{"id":724708,"date":"2026-04-13T09:52:23","date_gmt":"2026-04-13T09:52:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/724708\/"},"modified":"2026-04-13T09:52:23","modified_gmt":"2026-04-13T09:52:23","slug":"lucy-cooper-founder-to-compete-on-bbq-brawl-with-bobby-flay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/724708\/","title":{"rendered":"Lucy Cooper founder to compete on ‘BBQ Brawl’ with Bobby Flay"},"content":{"rendered":"

The call from the Food Network<\/a> floored Braunda Smith.<\/p>\n

How would she like to appear on the show BBQ Brawl with Bobby Flay?<\/p>\n

Smith founded Lucy Cooper\u2019s Ice House<\/a> in 2018 as a bar with small bites. The concept evolved with a menu chock-full of eclectic shareables: cheeseburger egg rolls, tin can nachos and whiskey\u00a0brown sugar candied bacon. <\/p>\n

Among an assortment of burgers, pizzas, salads and sandwiches, there was only one barbecued item: Lucy\u2019s ribs.<\/p>\n

As she listened to the call, shock gave way to elation.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was cooking on the line on a Monday by myself,\u201d Smith said. \u201cI was like, \u2018Shut up. You\u2019re joking with me right now.\u2019 But I was so excited I started dancing in the kitchen. And my staff thought it had finally happened: I finally lost my mind!\u201d<\/p>\n

At Star Hill Ranch in Austin, Smith competed against 11 pitmasters on Season 7 of BBQ Brawl<\/a>\u00a0for a chance to be crowned \u201cMaster of the Cue.\u201d<\/p>\n

Smith will host a watch party for the first episode at Lucy Cooper\u2019s at 8 p.m. May 11. She cannot reveal the outcome, but said, \u201cYou\u2019ll laugh, you\u2019ll cry, you\u2019ll gasp, I promise. It\u2019s good TV. I know I made San Antonio proud.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Lucy Cooper\u2019s Ice House founder and chef Braunda Smith recently competed on Food Network\u2019s \u201cBBQ Brawl\u201d for a chance to be crowned \u201cMaster of the Cue.\u201d Credit: Amber Esparza \/ San Antonio Report<\/p>\n

BBQ Brawl features 12 pitmasters \u2014 divided into three groups, each with a captain \u2014 competing in a series of live-fire challenges. Celebrity chef Bobby Flay<\/a> selected Smith and three others for his team.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re competing against all these great pitmasters from all over the country,\u201d Smith said. \u201cIt\u2019s a different level of intensity. You\u2019re also competing against yourself and asking, \u2018Can I bring my \u2018A\u2019 game to every challenge?\u2019 And then you look over to your right and there\u2019s Bobby freakin\u2019 Flay.\u201d<\/p>\n

The experience left a mark on a chef from Macon, Georgia who came to the kitchen at age 42. Smith was a military wife with her first husband. She tended bar, managed bar concepts and handled social media for a chain of billiard halls with her second husband, Jesse Smith. Then they opened Lucy Cooper\u2019s.<\/p>\n

Unexpected opportunities followed. Braunda\u2019s social media posts caught the attention of The Food Network. Invitations arrived to appear on Chopped<\/a> and Guy\u2019s Grocery Games<\/a>. Braunda was eliminated in the first round of both shows. But before long, another invite came to appear on BBQ Brawl.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was long, arduous weeks of being away from home and the restaurant,\u201d Braunda said. \u201cBut man, was it worth it. It was bananas being in that live fire. I cook for a living every day. I\u2019m under that stress and pressure. But it\u2019s a totally different pressure being outdoors and being filmed. It\u2019s a whole different ballgame. I loved it. I\u2019ve got that crazy in me so, of course, I loved it. I thrive in crazy.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"The \u2018Lucy\u2019s Ribs\u2019 plate at Lucy Cooper\u2019s Ice House features a Coca-Cola bbq sauce. Credit: Amber Esparza \/ San Antonio Report<\/p>\n

Crazy is a good word to describe the roller coaster ride of Lucy Cooper\u2019s. The venue became a big hit and expanded to three locations. The Food Network called again and again.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Then, in August 2024, Smith announced the closing<\/a> of two locations on Highway 151 and New Braunfels. She asked for continued support of the original Lucy Cooper\u2019s on San Pedro Avenue.<\/p>\n

The following year, Smith posted that investors had taken hostile actions<\/a> that led to the two closures. As the restaurant tried to defend itself, Smith added, the investors, Savvy Holdings Texas LLC, filed a lawsuit. <\/p>\n

Lucy Cooper lawyer Trey Dolezal said the restaurant was never served and filed for bankruptcy to protect the business and intends to file undisclosed counterclaims \u201cin the next couple of weeks.\u201d Savvy Holdings lawyer Jarrett Ellzey did not respond to an email for comment.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe bankruptcy case is progressing as expected,\u201d Lucy Cooper lawyer Allen DeBard said via text. \u201cLucy Cooper\u2019s anticipates reorganizing through the bankruptcy process and emerging financially stronger and remains committed to its customers and providing the exceptional experience its customers have come to enjoy and expect.\u201d<\/p>\n

Smith remains upbeat. \u201cEven bad things happen to good people,\u201d she said. \u201cWhere\u2019s the silver lining in it for me? I\u2019m still having all these opportunities come my way.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"\"Lucy Cooper\u2019s Ice House founder and chef Braunda Smith at her San Antonio bar and restaurant. Credit: Amber Esparza \/ San Antonio Report<\/p>\n

Excitement is building for the watch party. Smith continues to revel in the afterglow of BBQ Brawl. The competition was fierce, the pressure and heat a thrill.<\/p>\n

\u201cI knew what to expect because I had competed on other shows,\u201d she said. \u201cYou\u2019re not in a fixed kitchen environment. You\u2019re outdoors and it\u2019s Murphy\u2019s Law. What can go wrong will and how do you pivot out of that? I\u2019m a mom of six and a business owner. I thrive when my hair is on fire and there is chaos around me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Smith juggles business, family, legal challenges and television filming with aplomb. She moves fast, cooks fast, talks fast. The Food Network calls her \u201cThe Southern Spitfire<\/a>.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve worn all the hats you can possibly wear,\u201d Smith said. \u201cI started my journey in catering. I was a military wife in South Korea doing meal prepping for guys without wives. I bartended for several years. I think I have a gypsy soul. I still don\u2019t know what I want to be when I grow up.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The call from the Food Network floored Braunda Smith. How would she like to appear on the show…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":724709,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5133],"tags":[5229,300331,116636,168959,300332,300333,7202,110893,7203,358,72176,7453,3187,7815,7593,67,586,132,5230,68,2969,20705],"class_list":["post-724708","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-san-antonio","tag-america","tag-bbq-brawl","tag-bobby-flay","tag-chopped","tag-guys-grocery-games","tag-lucy-coopers-ice-house","tag-san-antonio","tag-san-antonio-restaurants","tag-sanantonio","tag-texas","tag-the-food-network","tag-top-story","tag-tx","tag-typedaily","tag-typefeature","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa","tag-wc-750-1000"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116396789170714825","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/724708","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=724708"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/724708\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/724709"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=724708"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=724708"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=724708"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}