Ernest Servantes: From Teenage Dad to Texas BBQ Legend

Ernest Servantes has cooked for hundreds, won grand champion titles across Texas, and built Burnt Bean Company into the number one barbecue spot in the state. But when Neil and Ali get him on the podcast between a 300-person catering job and a full day at the pits, all he wants to talk about is being a dad. Ernest became a father at 19, in college, in a fraternity, with no money and no culinary career yet and somehow it all turned out okay. He breaks down his parenting philosophy the same way he runs his kitchens: structured, fair, no excuses, but never a raised hand. We get into how he learned co-parenting before it was a word, teaching kids the difference between consequences and punishment, why one of his kids thrived in barbecue and one absolutely did not, and what it means to find out at 47 that you're going to be a grandpa. Ernest also goes deep on something we do not talk about enough, dad mental health, and why fathers are still the last ones anyone checks on. One of the most honest and heartfelt conversations we have had on this show.