Buffalo Barbecue Questions: Joey G on Garlic Parm, Heat Levels, and the Buffalo on the Label

Joey G's Sauce Company is one of the biggest selling brands in our store, if not the biggest. Pat's opening question to Joey on this episode of Buffalo Barbecue Questions was, in his words, "how and why," and then he admitted that was not really a question. He just does not understand it.

So we asked better ones. Where the flavors come from, what is actually in the garlic parm, how the heat levels are meant to be used, and who came up with that buffalo on the label. Then Joey put two of the sauces on food and Pat ate it on camera.

Why the garlic parm sauce exists

Joey does not develop new products off a hunch. When he builds a new sauce, spice, or salsa, it usually starts with customer feedback.

The garlic parm is the clearest example. A number of customers asked for a garlic parm sauce, so Joey G's made one. That is the whole origin story, and it explains why the bottle moves the way it does: people asked for it before it existed.

What went into it matters as much as why. Joey works with fresh garlic that his team processes themselves, and the cheese is hand-graded. It is actual Parmesan and Parmigiano Reggiano, melted right into the sauce. Pat's review of that ingredient list was one word: fancy.

We had a number of customers that had requested the garlic parm sauce, so we actually developed the garlic parm sauce.Joey G, Joey G's Sauce Company

How the heat levels work

Alongside the garlic parm sits the original line of Joey G's barbecue and buffalo sauces, and the thing to understand about them is that the flavors stay similar across the line. What changes is the heat.

That is on purpose. You are not choosing between different sauces so much as choosing how hot you want the same one. Buy for your heat level and you are done.

Everything is ready to use. No thinning, no butter, no doctoring. Open the bottle, toss the wings, sauce the sandwich.

The Italian sausage: beer-braised onions and Carolina Gold

The first thing Pat dug into was an Italian sausage, and it is the sandwich to copy this weekend.

Joey builds it on a toasted bomber roll. On top of the sausage go beer-braised caramelized onions and peppers, and the whole thing is finished with Joey G's Carolina Gold barbecue sauce.

Pat's verdict, direct from the tape: "I had low expectations. This is actually really good." Joey said he appreciated that. Pat said he knew he did.

The sandwich left sauce on his hands, which brought out the house rule for the episode: if you are not making a mess when you are eating, are you doing it right?

The logo: a buffalo with horns, drawn by Joey's sister

Pat wanted to talk about the logo because it works. You see the buffalo with the hat once and you can pick the bottle out of a shelf after that.

It turns out the design came from inside the family. Joey's sister has been a graphic designer her entire life, and the logo was entirely her concept. The brief she set herself was something easily recognizable that still had the buffalo and the buffalo horns in it. That was in her wheelhouse, and it shows.

The smash burger: a Buffalo surf and turf

The second plate was a smash burger, and Joey's description of it is the best one: a Buffalo version of a surf and turf.

Here is the build. A fresh-made smash burger gets Joey G's garlic parm sauce on top. Then sautéed shrimp are finished and tossed in the buffalo garlic parm and piled onto the burger.

Pat's reaction to the first bite was a long "mmm" and then "that is amazing." He also told Joey he could not wait for him to leave, which is how you know the sandwich was good.

How to use these at home

Both plates in the episode are simple enough to copy without a recipe card.

• Sausage: grill Italian sausage, braise sliced onions and peppers in beer until they caramelize, toast a bomber roll, load it, and finish with Carolina Gold.
• Burger: smash a burger on a hot flat top, sauce the patty with garlic parm, sauté shrimp on the same surface, toss the shrimp in the garlic parm, and stack.
• Wings: pick the Signature Buffalo Sauce at your heat level and toss them straight from the grill. The sauce is ready to go as it comes out of the bottle.

Every Joey G's bottle in this post is on the wall inside the McKinley Mall, and we stock the full run of heat levels, so you can build the same spread at home. Come in, tell us how hot you like it, and we will point you at the right one.