RACINE — Chef Emerson Holliday lost his job when COVID-19 struck. Like hundreds of thousands of other Wisconsinites, he applied for unemployment checks to stay afloat.
7July 2020

Chef Emerson Holliday smiles in front of his smoker, the backbone of his new business Dragon Pit BBQ, which serves Holliday's barbecue creations behind The Branch at 1501, 1501 Washington Ave., a couple days a week.
For years, the Gateway Technical College-trained chef said he has been putting off starting his own restaurant: “It’s too expensive.” “It’s too risky.” “I don’t have time for it.” The excuses went on.
But when the pandemic arrived, Holliday said, he didn’t have any more excuses. He certainly had free time to invest in a new venture.
“When everything shut down, I just had to do something,” he said, remembering the boredom of March and April.
He already has the culinary knowledge, and the friends and professional connections that can spark some word of mouth momentum to get new customers to try his barbecue.
“Do we now know that our local chefs are the best chefs?! Don’t eat those frozen chains! Eat food that is made with love and heart and soul because this food certainly is,” one customer said on Facebook.
Holliday said he had two choices: “I could just sit around and play video games, or I could invest it into what I’ve always wanted to do.”
He picked the latter. Dragon Pit BBQ is open for business at a time when a lot of other restaurants are struggling to keep the lights on.
All orders are submitted online at dragon-pit-bbq.square.site. Customers can then walk up or drive up to the parking lot behind The Branch, 1501 Washington Ave., to get their food directly from Holliday. Payment is handled online, thanks to the easy-to-use Square App, squareup.com.
From the kitchen to his own business
A lot of restaurateurs have ideas for restaurants. But they don’t think about food enough.
That’s what Holliday thinks. And he thinks about food a lot. At parties, he says, he’s one of those people who can always be found in the kitchen.
He grew up in Racine and has worked across southeast Wisconsin at a variety of popular restaurants, including Blue’s Egg and Maxie’s in Milwaukee, and at The Maple Table on Monument Square.
He’s always been the man behind the scenes, making and loving the food.
Now he’s finally able to deliver the food he puts his heart and soul into.
Dragon Pit BBQ, which specializes in barbecue standards done right such as gumbo, pulled pork sandwiches and smothered fries, started serving in May. There also are vegan options. Holliday also sells Big Em’s Paradise Powder, a mixture of South American and West African spices inspired by Holliday’s father.
But Dragon Pit doesn’t have a traditional storefront or seating area.
Holliday bought a smoker online, in part thanks to those unemployment checks, and he can haul the smoker around with his SUV. He rents the kitchen inside The Branch at 1501 for the rest of his food prep.
Dragon Pit is only open a couple days a week, on varying weeks. To stay up to date on scheduled offerings, follow Dragon Pit BBQ on Facebook at facebook.com/dragonpittbbq. The next scheduled pop-up dates are July 14-17.
The Laotian pop-up restaurant SapSap follows the same formula, renting out the kitchen at The Branch and serving food to drive-ups in the parking lot.
To have these businesses take off, it’s not about having a cool restaurant or good branding, said SapSap owner Alex Hanesakda. “Your food has to be really good and unique,” Hanesakda said, and that’s the model Holliday is following.
Racine is the right place to start Dragon Pit, Holliday said, because “there’s a diverse palate here … a melting pot of flavors … we understand this home-cooked food idea.”
Thanks to the unique setup with The Branch, Holliday can also avoid the massive expenses of paying for a building and keeping it up while he generates revenue and a customer base. Someday, though, he hopes Dragon Pit will take over its own space.
Uncle Harry's parking lot is busy

Even the construction workers from Main Street stopped to get a treat.
Crazy Train Saloon open for business

The outdoor patio was filled with customers on Friday.
A haircut at last

Ann Cahill cuts a client's hair during her 1:30 appointment on Thursday at her Burlington salon, the Electric Chair, 136 E. Chestnut St. The state Supreme Court on Thursday overturned the state's Safer at Home order. Racine has continued it, but elsewhere in the county, business owners can decide for themselves if they want to reopen. Cahill is starting out strict, only allowing one person in the salon at a time and requiring everyone to wear a mask.
Open again for business

The Goodwill store at 3131 S. Oakes Road, Mount Pleasant, reopened Friday for people to shop and drop off donations. Workers and customers going into the store are required to wear face masks.
Together again

A group of men gathered Friday outside Fountain Hills Apartments near Washington Avenue and 90th Street in Mount Pleasant. They said they normally get together each Wednesday, but were restricted the past two months by coronavirus concerns. They said they met mostly through the YMCA and were sick of staying at home. While they were not wearing masks to eat, they said they tried to keep a safe distance apart.
Masks at Kewpee

A couple Kewpee Sandwich Shop workers wore masks while most chose not to on Tuesday.
Dirty pens, clean pens

Pen bins placed on the front desk of The Maple Table, 520 Main St., are just another step the farm-to-table restaurant uses in its effort to ensure safety for customers. Customers signing a receipt use a pen from the “Clean pens” bin then leave the pen in the “Dirty pens” bin. Used pens will be sanitized before being placed in the other bin to be used again.
Kewpee groups

Groups waiting for food at Kewpee Sandwich Shop, 520 Wisconsin Ave., tended to stand distant from one another on Tuesday. Some wore masks, some didn't.
Masks at Kewpee

A couple of Kewpee Sandwich Shop workers wore masks while most chose not to on Tuesday in Downtown Racine.
Summer Davis at The Maple Table

Summer Davis wears a see-through face mask while standing behind the bar at The Maple Table, 520 Main St. on Tuesday, the first day Racine restaurants could reopen following closures due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Summer Davis at The Maple Table

Summer Davis, an employee at The Maple Table, 520 Main St., poses behind the bar while wearing a see-through face mask on Tuesday.
Masks at Kewpee

Corinna Wolter wears a mask while her husband, Mike, places an order at Kewpee Sandwich Shop, 520 Wisconsin Ave., during the lunch rush Tuesday.
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