Born from a Tiki Bar. Built for Events.
Pop-up kitchen, pitmaster-driven food, and a menu that started a following at a lakeside bar in Geneva, NY.
How It Started
Taco 'Bout BBQ didn't start with a business plan. It started with a smoker, a tiki bar, and a crowd that kept showing up.
At Tiki Bar North in Geneva, NY — right on Seneca Lake in the heart of the Finger Lakes — Ryan Desain set up a pop-up kitchen and started serving slow-smoked BBQ and tacos to anyone who wandered in. The brisket took 24 hours. The pulled pork was smothered in house BBQ sauce. The Korean BBQ tacos were something nobody in the region had seen before.
Word got around. Then the requests started: Can you come do this at my wedding? My company picnic? My kid's graduation? The pop-up kitchen became a catering operation — not because it was planned, but because the food earned it.
Meet Ryan Desain
Ryan is the pitmaster, the owner, and the person who answers the phone when you call 585-390-4302. There's no booking department. No generic catering coordinator. You work directly with the person who's going to cook your food.
That matters. When Ryan builds your menu, he knows what 80 guests at a barn wedding in the Finger Lakes needs versus 200 at a corporate event in Rochester. When he says there will be enough food, he means it — because he's the one loading the smoker.
What Sets Us Apart
BBQ + Taco + Korean Fusion
House BBQ sauce. House Korean BBQ sauce. Spicy slaw. Street tacos, Walking Tacos, and slow-smoked plates — all on one menu. No other caterer in the Finger Lakes offers this combination.
Pop-Up DNA
We weren't a restaurant that decided to try catering. We were born at events — pop-ups, festivals, lakeside bars. Event-first means we know how to read a crowd, scale for any headcount, and set up fast.
Save-the-Day Responsiveness
Caterer cancelled? Corporate lunch needed by Friday? We've handled last-minute calls that most caterers won't touch. When others need 3-month booking windows, we pick up the phone.
Named Pitmaster Craft
Ryan Desain is not a logo. He's the person smoking your brisket for 14 hours, tasting the sauce, and making sure every tray is right. You know who's cooking your food because you talked to him.
Slow-smoked pulled pork on a warm flour tortilla, smothered in house Korean BBQ sauce and topped with spicy slaw.The dish that started it all
Want to Work with Us?
Whether it's a Finger Lakes wedding, a Rochester corporate event, or a backyard party that needs real food — we'd like to hear about it. Tell us what you're planning.
Get in Touch