By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post
You can get a preview taste of the new Bricks Rockin' BBQ in downtown Hays and help a family whose daughter is struggling with a heart defect.
Bricks Rockin' BBQ, 110 W. 11th, Hays, won't be opening until Jan. 2. However, the Bricks Rockin' BBQ's owners David and Jacob Proffitt are offering a special BBQ platter for $20 from 4 to 8 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 16, to benefit the Kaitlyn Cubillo family.
All of the proceeds will go to the family.
Kaitlyn, 5, was born with a heart defect. Kaitlyn's heart condition has been worsening since she had a Fontan surgery in May 2019.
Although her heart was already headed toward failure, her condition worsen after she contracted COVID-19.
Kaitlyn is not a candidate for a heart transplant and is likely to soon be transferred to hospice care, said Gari Herdt, Cubillo family friend and the BBQ's general manager.
"Medically, there is nothing they can do for her. We are just trying to support the family as much as we can," Herdt said.
Kaitlyn's parents are staying at a Ronald McDonald house in Kansas City to be near her as she receives treatment at Children's Mercy Hospital.
Tickets for the fundraiser can be purchased at any Proffitt business, including Tiger Burger, Taco Grande, Kitsune Asian Creations, Auman, The Uptown Fox and Munsch Fitness.
Tickets can also be purchased at Horizon Appliance. If you purchase tickets at Munsch, you can enter to win a 90-day membership to the fitness center. If you buy tickets at Horizon, you can enter to win a TV.
Tickets can also be purchased online by clicking here.
Meals will be available for carry out or dine in.
Bricks Rockin' BBQ will serve KC-style pit barbecue with Patsy Denault of Russell serving as the pit master.
Denault has been in the restaurant business for decades. She cooked for Meridy's Restaurant in Russell for 20 years, before striking out on her own with a catering business.
Denault was friends growing up with Jacob and David's sister, so the partnership is a friendship that has come full circle, David said.
She makes her own barbecue sauce, which will be served at the restaurant.
"It is a lot of stuff that I like to eat," Denault said. "We brought out a lot of stuff off the top of my head that I would like to see on the table. I can't wait to serve it."
The restaurant will offer brisket, pulled pork, ribs, chicken, burnt ends, smoked sausage, hot links and sliced turkey slow smoked over hickory or apple wood.
"This is my passion. This is what I love to do," she said.
Sides include fries (loaded or unloaded), sweet potato fries, loaded baked potatoes, cole slaw, fried mushrooms, cheesy corn, smoked mac and cheese, loaded nachos, and Patsy's own recipes for barbecue baked beans and potato salad.
Encores include sweet potato pie, cobbler, chocolate lasagna and wafered banana pudding.
The business will begin with carry-out and dine in and hopes to add deliver at a later date. When the restaurant opens, its hours will be 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sundays through Thursdays and 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays.
The name for the new barbecue joint came from the downtown building's past. It was a record store in the 1920s.
Bricks Rockin' BBQ has a 1980s rock theme with a signed guitar from Rob Zombie and band, a guitar signed by C.C. Deville of Poison, a Johnny Cash signed record, a poster signed by Pat Benatar, and a poster on its way signed by the late Eddie Van Halen.
The Proffitts also have a guitar on display signed by their own brother, Charles Proffitt, who is a studio guitarist in Denver and has played on many studio albums.
The Proffitts own several downtown eateries, including The Uptown Fox, Tiger Burger and Kitsune Asian Creations.
"Jacob and I, our mission has always been to bring up the downtown whenever we can get a building to redo something," David said. "We have always believed the interstate is for the travelers and downtown is for the local people."
David said all of the brothers's businesses have been effected by the pandemic and opening in a difficult economic climate is scary.
"For us, we don't wait for someone else to make it happen," he said. "We have never been the kind of guys who sit around and wait something out. We are just going to keep pushing ahead and doing what we can."