PUEBLO, Colo. – Jilian Hall-Johnson’s big, life-changing idea came when she was watching the Food Network and needed something to cook for her kids.

Hall-Johnson, husband, DeMarco, and kids, Jayden (now 17), Mailien (13) and Peyton (6), were living in San Diego, California, at the time. DeMarco was working as a drill sergeant in the Marine Corps, and Jilian says it was like a three-year deployment. He was never home, so it was just her and the kids.

“I love to cook, but I hate to cook if no one’s going to eat the food that I’m making, because I put a lot of time and love into my food,” Hall-Johnson said. “And for the kids, it was really easy to make breakfast. I enjoy breakfast. I don’t mind eating it at any time of the day, and neither did they. And so I would oftentimes just make breakfast for dinner.

“I had watched a Food Network show on waffles, and they had gone around the country to all these different waffle shops. And I thought to myself, ‘What about a biscuit waffle? How would that turn out?’”

And so the biscuit waffle was born, and with it, the beginning of an idea took shape.

When the family was re-stationed to Billings, Montana, Hall-Johnson thought the time was ripe to open a restaurant.

The Sassy Biscuit Co. opened its doors in Billings in April 2018.

“We call ourselves a bruncherie, and everything we do is scratch-made, and it’s elevated but approachable,” Hall-Johnson said. “So we do traditional biscuits and gravy, but we do what we call sassifying it. So everything is a very unique recipe, it’s very well thought-out and has lots of flavor. For instance, we have waffles and pancakes and French toast all that have some sort of biscuit technique in it, or utilize a biscuit for that specific dish.”

In 2021 and beyond, the PBR is partnering with local businesses in the cities it visits. The Sassy Biscuit Co. is the league’s first such community spotlight as the Unleash The Beast comes to MetraPark Arena for the PBR Wrangler Invitational, presented by Cooper Tires, on May 14-16.

“I think it’s awesome,” Hall-Johnson said. “There’s such a movement now to spotlight Black-owned businesses and minority-owned businesses, and so I’m just appreciative that we have this opportunity to let people know we’re here, let people know we have great food and great atmosphere. One thing that we’ve always wanted to be is a destination in Montana, a place that people had to go if they ever came to Montana. And so I think this is a great opportunity to assist with that, and we look forward to the partnership.”

Every menu item at the Sassy Biscuit Co. is, of course, biscuit-based, and Hall-Johnson describes it as African-American food, a fusion of modern-day brunch and southern cooking – even though she’s not from the south.

She grew up in Syracuse, New York, before moving to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, for culinary school. She was a foodie growing up but, upon finishing school, worked in the food industry for less than a year before going back to school and getting both a bachelor’s and a master’s degree.

“A lot of times people would be like, ‘Oh, you should open a restaurant,’ and so it was always kind of in the back of my mind,” Hall-Johnson said. “Once we received orders to Billings, I thought this may be a great time to bring something very unique to the Montana market, simply because I typically had worked for the federal government and there were no federal positions that I was qualified for in Montana. So I thought I would go sort of back to my roots and open a restaurant.”

Hall-Johnson’s roots are all over the Sassy Biscuit Co. menu. Just look at the porridge section of the menu, where the items are named “the Ma,” “the Pa,” and “the Nana.”

“Growing up, both my parents would always make oatmeal as something we would have regularly,” Hall-Johnson said. “They made it two different ways. My mom would always have a homemade cake on the table, and my mom always made this super sweet oatmeal. And so we would always cut a piece of cake, throw it in the bowl, and then throw some oatmeal on top of it and eat it like that. My dad would always make a healthier version with nuts and raisins and fruit. And so both of those menu items are sort of mimicked after the way my parents used to make oatmeal growing up.”

In fact, the whole Sassy Biscuit Co. setup was designed with Hall-Johnson’s family in mind. When setting up the business, she focused on creating systems that would enable her to still dedicate time to being a wife and a mother, and in a military family to boot.

The DeMarco is now stationed at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., so the family lives in Maryland, and Hall-Johnson manages both the Billings restaurant and their newer location in Dover, New Hampshire, remotely.

She makes it back to Billings around once a month to check in on her team and make sure everything is running well, and is appreciative of the community they found in Montana.

Because when it comes down to it, food is all about bringing people together.

“For me personally, I love when people appreciate what we do, because everything we do is with love,” Hall-Johnson said. “For those who come in and really just enjoy the food that they eat, they want to bring others. It’s a place to gather. It’s a place to just unwind and unravel and have a good meal. And so that to me is the most rewarding part, that we are able to impact a community where there’s not a lot of diversity, there’s not a lot of culture, and just bring something super new and super fun to that community.”