photo by: Chris Conde

Christina and Kyle Clemons at Gold Medal BBQ. Lawrence Restaurant Week is Feb. 18-27.

Kyle Clemons has been bringing great flavors to hungry diners since he was a kid working for his dad’s food truck. His restaurant, Gold Medal BBQ, started as a food truck in 2020 and moved into a brick and mortar location during the pandemic in 2021. He and his wife, Christina, are known for their speed on the race track. Kyle won the gold medal at the 2016 Rio Olympics in 4×400 meter relay and Christina is still fresh from running hurdles in the 2020 Tokyo games.

Gold Medal BBQ is open 11:30 a.m to 9 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday, 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday, 11:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday and is open for dinner on Monday 4 p.m. to 9 p.m. and is in downtown Lawrence at 900 New Hampshire St., Suite B.

What is your favorite Item on your menu?

Kyle: It’s between the dirty fries and the tacos with coleslaw with brisket and barbecue sauce. Christina: Everyday, It’s the smoked tacos. It is my absolute favorite. I do hard tacos with brisket then we put the pico on there, queso and cilantro on top.

Are there any trends that developed during the pandemic that are here to stay?

Kyle: We opened up during the pandemic and that’s hard for us to say because we don’t know. This is what we know. Delivery and pick up, definitely. We probably wouldn’t have really pushed it because this is a sit down location for service.

Are there any major challenges you have had during the pandemic?

Christina: One challenge that we did have early on was when I was preparing for the Olympics. And we were trying to get everything together for the restaurant at the same time. Those two are so demanding. It caused a lot of stress, and fights, because his priority is the restaurant at that point. And my priority is my training. So we’re going in two different directions while trying to keep it together.

Has there been a change from 2020 to 2021?

Kyle: Coming from a food truck, we don’t necessarily know how to run a restaurant, so we get advice from other people and help from other people, and it’s just like, you don’t know what you don’t know. And managing people is probably the hardest thing. You’ve got to stay patient with people.

How bad was the labor shortage in the Lawrence restaurant world? Has it ended? When do you think it will end?

Kyle: It was tough for us, because when we started posting jobs we didn’t open until almost a month or two later. Yeah. So we had a lot of people come in and by a month later they already had jobs. We worked with this house, it’s people who have had issues in the past, and they just need a fresh start. Almost our whole kitchen is employed with them. And so they’ve been solid for us. They’ve been solid, and I don’t know how good we would be without them.

What advice do you have for people who want to be better home cooks?

Kyle: Don’t be afraid to fail, you know, you gotta do it to be able to do it. You know, you got to try it.

Christina: You’ve got to experiment. Have fun. Figure out what tastes good to me. And I think that’s kind of like that for home cooks. It’s what tastes good to you.

What is your favorite Lawrence restaurant?

Kyle: We go to The Roost like three times a week. I get the biscuit bacon sandwich with a chai tea latte, medium. And lately I’ve been on the fresh pressed juice kick.

Christina: I get the Roost breakfast sandwich with sausage. I only get one egg on it. And I have them cut it in half. If I don’t get that I’ll get the spinach salad, with chai and soy.

How do you get ideas for new recipes?

Kyle: We just do our research. There’s something that we’re implementing now called the chicken lollipops. Wings are so expensive right now because of the wing shortage and so the next thing to do is have some type of chicken. It’s pretty much just chicken legs, but it’s peeled all the way down to the bottom so it looks like a lollipop. You’ve got to be innovative about what you don’t have, you know what you can get at the moment, and just see what people like by talking to the community?

Are there any food trends you are following?

Kyle: The bar is about to take off. And I’m excited to see where it goes. We’re doing some new things. And it’s going to be something that Lawrence hasn’t seen.

What advice would you give to someone thinking about joining a restaurant staff?

Kyle: I’m going to say what the owner of Milton’s told me when he was helping us get opened: This is show business. You’re putting on a show for them, and your tips, and all that, is going to be reflected by the show that you put on. So you know, just give them a show. You’re here to entertain, you want to make people feel good. And make them feel welcome.

Are there any life lessons you have learned as a restaurant owner?

Both laughing: Bend, don’t break. Bend, don’t break.