s a stage where they have bands … and the huge size doesn’t make it lose its cozy hometown feel.”

Nielsen said he was intrigued to open a barbecue restaurant more than a decade ago after one of his Chester Cab Pizza employees — who was also working at Dinosaur Bar-B-Que downtown — brought up the idea of opening a “takeout kind of barbecue place.”

“Every Sunday the guys came to my house and we’d make sauces and other recipes,” Nielsen said.

About six years after opening the Sticky Lips Pit BBQ on Culver Road, Nielsen said it was time for him to expand. Nielsen said he was inspired to tweak the theme of his next Sticky Lips after visiting and eating at other barbecue places down South.

“My son and I went to Memphis for barbecue and enjoyed the atmosphere so much, we knew we had to bring it home. The Rochester area isn’t known for barbecue,” Nielsen said. “When we opened in Henrietta, we knew we needed a big enough place to bring people barbecue, music and that kind of atmosphere.”

A full rack of ribs with sides of mac and cheese and chili is ready to be served. Photo by Shawn Dowd, D&C.

Nielsen said he found the perfect location on Jefferson Road in Henrietta — also known as “Restaurant Row” — where the Roadhouse Grill once occupied. After purchasing the building in February 2010, the Juke Joint was opened a year-and-a-half later.

“When we opened, people were lining up out the door. It was a little bit of a reality check,” Nielsen said. “You have a moment that you don’t think you can do it until you stick it out. People comment, both good and bad, and we rectify the situation to make our restaurant the best it can be.”

Nielsen said using local products and homemade food helped grow business.

Juke Joint general manager Stacey Britts said they offer RC Cola, Genesee Brewing Co. and Three Heads Brewery beers and Finger Lake wines. The barbecue sauces are all homemade, and the bands that perform there are local as well.

“I think people appreciate that we have that Southern barbecue kind of twist right here without going far to find it,” Bitts said.

But the restaurant’s 15 minutes of fame came last year, when the Travel Channel’s Man v. Food visited Sticky Lips with the show’s host, Adam Richman.

“That was the most fun we’ve had here in a while,” Nielsen said. “Richman had the crowd roaring with laughter.”

The show allowed a “celebrity” eat off, which allowed NASCAR driver Joey Logano to take the place of Richman.

“Richman needs a break once in a while, so Logano took his place,” Nielsen said. “We appreciate it so much, because he had raced down at Watkins Glen earlier and drove all this way to eat as much as he can and film for 12 hours with us.”

Logano was not able to finish the five pounds of food in less than 30 minutes, and Nielsen said only a handful of guys have ever completed the challenge.

Nielsen said his recent stardom might have helped land him a barbecue reality show.

“I recently got a call from a California TV producer to maybe do a reality barbecue show,” Nielsen said. “They were really vague with the information, but I was told to apply. I don’t know much more than that, what channel it’s for, but I’m thinking about it.”

But before Sticky Lips opens elsewhere or hits television, Nielsen said he needs to serve the community and the customers first.

“We need to stick to helping out the area with barbecue fundraisers and make sure everyone enjoys their experience here,” Nielsen said. “Our success is because of our staff and our customers, and in a small, blue-collar town like Rochester, your reputation means a lot.”

Thanks to all who voted in the City Newspaper’s 2012 Best of Rochester! We’re proud to be Best Comfort Food for this great city.

1st PLACE: WXXI’s Mike Black, who donated his winnings to the non-profit radio station WRUR

2nd PLACE: Pauly Guglielmo of 95.1 The Brew’s The Wease Show

And here are some photos and video, courtesy of 2nd place winner, Pauly.

Sticky Lips BBQ is on the ballot for “Best Comfort Food” of 2012, so be sure to make your vote heard!

Fill out the ballot at rochestercitynewspaper.com

Visit Mike Dedee’s website at rochestermagic.com

***

My name is Howard Nielsen, owner of Sticky Lips BBQ and Park Avenue’s Chester Cab Pizza. I have been self-employed for over 30 [...]]]> This post is in answer to David Young Jr.’s editorial in the Rochester Business Journal which in turn was in answer to “Labor Department investigation puts restaurant owner in sticky situation”.

***

My name is Howard Nielsen, owner of Sticky Lips BBQ and Park Avenue’s Chester Cab Pizza. I have been self-employed for over 30 consecutive years and now have over 200 people on my payroll.

I’d like to respond to the opinion piece by David Young, Jr., printed in RBJ on June 15th. Mr. Young may have confused the readers by stating that I “chose to take assistance from the state” and that I didn’t want to live up to my responsibilities.

Let me make this clear to the people of NY State. I did not use a dime of taxpayer money. The project was totally self-funded.

The building was listed with a commercial broker and had been on the market for almost two years before I bought it and closed the deal with the Genesee Valley Regional Market Authority. This was my first commercial deal in Henrietta, and I was given no indication that there would be a prevailing wage issue. It never came up during negotiations. The question of prevailing wages was first brought up after a visit from the electrical union rep three-quarters of the way into the project.

The building was in great need of repair and restoration. I am on a land lease and pay the market authority a rent – it is no different than many of the other restaurants on Jefferson Road. I also pay property taxes, and in fact my 2012 assessment with the town has more than tripled from my 2011 assessment.

The building was built in 1998 by a private company, and it was built from the ground up as a Roadhouse Grill Restaurant. Incidentally, two of the contractors that worked with me had been involved with the original construction, and in 1998 prevailing wages were not applied to that project.

Prevailing wages began with the Davis-Bacon Act of 1931 (40 U.S. Code § 276), a statute requiring that contractors on federal construction projects pay the prevailing wage. Since the Davis-Bacon Act, New York State has also instituted a prevailing wage minimum standard on state projects, too. Often prevailing wages will mimic the wages of local unions.

Mr. Young says if I don’t like the law, I should try to change it. He goes on to state that changing the law would be tough because the founders of our state felt so strongly about protecting local businesses, that they enshrined the prevailing wage in the state constitution.

Well, actually what happened is that our first state constitution was formed in 1777 (years before the 1931 act). The state’s constitution has been changed over 180 times since then. Obviously, frontiersmen and farmers were not thinking about prevailing wages with Great Britain’s guns pointed right at them.

In truth, Robert Bacon was New York Representative (R). During the construction of a Veterans Bureau hospital on Long Island in 1927, the contractor who won the bid was from Alabama and employed many black workers. Bacon was bothered that construction workers in his district had lost out on the job, and he introduced a bill that would prevent migrant labor on federal projects. The bill passed in 1931, but the hearings and debate contained some ugly racial overtones, with comments on how “cheap colored labor” was driving down wages of white workers. More recently, we see fears like this regarding the hard-working Mexican labor force in the southern states.

Twenty of the 50 states do not have prevailing wage rates, and it so happens to be that the majority of those states have led the nation in population and job growth. How are the prevailing and union wages hurting us? It costs 30% to 40% more to build public buildings in N.Y. State, and that comes out of taxpayers’ pockets. That is one reason why our taxes are much higher than the rest of the country.

Mr. Young also states that the truth is simple, that I violated the law and got caught. I agree with Mr. Young and the truth is simple — It is simple to see that a privately held building on state authority land does not qualify as a public works project. Remember two conditions must be present for the prevailing wage requirement established by New York Labor Law 220 to apply.

(1) A public agency must be a party to a contract involving the employment of laborers, workmen, or mechanics.
(2) The contract must concern a public works project. To be a public work, the project’s primary objective must be to benefit the public. Ownership (public or private) is also a factor in determining whether a project is a public work.

There have been many court cases to back this up. Likewise, where a party holds all the benefits of potential profits or the risk of loss, and no public money was used to pay for the project, it is not a public work. See matter of 60 Market Street Assocs. V. Hartnett, 153 A.D. 2d 205, 551 N.Y.S. 2d 346 (3d Dept. 1990).

Mr. Young didn’t mention that his day job is as a business manager for local 86 IBEW Electrical Union. The Rochester Building and Construction Trades Council, for which he is president, has a membership of exclusively local union shops. His organization does not speak for the non-union construction companies that often come up against similar union tactics that I had to deal with. Tactics such as calling OSHA or the NYS Labor Department to your job site, “salting” a non-union job with union tradesmen, and other tactics that are meant to tie up contractors with court expenses or red tape. If you don’t believe me, call OSHA or the NYS Labor Department and check their phone records to see where a majority of incoming complaints come from.

Mr. Young also brings up southern states – “right to work” states like Texas and Alabama. Now don’t let New York State unions make you believe that they are the only ones who know how to build. The facts are that the south may have lost the Civil War, but they have kicked the unionized Northern States in job and population growth. More construction workers and building related jobs are being created in the south.

During the recent recession, we have had more unionized construction workers on the bench collecting unemployment. Many came onto the Sticky Lips construction site looking to moonlight. I have nothing against unions or the good people who have joined them. Like Mr. Young wrote, we have a higher cost of living than most of the country, and prevailing wages protect all workers from a race to the bottom. So we need to ask, did we win the race to the top? Because if we did, it certainly didn’t help all the people of N.Y. State. We pay the highest income taxes, the highest property taxes, and the highest liability insurance and workers comp insurance than the rest of the country. So I ask you, Mr. Young, is it better? Did we create more poverty in our state, because of our high property taxes and union wages that keep big manufacturing concerns from moving into our state? Shouldn’t we let the laws of free enterprise, supply and demand and capitalism, take hold?

I don’t think New York State is a bad place to do business in, like Mr. Young suggests. Lately, New York State has been a tougher state to do business in. I love New York and I believe I may be more vested in Rochester than Mr. Young is. I know what it is like to try and meet a payroll every week. I know what it’s like to work 50-60 hours per week and sometimes go without a paycheck. I know what it’s like to work when you’re sick. And I know what it’s like to put your life savings into a dream.

I believe I am the type of businessman the state wants. Like all of us in small business, all I ask is to keep government out of our pockets, keep the unions off our backs and let free enterprise bring back New York to the Empire State it once was.

Sincerely,

Howard Nielsen

rochesterrealbeer.com/rochester-real-beer-week

Here are some photos from the festivities.

For my second Sticky Lips BBQ restaurant, I purchased a building that was the old Road House Grill onJefferson Road.  This is situated on property that is controlled by the Genesee Valley Regional Market Authority, which is a [...]]]> I’d like to share the story of my recent challenges with the New York State Labor Department.

For my second Sticky Lips BBQ restaurant, I purchased a building that was the old Road House Grill onJefferson Road.  This is situated on property that is controlled by the Genesee Valley Regional Market Authority, which is a New York State Authority.  I own the building but lease the land from the Authority.

It took me a year and a half to build the new Sticky Lips BBQ Juke Joint, and it is a real showpiece.  That took everything mentally, physically, and monetarily that I had.  I did not use any state, local, or federal money to build it.

Halfway through the project, I received a visit from the carpenters union, who was looking for work.  I was nice to the guys, but told them that I had my own independent contractors, of whom many are my personal friends.  I know that the construction industry has been slow, but being that mine was not a state or publicly funded job, I wondered why they would come to a small job like this.  The Sticky Lips construction was relatively small compared to schools, hospitals, and public buildings that are usually associated with union jobs.

Within two days after talking with the union reps, there was an OSHA inspector camped out across the street with a telephoto lens just waiting for an infraction to happen.   After spooking the contractors, this slowed our progress for a while.

About a month later the electrical union reps stopped by and were working for work.  Once again, I said that I had my own guys and did not need their help. (I guess they didn’t remember that eight years ago, when we built the first Sticky Lips, I did hire an electrical union contractor, who was a personal friend.)

Once again, within two days, Bob Bibbins from the New York State Department of Labor showed up.  He informed me that he wanted a list of my contractors and that we had to pay prevailing wages on this job.  During our initial negotiations with the GVRMA, we were not told about the prevailing wages issue.

My first question is: why and when did these two government agencies start doing the dirty work for the construction unions?

The restaurant opened in the first week of October, 2011.  I paid all the contractors and everyone is happy.  Now my contractors have just been served subpoenas for a May 16th hearing.

Bob Bibbins pressured me to go online to register this project with the labor department, which would automatically commit me or my contractors to pay prevailing wages.  He said he would start the violation from the date he showed up, but wouldn’t put that deal in writing.  I did not submit to this online filing. My lawyer at Woods Oviatt Gilman gave Bibbins our stance that we own the building privately and we are only making improvements to the building and not the land which it sits on.  I insisted that Bibbins tell me who was really behind this pressure that the Labor Department was putting on this project.  I asked him point blank if it was the electrical union.  In a round-about way, he let me know I wasn’t too far off.

According to Public Work Article 8, Section 220, N.Y.S. Labor Law, part A: “What is a Public Work?  In determining whether a construction project is a public work, two conditions must be fulfilled….”

Out of the two, the one that would apply is #2: “The contract must concern a public work project. To be public work, the project’s primary objective must be to benefit the public.  Ownership (public or private) is also a factor in determining whether a project is public work.”

More simply, Webster’s II New College Dictionary defines public works as “construction projects, as highways or dams, financed by public funds and constructed by a government for the general public.”

Also from the law, part B: “Who makes the determination whether a project is a public work? Generally, projects for construction, reconstruction, or maintenance done on behalf of a public agency (entity) are public work.  In instances where there is a question regarding whether this condition exist, the Bureau of Public Works will make a determination based on the project details.”

As I discovered, the Bureau of Public Works and Commissioner of Labor are both part of the N.Y.S. Labor Department, and in fact have offices on the same floor.  So who there can make an unbiased decision on what is a public work?

My take on this Article 8, N.Y.S. Labor Law is that the primary objective is to benefit a private entity not the public.  This alone should exempt Sticky Lips BBQ or myself from the prevailing wage.

In the meantime, Bibbins is going to push this and see that I pay these prevailing wages.  He has subpoenaed the contractors, who have to show up May 16^th and attend before Ralph Gleason, public work wage investigator.  He has been designated by the Commissioner of Labor to conduct an investigation concerning Sticky Lips BBQ, “an entity subject to an investigation by the New York State Department of Labor concerning a public work project pursuant to the provisions of Article 8, New York State Labor Law.”

All I did was to put many construction workers to work.  I bought hundreds of thousands of dollars of construction materials from local companies.  At this restaurant, I have created over 120 good-paying jobs.  The business will collect and pay hundreds of thousands dollars in sales, property, employment, and other taxes.  Between my three restaurants, I have over 200 employees.  I am contributing to the state, I am creating jobs.  I am the type of businessman the state wants.  I feel like I am being attacked by these two unions, who have put pressure on the N.Y.S. Labor Department to see this through.

Not only do I need to reinvest my profits to grow my business, but now I have to pay thousands of dollars in legal fees and worst case scenario – if the Labor Department wins, many more thousands for this prevailing wage issue.

Is this the type of business practice I should expect from New York State as I try to grow my business in the upcoming years?

Howard Nielsen

Below are some documents that help to show my ownership (HBD Jefferson is the business name) of the building.  Also some correspondance withthe GVRM and NYS Dept. of Labor.

Thanks to Rochester Woman Magazine for the positive review!

Sticky Lips Barbeque By Nicole Shein

At Henrietta’s Sticky Lips BBQ, they don’t do things by halves. Nope, things here are huge: one ton of charcoal per month; 11,000 square feet; over 300 seats; and 53 beers on tap. And then there’s the Atomic [...]]]>

Thanks to Rochester Woman Magazine for the positive review!

Sticky Lips Barbeque
By Nicole Shein

At Henrietta’s Sticky Lips BBQ, they don’t do things by halves. Nope, things here are huge: one ton of charcoal per month; 11,000 square feet; over 300 seats; and 53 beers on tap. And then there’s the Atomic Bomb Challenge, in which an intrepid eater faces down a daunting five pounds of food in the short span of 30 minutes.

Yet owner Howard Nielsen is also impressively attentive to detail. Take the gorgeous red oak bar, which he stained himself; the 150-year-old beams salvaged from a Sodus-area barn and used to frame a raised seating area; or the custom-built sound system that helps that area double as a stage when Sticky Lips serves up live music, Wednesday through Saturday nights.

Nielsen, an avid antiques collector, is a Rochester-area native, and shows his hometown pride through the local memorabilia on display in his restaurant. Old RTS signs, brewery advertisements, photographs, curiosities and conversation pieces (a stuffed black bear on skis, giant circus posters) provide a fun, fascinating backdrop for the Sticky Lips food experience.

First and foremost, there’s meat–and plenty of it. Ribs, beef brisket and pulled pork are all smoked, using a combination of apple and hickory woods, until they are tender and ready to be topped with one of Sticky Lips’s house-made sauces. While the All-American BBQ is probably the most popular, don’t skip the Cherry Bomb (well-balanced spice and sweetness) or the Betty’s Burning Lips (flavorful, with lingering medium heat). Ordering Uncle Frank’s chicken? Put the sauce aside, and focus instead on the crisp skin, juicy meat and smoke flavor that’s penetrated clear down to the bone, thanks to the aforementioned hardwood charcoal.

Sticky Lips stays true to the BBQ tradition with its sides–collards, mac-n-cheese, several varieties of fries, mayo- and mustard-based slaws, BBQ or black beans. Here, the requisite square of cornbread is firm yet moist, with a moderate level of sweetness and an appealing golden crust.

Unlike many meat-centric restaurants, whose only nod to vegetarians is a salad with some grilled salmon slapped on top, Sticky Lips offers several noteworthy veggie mains. Included are a bourbon-marinated BBQ tofu steak, a lentil burger served “garbage”-style over sides, and an etouffee of peppers, squashes, eggplant and okra, combined in a mild tomato-based sauce and served over deep-fried tofu slabs and white rice. It’s a thoughtful lineup of meatless selections, which should make vegetarian diners feel appreciated.

Also on the extensive menu are chicken and pulled-pork sandwiches, hamburgers, steaks, jambalaya, a few seafood options and the intriguing “Ultimate Mac & Cheese,” which adds Zweigle’s hot dogs and chili to the usual carb-and-cheddar mix. Appetizer aficionados can choose from the usual (nachos, fries with assorted toppings, chili, spinach-artichoke dip) and the unique (deep-fried pickles, grilled chicken drumsticks, and “Pig Wings,” fried pork ribs doused in Buffalo sauce).

Tempted by that Atomic Bomb Challenge? You’d better be hungry–it’s a pound each of hamburger, pulled pork and fries, eight strips of bacon, a half pound of meat sauce and a quarter pound of cheese, all piled on a giant bun with lettuce, tomato and onion.

Sticky Lips’s Henrietta location lives up to its billing as a “Juke Joint,” showcasing local bands whose music runs the gamut of genres: alternative, funk, rock, rockabilly, country and blues. There’s also line dancing on Tuesday nights, which Nielsen says “has become unbelievably huge”–like so many other things at this BBQ restaurant.

Sticky Lips BBQ Juke Joint in Henrietta was just the answer to what a hungry food writer was craving. / KAREN MILTNER/Staff photographer D&C

STICKY LIPS PIT BBQ 8TH ANNIVERSARY

Atomic Bomb Challenge Friday, April 27th, 2012 and a Rib Eating Contest Saturday, April 28th, 2012

Come celebrate our 8th Anniversary of Sticky Lips PIT BBQ and enjoy the festivities this weekend. On Friday, April 27th, 2012 we will be having our ATOMIC BOMB CHALLENGE contest at [...]]]>

STICKY LIPS PIT BBQ 8TH ANNIVERSARY

Atomic Bomb Challenge Friday, April 27th, 2012 and a Rib Eating Contest Saturday, April 28th, 2012

Come celebrate our 8th Anniversary of Sticky Lips PIT BBQ and enjoy the festivities this weekend. On Friday, April 27th, 2012 we will be having our ATOMIC BOMB CHALLENGE contest at 5:30p.m.

ATOMIC BOMB CHALLENGE:

1 Large Burger Bun , 1lb of Burger Meat, 1lb of Pulled Pork, 8 Strips of Bacon,4 Slices of Cheese,4 Sets of Lettuce, Tomato, and Onion, 1lb of French Fries, and Topped off with half a pound of our Atomic Bomb Meat Sauce.

The contestants have 30 minutes to eat the Challenge and who ever finishes first…Wins!(If no one finishes the challenge, who ever ate the most wins)

On Saturday, April 28th, 2012 we are holding our annual Rib Eating Contest at 4p.m. It will be some of Rochester’s finest, some people from our local Police Department competing against some people from our local Fire Department. All contestants will have 8 Minutes to eat as many Ribs as possible, whoever eats the most Ribs… Wins!

All of our winners get their name in lights on the marquee, trophies, and bragging rights for a year!

If you are interested in signing up for either contest, just call Sticky Lips PIT BBQ at 585-288-1910 or come on down we are located at 625 Culver Road, Rochester, NY 14609.

Sticky Lips PIT BBQ is locally owned and operated by Howard Nielsen. If you’d like more information about this topic, please call Carlos Santiago at 585-348-1018 or email csanti0318 AT yahoo DOT com

The Sticky Lips BBQ Juke Joint now has one of the best sound systems in town. There’s no doubt we’re becoming one of Rochester’s premiere music halls.

Howie,

My Name is Jared Petrassi I am a student at SUNY BROCKPORT. I live about an hour from Manhattan when I am not in school in a little town called Warwick.

I absolutely Love [...]]]> We received this email the other day from a Sticky Lips fan. Who ever said bbq wasn’t good for you?

Howie,

My Name is Jared Petrassi I am a student at SUNY BROCKPORT. I live about an hour from Manhattan when I am not in school in a little town called Warwick.

I absolutely Love BBQ FOOD. I am a competitive Natural Bodybuilder, and usually diet for a show for about 16 weeks at a time. And the first thing I always eat is bbq food.

Throughout fresh year I dieted for a show in march. After that show, the first place I went was Sticky Lips! And I have not gone to another BBQ place since.

I have been Sticky Lips on Culver, about 8 times usually for friends birthdays , or when my parents come up or special events. Last time I was there was November 17th 2011-the day before I started dieting for my competitive season. I had one show this past Saturday, then back on the diet and have another show march 31st then another april 14th then I will be done for the year. April 15th I plan on being in sticky lips and chowing down.

The pulled pork with sweet potato fries and chili, with the corn bread is my favorite meal from Sticky Lips its just O man making me hungry with 3 weeks of dieting left.

Just wanted to let you know Sticky Lips is always my first choice if I have someone visiting me, same with my friends. And it was the last place I ate before starting my diet and will be the first place I eat when I am done.

Thank you for making me one happy guy and having a loyal customer for life, I have always left extremely full and satisfied and never had anything that wasn’t absolutely spectacular. Like I said above that’s my favorite, BBQ pulled pork a little spicy home made bbq sauce then dip fries in the sweet bbq sauce you have with some chili and maybe the loaded nachos if someone can split them.

So can’t wait to eat up and be there soon.

Thanks
Jared Petrassi

Jared is No. 18

See pics from the event

The old Roadhouse Grill

Top view of the smoke house

Click to enlarge.

Click to enlarge.

Uncle Paulie

With friend Andy Hendel

Bringing an old Esso gas station sign back from Charlotte, North Carolina

My son, Daniel Nielsen, Herkimer CC lax player coaching inner city youth lacrosse at Paetec Park

Tommy and Jen’s wedding invite

Samanth Gurowski, Webster Thomas graduate, Sticky chick phone girl, and Syracuse cheerleader