Holy Cow

What Holy Cow does

Holy Cow BBQ is a privately held, founder-operated barbecue restaurant company founded in 2014 by Rob Serritella and headquartered in Santa Monica, California. Its core product is traditional slow-smoked BBQ featuring hand-rubbed brisket, pulled pork, ribs, tri-tip, and chicken, complemented by scratch-made sides, desserts via the co-branded The Little Pie line, and a beverage program of craft beer, wine, and cocktails (the latter available at the Culver City location). The company operates retail restaurants in Santa Monica, Culver City, and Redondo Beach, serving dine-in, take-out, and delivery customers through Toasttab-powered online ordering, and runs a regional catering division throughout Southern California with per-person packages ranging from $21.99 to $42.99 for events of 25 or more guests, plus on-site grill service for 75+ guest events. Distribution extends beyond restaurants through direct-to-consumer e-commerce for house-made sauces (Q Sauce at $9.95) and signature rubs ($8.95 each, $25.99 trio) shipped nationwide, supported by a Q-Club loyalty program (1 point per $1 spent; 100 points = $5 reward; double-points promo days) and a Dine & Donate fundraising program that donates 10% of qualifying bills to schools and organizations. Marketing relies on organic social (Instagram), earned media across major food publications, the Q-Club email channel, and the holycowbbq.com website for online ordering and information.

Name

Holy Cow

Legal name

Holy Cow BBQ

Website

https://holycowbbq.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2014

Operating status

Operating

Short description

Holy Cow BBQ is a Southern California barbecue restaurant chain founded in 2014 that serves slow-smoked meats, sides, and desserts via dine-in, take-out, delivery, and catering across three LA-area locations, plus nationwide e-commerce for its signature sauces and rubs.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Casual Dining Restaurants

NAICS

Limited-Service Restaurants (722513)

SIC

Sausages & Other Prepared Meat Products (2013)

akta.pro primary industry

BBQ & Smokehouse Fast Casual (THAFABAH)

akta.pro secondary industry

BBQ Sauce & Marinades Manufacturing (AFAKADAH)

Keywords

• Barbecue restaurant
• Smoked meats
• Event catering
• Craft beverages
• Retail sauces rubs

Headquarters

HQ city

Santa Monica

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices3 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Supply Chain, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Dine-In Restaurant Sales: Revenue from customers dining in at Santa Monica and Culver City locations. Menu includes BBQ plates, sandwiches, burgers, salads, wings, and beverages.
2. Catering Services: Full-service catering throughout Southern California for events of 25+ guests. Includes packages (Big Sandos, Lone Ranger, Wrangler, Chuckwagon, Stampede), meat by the pound, sides, appetizers, and specialty items. Minimum 75 guests for on-site grill service.
3. Take-Out and Delivery: Online ordering through Toasttab platform for take-out and delivery from all locations.
4. Merchandise (Rubs & Sauces): Bottled signature sauces (Q Sauce $9.95) and signature spice rubs (Holy Rub, Santa Maria Rub, Brisket Rub at $8.95 each) sold in-store and shipped nationwide.
5. Q-Club Loyalty Program: Loyalty program where members earn 1 point per $1 spent on food. 100 points = $5 reward. Double points promotions on select days.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Holy Cow BBQ operates a casual-dining barbecue restaurant serving slow-smoked meats (brisket, pulled pork, ribs, tri-tip, chicken) and scratch-made sides for dine-in, take-out, delivery, and full-service catering across Southern California. The company also sells house-made signature sauces and rubs in-store and online with nationwide shipping, and runs the Q-Club loyalty program for repeat customers.

Product overview

Holy Cow BBQ is a traditional restaurant operating as a single-location BBQ concept with dine-in, take-out, delivery, and catering services. The company operates as a single unified restaurant brand without a platform or modular product architecture. The core offering consists of slow-smoked BBQ food service, supplemented by a catering division, a merchandise line of rubs and sauces available in-store and online, and a loyalty program (Q-Club). The company has expanded from its original Santa Monica location to include a Culver City location and previously operated a Redondo Beach location.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Dine-In, Take-Out & Delivery Traditional slow-smoked BBQ food service offering brisket, pulled pork, ribs, tri-tip, and chicken for dine-in, take-out, or delivery to walk-in and online customers.
• Catering Services Full-service BBQ catering for events of 25+ guests throughout Southern California, including per-person packaged menus (Big Sandos, Lone Ranger, Wrangler, Chuckwagon, Stampede), meat-by-the-pound options, and on-site grilling for 75+ guests.
• Rubs & Sauces (Merchandise) House-made BBQ sauces (Q Sauce, Texas Red, Carolina Mustard, Kickin Hot) and signature rubs (Holy Rub, Santa Maria Rub, Brisket Rub) sold in-store and shipped nationwide via the company online store.
• Q-Club Loyalty Program Customer loyalty and rewards program where members earn 1 point per $1 spent on food, redeemable for $5 rewards, with double-point promotional days and exclusive discounts.
• BBQ Packs Pre-packaged BBQ bundle options including The Stagecoach ($109.99), The Doggie ($119.99), The Roundup ($229.99), and The Rodeo ($449.99) for group feeding and family meals.
• Gift Cards Digital gift cards available for purchase online and redeemable at all Holy Cow BBQ locations.
• Dine & Donate Fundraising Fundraising program for schools and organizations where Holy Cow donates 10% of the bill on designated days when supporters dine in or order.

Named customers2 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• The Little PieminorOthersThe Little Pie is a cloud bakery offering personal dessert pies. Holy Cow features these lil' pies as a dessert option on their menu and offers them for catering. Available in-store and as catering add-on.
• ToasttabcoreTechnology or IntegrationToasttab provides the online ordering platform, gift card system, and loyalty/rewards program infrastructure for Holy Cow BBQ's digital commerce operations across all locations.
• Lost Coast BreweryminorOthersLost Coast Brewery supplies Horseshoe Blonde Blonde Ale (4.2%) on draft at Holy Cow BBQ locations.
• Mission BreweryminorOthersMission Brewery supplies Horseshoe IPA (6.8%) on draft at Holy Cow BBQ locations.
• Firestone Walker BrewingminorOthersFirestone Walker Brewing supplies 805 Blonde Ale (4.7%) on draft at Holy Cow BBQ locations.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Regional players

• Saltgrass Steak House: Multi-unit Texas-themed casual dining chain with smoked meats, scratch sides, and catering — comparable menu architecture and dine-in-plus-catering model, though pivoted more toward steaks than Holy Cow's BBQ-first positioning.
• Gates Bar-B-Q: Kansas City BBQ institution with dine-in, take-out, catering, and house sauces — comparable category play and scratch-sauce retail, though geographically anchored to KC and not directly competing in LA.

Broad incumbents

• Tony Roma's: Established global BBQ chain with dine-in restaurants and a retail BBQ sauce line — broad incumbent with overlapping product range (ribs, sauces) and historical CPG merchandise, operating at a much larger scale.
• Famous Dave's: Multi-unit national BBQ chain (dine-in + catering + branded sauces/rubs sold retail) with a packaged-goods line — comparable on menu, catering, and CPG merchandise, though at meaningfully greater scale and with national marketing spend.
• Dickey's Barbecue Pit: Largest BBQ franchise system in the US with dine-in, catering, and house-branded retail products — comparable across every channel Holy Cow operates, with the offset that Dickey's is franchise-funded rather than founder-capitalized.

Direct peers

• Lucille's Smokehouse Bar-B-Que: California-originated BBQ chain combining dine-in service with smoked meats, scratch sides, and full bars — directly comparable in menu architecture, family-friendly positioning, and in-house sauce profile.
• Mission BBQ: Multi-unit American BBQ concept serving smoked meats, scratch sides, and regional sauces with dine-in and catering across multiple states — closely comparable in menu scope and American-regional BBQ positioning.
• Phillips Bar-B-Que: Long-standing LA BBQ institution with dine-in, take-out, and catering of smoked meats — comparable as a regional BBQ operator competing for the same local guest and catering occasions.
• Franklin Barbecue: Austin-based destination BBQ smokehouse with dine-in, take-out, catering, and branded rubs/sauces sold direct — highly comparable as a reputation-driven, slow-smoked, single-market BBQ brand that turned a cult menu into mail-order retail.
• Bludso's BBQ: LA-based craft BBQ smokehouse operating dine-in and catering with house-made sauces and rubs — the closest local competitor in concept, scale (single- to multi-location), and 'slow-smoked American regional BBQ' positioning.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Instagraminstagram.com/holycowbbq
• Facebookfacebook.com/HolyCowBBQ
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/holy-cow-bbq

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Holy Cow