Shingle Springs Restaurant Guide

It all began in a poker game.
In the mid-1960's, Michael Schroeder was in Austin, Texas, engaged in his favorite pastime. Another player, short on cash but long on nerve, covered Schroeder's bet by offering "half my restaurant." Schroeder's three 3's beat a pair of queens. When it was time to pay up, the owner of the barbeque restaurant insisted he meant "half the space," not a "half interest." Schroeder's "half" was an empty room in the back.

Angered by the sleazy tactic, Schroeder collected his grandmother's classic barbeque recipes and set up a competing restaurant within-a-restaurant. Customers were made aware of the "shared-space" arrangement. And, although his seating space was limited to 40 people, his barbeque was so superior that patrons were soon asking to be seated in "the back forty."

A consistent award-winner, and one of the nation's top-24 Barbeque Teams, BACK FORTY has been invited to Reno ever year since 1991 to compete in the National Rib Cook-Off. Routinely voted the #1 Barbeque In California, BACK FORTY set a precedent for the national contest, being Voted #1 Four Times In A Row! Twice in a row, separate panels of impartial judges voted BACK FORTY'S BBQ sauce #1 IN THE NATION. In consecutive years, the 400,000 attendees sampling Barbequed Ribs from all over the nation, twice voted Back Forty's THE BEST.

And, then there's that place in history. In 1992, the USSR Olympic Baseball Team toured the U.S. and sampled the free world culture. The officials chose BACK FORTY to cater the most American food, BARBEQUE! When the team went home, the Soviet Empire was history! Go figure.