Aces of Trades: Moe's owner Greg Tracey was inspired by barbecue in the south
NEWARK – It all just sort of evolved.
“Growing up,” began Greg Tracey, “I rode bikes all around town with friends, played sports and a lot of video games, watched VHS movies and drank a lot of soda, eating bologna sandwiches with cool ranch chips.”
“Probably around the late 90s,” he continued, “while living on my own in college, I got into healthier eating and cooking for myself at home. That turned into grilling. Then probably getting into true BBQ cooking techniques when I was living in Asheville, North Carolina and getting to see all the BBQ joints and learning the history of BBQ down south. It was very interesting, and the food was just amazing.”
That was the genesis of his BBQ adventure.
“My family,” Tracey remembered, “would always hangout at a local BBQ joint down the street from our house in Asheville called Moe’s Original BBQ. Long story short, we got to be friends with the owners who then introduced us to the franchise owners and next thing you know we were on track to bring Moe’s to Ohio after 10 years of living in Asheville, NC.”
“I would work from 7:30 am to10:30 pm, 3 or 4 days a week at the Moe’s in Hendersonville, NC,” he said, “to learn the cooking techniques and daily operations before we moved to open Moe’s in OH. April 2013 is when we officially opened the 30th Moe’s in the country, and still the only one in the Midwest.
We then got a food truck about a year or so later, then opened the 51st Moe’s in Newark in 2017. Unfortunately, we lost our Granville store during Covid, but we are rockin’ n rollin’ in downtown Newark.”
Tracey, now 45, grew up in Newark, graduated from Newark Catholic High School in 1994, then earned an associate of applied science in greenhouse production and management from The Ohio State University Agriculture Technical Institute in Wooster.
“I worked in a few restaurants growing up and after college,” he said. “Then I was into landscaping and had my own business for a year or so. Then I had an opportunity to travel with a band based out of Asheville, and that turned into a 6-year adventure in the music industry.”
Then came Moe’s.
“Moe’s has been a great addition for downtown Newark,” assessed Fred Ernest, executive director of Newark Development Partners. “Their variety, great food, friendly service and being community-minded has been their recipe for success.”
“My wife Kara and I,” Tracey responded, “wouldn’t have been able to even have this dream come true without the help of my mother-in-law, Nasie Gallagher, who had the faith to invest in us.”
“If you don’t wake up every morning with a breath and a passion to go out and crush life for the day,” he concluded, “then you have to ask yourself, ‘What am I doing if I’m not happy?’ You have to take a risk and get out of your comfort zone and do what you love.”
Moe’s Original BBQ is located at 21 W Church St. in Newark. For more information, call 740-349-5088 or log on www.moesoriginalbbq.com.
About the Series
Aces of Trades is a weekly series focusing on people and their jobs – whether they’re unusual jobs, fun jobs or people who take ordinary jobs and make them extraordinary. If you have a suggestion for a future profile, let us know at advocate@newarkadvocate.com or 740-328-8821.