The pair started catering unofficially for some friends and family, got into smoking full hogs and wanted to make the jump to catering for the public. The cafe came in as an added bonus.

The cafe is open Monday through Thursday from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.

With a firefighting background, the cafe is decked out in all things fire, EMT and police related.

“One day I was driving down the road thinking ‘What can we call it?'” Archer recalled about the restaurant’s name. “Backdraft came to mind and it kind of plays along with using the grill and causing backdrafts.”

Established in November 2018, the backdraft boys put an emphasis on doing barbecue the right way.

“We do (all our smoking) with charcoal and wood, different than nowadays people use propane and pellet,” Myers said.

“We do ours the old-fashioned way,” Archer added.

The menu consists of some familiar barbecue staples such as a pulled pork sandwiches, chicken and pork ribs. The menu also features some barbecue spins with the BLT (Brisket, Lettuce and Tomato) sandwich and Backdraft’s “Fully Involved” Burger which features a beef patty with two thick slices of brisket and cheese on toasted sourdough bread.

For a unique appetizer, they have Loaded Backdraft Fries which feature hand-cut fries smothered in cheese with brisket.

“Probably our biggest thing is brisket,” Myers said. “We smoke all the brisket and ribs and pulled pork, but the brisket is very popular.”

Brisket is so big, they even offer it on their breakfast menu. Breakfast is served until 10:30 a.m. and they also have a kid’s menu for children 10 and under.

Unlike some small restaurants, Backdraft offers gluten-free or gluten-friendly bread options for those that need it. This came from Meyer’s daughter who has Celiac disease.

“I was used to (gluten-free) but I guess I didn’t think of it outside the box for the restaurant,” Myers said. “(My daughter) was putting gluten-free sandwiches on Facebook and other people were like ‘Really? We can get gluten-free?’ “

Archer and Meyers both expressed that residents were very excited to see Backdraft move into town.

“They don’t want to see their small town cafe close,” Archer added. “We appreciate the town of Berthold, they’ve been really supportive.”