New BBQ restaurant will bring ‘Georgia soul’ to Folsom. Here’s what’s on the menu

Belly Barbecue is hosting a soft opening in Folsom this weekend. The spot features brisket, short rib, sausages and more — in a style that’s “Texas inspired, Georgia soul.”

For its soft opening — which the barbecue joint announced on social media this week — the restaurant at 1760 Prairie City Road will serve a special platter for $35, which includes quarter pounds of four meats, brisket, pork ribs, turkey and sausage, two sides and a dessert. The hard opening is tentatively Sept. 20, said owner Marcus Randolph.

“We’re nervously excited,” Randolph said. “This is going to be a trip for me and my family and for Folsom and Sacramento.”

The invite-only soft opening starts on Saturday at 11 a.m. Since Belly Barbecue is operating with one smoker for now, food quantities are limited, the barbecue joint said on social media .

Belly Barbecue asked customers to direct message its Instagram account for an invitation. Currently, Saturday is full, and a few spots are open for Sunday.

Randolph hails from Georgia and came to California 11 years ago. He worked as a lead engineer for Intel before pivoting to the restaurant business.

“My wife kicked me out of Intel. She told me either I’m gonna do it or I’m not gonna do it,” he said.

Randolph said Intel prepared him to own a business, as he brings the same mentality of engineering to running Belly Barbecue.

“It’s the same mindset that you take from engineering a product like a Surface tablet [to] engineering a smoked brisket,” Randolph said.

Randolph started the business, because he missed food that tasted of home. He aims to bring “Southern charm” to the menu. Southern food is all about the “rich flavor — not the flavor that’s dialed back for the West Coast palette,” he said.

“It’s so Southern that my mom sends me a specific ingredient that’s not here on the West Coast,” Randolph said.

According to its website, the restaurant cooks their meats “low and slow” and flavors their meats with homemade rubs with local cherry and oak wood. Belly Barbecue also produces its barbecue on offset smokers, which is considered “ubiquitous” in Texas barbecue , according to Texas Monthly.

“We’ve had his BBQ and can attest - it’s very good,” said Reddit user homebrew33 .

The menu is Texas-inspired, so much so that the barbecue has the famous Texas barking outside of the protein, whether it’s brisket or pork ribs.

“We have a super barky, dark barky brisket,” Randolph said. “We try to mimic [Texas] in our own way, but we also added some things ourselves.”

Ultimately, the menu retains the “Georgia soul,” Randolph said, pointing to the Brunswick stew. The Georgia staple is made with smoked meats with tomatoes, cream corn and more.

“If you come in, get the Brunswick stew and the sausage, because the sausage is made in-house,” he said.