Home Arts & Entertainment AN ORIGINAL IDEA SPREADS FROM HEMET THROUGHOUT SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

AN ORIGINAL IDEA SPREADS FROM HEMET THROUGHOUT SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA

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Bobby Titus and his giant Smoker Courtesy Photo of Rusty Strait

It never ceases to amaze me how one story can lead to another. A few weeks ago, I wrote about a local coffee shop that changed its name to The Destination Smokehouse and Eatery, expecting that to be the whole story. But it wasn’t. A previous meeting in a barbershop with the owner led to a more widespread story.

Let me tell you about an immigrant from Banning to Hemet who changed his perspective on life and spread a new business throughout Southern California, reaching out to the metropolis’s of San Diego and Los Angeles.

Bobby Titus, a native of Banning, decided to, as he explains it, “rid myself of my childhood,” by moving to Hemet half dozen years ago.

“After being here for three years and tired of landlords, I bought a house and settled in.” Married with two daughters and a son from a previous relationship, like so many other transplants to Hemet, he found it, if not heaven, somewhat heavenly. A welder by trade, he was fidgety and looked for a way to best put his talents to work.

“I’d been fabricating for ten years and building off-road stuff and fences. I have always liked barbeques and got the notion to build one for myself. One day a guy saw it and asked if I would build him one. That was the simple beginning. I had no idea that it would be the beginning of my future. However, it hasn’t stopped since. I’ve built them from small 5 gallons up to my most recent one for the Destination of 1000 gallons. It just kept going from single families taking one to the beach to commercial sizes.”

Bobby Titus and his giant Smoker Courtesy Photo of Rusty Strait

How did that come about?

“Social media. Instagram helped me create my business.”

And what does he call that business? Titus Smokers. And when did he open up as a business?

“Two months after I built my first one for somebody other than myself.”

He says that he always loved to weld. “With so many people asking for my product, it came easy. It has never been work for me because I love doing it. I never did like fences.”

His workshop looks like somebody’s junk lot, but he assures me it isn’t. He displayed a couple of good-sized BBQs that he has in process.

“I take old propane tanks, grind them down inside and out and start fresh. Clean them up and voila, a brand new smoker.”

One man’s junk, as they say, another man’s treasure.

How does he transfer a 4 thousand pound smoker from his site to another location?

“A big forklift and flatbed rig.”

And just how did he happen to make contact with Nick Yepremian and his place of business?

“Funny you should ask that question. It started in a barbershop where we were both waiting to get a haircut.

Bobby Titus and his giant Smoker Courtesy Photo of Rusty Strait

I was browsing on social media and I saw some pictures he had posted about his place of business. As a builder, I am always looking beyond “me,” and there were some photos of his food. I asked what kind of grill he used and he was so embarrassed he just laughed and said, ‘I don’t want to talk about it.’ It was right out of Home Depot for a backyard, I thought. I explained that I was a welder and how would he like it if I made one for him? He agreed and that was only the beginning. I built him a larger one later and recently; the 1000 gallon one painted bright red.”

As I mentioned earlier, sometimes, one story leads to another. This bright red giant can be seen straddling the old Santa Fe Rail tracks in downtown Hemet at the new Destination Smokehouse and eatery. It resembles a miniature steam engine. And he’s not yet 30. Imagine the future for this young creator?

Oh, the memories. Just sayin’ [email protected]

Rusty Strait • Senior Reporter

Find your latest news here at the Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle

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