DYERSVILLE, Iowa — Standing inside her food truck on a recent Wednesday afternoon, Shawna Morris filled a container with nacho chips.

Then, she topped them with a heaping scoop of barbecue pulled pork, cheese, onions, olives, sour cream and more.

“We want people to get their money’s worth, so we do big portions,” she said, drizzling a generous serving of barbecue sauce over the finished meal.

Shawna and her husband, Brice Morris, own and operate the Moski’s BBQ food trailer, as well as the accompanying brick-and-mortar restaurant in Cascade that opened in 2022.

The business offers a variety of barbecue meats, sandwiches and nachos, in addition to sides and specialty items like ribs.

“Everything is homemade, and that’s how true, authentic barbecue should be,” Shawna said. “Everything is always fresh.”

According to Shawna, the Moski’s BBQ trailer and restaurant grew out of a hobby. Brice has been cooking barbecue for more than 20 years, and the couple had found success participating in competitions with their meat.

“I think barbecue is definitely one thing where the longer you do it, the better you get at it,” Shawna said. “We were cooking for family and friends, and everybody really enjoyed it, so we decided, ‘Well, we’ll try to go a little bigger.’”

The couple launched the trailer about 10 years ago under the name Moski’s BBQ — a nod to Brice’s nickname during college — and soon developed an ardent following in the tri-state area.

Business boomed such that in 2022, they opened a brick-and-mortar location at 329 First Ave. W. in Cascade. They now operate both locations, although the trailer takes a pause during the winter months.

The meats are smoked and prepared at the restaurant and transported in warmers and roasters when the trailer goes on the move. On that recent morning, they had set up shop in the parking lot of Auto Tech in Dyersville, but the truck travels all over the tri-states and beyond, going as far as Clear Lake, Iowa, for a wedding.

Customers at the trailer can choose from chicken, pork or brisket for their sandwiches, along with one of several sides.

In all, Moski’s offers eight side options — barbecue baked beans, smoked macaroni and cheese, cornbread, coleslaw, potato salad, baked potato casserole, jalapeno corn and banana pudding. All are available at the restaurant, but the trailer typically only offers two or three sides at each stop.

“We like our line to move quickly, and the more options you give people, the slower the line goes, so we like to offer just a couple at a time,” Shawna said.

The trailer also offers specialty items, including nachos and racks of ribs, which are popular. At the brick-and-mortar restaurant, customers also can enjoy jumbo bone-in chicken legs and sliced brisket, which Shawna said is the restaurant’s No. 1 seller.

All of the food is sourced locally in Iowa, a “big brag” for the business that contributes to its flavor, according to Shawna.

“We do get people coming from Texas (who) leave super impressed and tell me quietly, under their breath, that it’s better than Texas barbecue,” she said. “I say, ‘Of course it is. It’s Iowa raised. We do it better here. You might be bigger, but we’re better.’”

The Morrises also take pride that everything they serve is homemade, from the pickled onions to the cornbread. Additionally, the business makes all of its own sauces, including an original sweet BBQ sauce, a spicy “moonshine” sauce and a honey mustard sauce, and seasonings, including an all-purpose master blend and a smokehouse blend.

Those sauces and seasonings are available for purchase at the restaurant and at the Dollar Fresh Hy-Vee stores in Dyersville and Monticello. Shawna said they plan to begin selling the products online as well.

Shawna operates the trailer with employee and family friend Staci Fritz. The two women previously worked together as clinical nurses and call themselves the “dream team,” Fritz said.

“It’s just fun,” Fritz said. “We had fun as nurses, and we’re having fun (working the food truck).”

Linda and Steve Hefel stopped by the Moski’s trailer on that recent morning, ordering the brisket and pork.

While the couple aren’t regular customers yet, they plan to be soon, according to Steve.

“We’ve had them at family events before and they’ve been awesome, so when we heard they were here, we stopped,” Linda said.

The couple had been hoping to sample the business’ cornbread, which they had heard was excellent. However, they were just as excited for the sides that were available that day: barbecue baked beans and macaroni and cheese.

“The beans are phenomenal,” Linda said.

Steve added that he loves “the smoked flavor” of Moski’s meat.

The business is currently preparing for the launch of a second food truck, which the Morrises hope to begin operating in the coming weeks. Shawna said having two trucks operating at once will allow Moski’s to reach additional customers, from weddings and graduation parties to pop-up events, catering and more.

“Making people happy with food is pretty awesome,” she said. “You know, people are pretty hard to please anymore, but food still seems to make us happy.”