Swadley’s History
Great Bar-B-Q and Southern Hospitality Run Deep
The story of Swadley’s Bar-B-Q is rooted in generations of hard work, hospitality, and a love for great food.
Today, Swadley’s is led by President Melanie Swadley and CEO and Executive Chef Koltan Swadley, continuing a family tradition that stretches back generations.
Rupert Swadley | Ron Swadley | Sig Faircloth
Texas Roots
The Swadley family story begins in Texas with two hardworking feed salesmen and hay traders who spent their days traveling ranch country, working with farmers and cattlemen across the state. The men who helped shape the family’s legacy, Rupert “Pop” Swadley and Sig Faircloth, traveled the state making deals with farmers and ranchers, bargaining for boxcars full of hay, and doing their part to fatten Texas cattle (or tomorrow’s burgers, brisket, and steak, depending how you look at it).
Can you guess what these two were eating in their long travels across Texan frontiers? Burgers, pie, and – you guessed it – great BBQ.
At the same time, their better halves built reputations of their own in small-town diners. Pop’s wife, Leona, operated the aptly named “The Diner” in Yoakam, while Sig’s wife, Billie, ran “Lola’s Diner” in Eastland – founded and named for her mother, Lola Harris. Back in those days, successful diners had three main attributes:
Great Coffee.
Great Service.
Great pie.
The Diner and Lola’s filled small-town farmer bellies and souls with all of the above every day (except for Sundays, of course). Meanwhile, Pop and Sig graduated from feeding cattle to owning their own.
The lessons learned in those diners became part of the family’s foundation and continue to influence Swadley’s today.
A Family Tradition of Hospitality
For generations, family members watched regular customers return, day after day, not just for the patty melt or the pie, but for the conversation, the friendliness, and the familiar faces. That tradition of Southern hospitality became inseparable from the family’s approach to serving others.
They also shared a deep appreciation for authentic barbecue. Road trips across Texas searching for legendary smokehouses and roadside pits created a lifelong respect for traditional barbecue craftsmanship and the people dedicated to perfecting it.
Humble Beginnings
In the late 1990s, the Swadley family was looking for a way to provide for a growing household. A young couple with their first child on the way, they needed extra income, and like many Oklahoma families, they were willing to work hard to find it.
An unexpected opportunity appeared in a Walmart parking lot.
A local church group was grilling burgers and hot dogs as a fundraiser and drawing a crowd. Curious, the family learned that Walmart allowed similar operations under a few simple conditions: use Walmart products and donate a portion of proceeds to charity.
The next weekend, armed with a borrowed charcoal grill, a folding card table, and $100 worth of groceries purchased with a loan from family, the first Swadley’s cookout was underway.
Burgers, hot dogs, chips, and a drink sold for $5, and the food sold out within hours.
The profits bought more groceries for the following weekend, and the tradition continued. Along the way, money was raised for local charitable organizations, including Children’s Miracle Network, while helping support a growing family.
What started as a simple weekend barbecue stand quickly became something more. It was proof that great food, hard work, and serving others could create opportunity, build community, and lay the foundation for something lasting.
Tailgate Heroes
The family kept at it, learning as they went. They quickly discovered that burgers were a tough business, but their love of BBQ might be the answer. Turkey legs, sausage, and hot links started drawing a crowd, and what began as a simple parking lot operation grew into Swadley’s Smokehouse.
A small Swadley’s Smokehouse restaurant opened on Northwest Expressway while the parking lot and tailgate business continued to thrive. Catering requests seemed to come from everywhere. Swadley’s could be found at grand openings all across Oklahoma, from Lowe’s and Home Depot to Walmart Supercenters and countless community events.
Those were busy years. The family spent long days tending smokers, serving customers, hauling equipment, and doing whatever needed to be done. It wasn’t glamorous, but it built something more valuable than advertising ever could: loyal customers who kept coming back for the food and brought their friends with them.
The restaurant business, however, proved to be a different challenge. A threefold rent increase and rising overhead made it harder and harder to keep the doors open. Even with everyone pitching in, including five-year-old Koltan Swadley helping at the register, the numbers simply didn’t work.
Closing Swadley’s Smokehouse was a tough pill to swallow, but giving up was never really an option.
The family took what they had learned, dusted themselves off, and started again. Not long afterward, the first Swadley’s Bar-B-Q opened in Bethany, Oklahoma.
Serious Craft BBQ
Since opening in Bethany, Swadley’s has focused on refining its recipes, improving its processes, and honoring traditional barbecue techniques while continually raising the standard. This has led to success after success, with new Swadley’s restaurants opening across the state, and more and more loyal Swadley’s fans.
In 2017, the family made the decision to close all Swadley’s locations on Sundays. It wasn’t the easiest business decision, but it was the right one.
Setting aside a day for faith, family, rest, and community has remained an important part of the company’s culture ever since. Combined with a commitment to serving others and treating people well, those values have helped earn Swadley’s recognition as one of Oklahoma’s Best Places to Work for multiple years.
The company’s catering division has continued to grow, as has the Swadley’s Emergency Relief Team, serving communities in Oklahoma and beyond when help is needed most.
Family Owned and Operated
Today, Swadley’s remains a family-owned and operated company.
President Melanie Swadley, CEO and Executive Chef Koltan Swadley, Area Manager and Executive Chef Keaton Swadley, and other family members continue to play active roles in the business. Alongside them is a dedicated team that has become an extension of the Swadley family, helping carry forward the traditions, values, and hospitality that have defined the company from the beginning.
The same values that shaped family diners generations ago continue to guide Swadley’s today: faith, hospitality, hard work, community involvement, and a commitment to serving great barbecue.
Koltan Swadley has grown from helping in the family business as a child to becoming a certified chef, executive chef, and pitmaster. Today, he leads culinary development, creates new recipes, and trains the cooks and pitmasters who bring the Swadley experience to life every day.
Whether you’ve been part of our team for years or are visiting for the first time, you’re part of a story that spans generations. Built on family traditions, Texas barbecue roots, and a genuine commitment to treating people like family, that story continues with every meal we serve.
We are honored to carry that tradition forward every day.
Koltan Swadley, CEO and Executive Chef
Keaton Swadley, Area Manager and Executive Chef
Serious. Slow. Smoked.
Swadley’s BBQ philosophy is a little bit Texas, a little Kansas City, a touch of Memphis and a whole lot of Oklahoma. See how we do it around here.
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