About Billy's SLAPP'N Sauce

Based in Greensboro, NC

Bill Howland, Founder & Owner:

"I grew up in Virginia and have always loved BBQ. A full rack of ribs was my favorite meal. As a teenager with an incredible appetite, I was in awe the first time I saw a pig on a spit while visiting family friends in Spartanburg, SC. I knew I wanted to try roasting my own pig someday.

As a freshman at the University of Richmond in 1978, I had my first hands-on opportunity at smoking a whole “hog” for my PIKA fraternity’s annual pig roast and blue grass party. The good ole boys from Southern VA taught me all about how to slow cook a whole hog while enjoying a taste of Jim Beam and SunDrop. 

My love of BBQ continued during my grad school years at USC where I learned all about “low country style” BBQ and mustard based sauces. I was hooked. I took what I learned home to Virginia and hosted pig roasts in our backyard for special neighborhood events including my twin sister’s wedding. Those years roasting whole hogs influenced my love of BBQ and sauces. 

Fast forward thirty years, living in Greensboro North Carolina, married, three kids, three smokers, and lots of trial/error attempting to create my own ketchup-based BBQ sauce. I just could not get the flavor I wanted, so thinking about my days in the low country, I substituted mustard for the ketchup, made a couple of tweaks, and Billy’s Famous Mustard Base SLAPP’N SAUCE™ crafted with a hoppy IPA was born in 2019.  

Building on the success of my Mustard IPA SLAPP’N SAUCE, I launched a second flavor in 2020 called GATE CITY RED IPA™. It reflects Greensboro’s 1891 nickname when the city saw the arrival and departure of 60 trains each day. Greensboro became the center of transportation or the “gateway” to the West and the South."