Knackies has its roots in the tiny community of Inman, Kansas. Kay Knackstedt started a small commercial bakery in her home in 1990. Then, due to customer requests, she started catering on a part-time basis. Steve, Kay’s husband, was pouring sauce and basting ribs in the evenings to help the little business. Only five years later, Steve decided to enter the business on a full-time basis.
Thus started, Knackies BBQ-Deli & Bakery in the hometown of Inman. It was a small eatery with dine-in and carry-out service.
Meanwhile, Steve secretly went to work in the kitchen developing a “house” BBQ sauce. In order to meet customer demand, the sauce was bottled in easily accessible “bear” bottles with flip top lids. Thus the name Bear-B-Cue!
Between the family responsibilities (yes, we have three boys: Jade, Dawson, and Baxter) and the sauce business, it was decided to close the small eatery in November of 1999.
We continued to cater full-time for parties of 25 to 1000 and average 4 to 6 caterings per day. Almost 25 years later we are still bottling our own “Bear-B-Cue” sauce in four flavors and currently, have distributors across the country.
In June 2001, we purchased a larger building at 115 S. Main Inman, Kansas, making this our full-time catering and private party facility. In October of 2012, we opened our full-time restaurant, Knackies Meats & Sweets, in McPherson at 111 S. Maple St. Our restaurant is open Monday-Friday 11-2 PM.
We offer fantastic local catering services and have served clients such as Johns Manville, Kansas Gas and Electric, Alliance Insurance, KSU Football Team, Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center, Wichita Botanical Gardens, Kansas Beef Expo, and over 600 grilled steaks for the National Jr Simmental Assoc. References are available upon request. Please email us or call us to discuss menus and dates.
Kansas highlights