by Paul Newton | pnewton@ruralmissouri.coop s soon as the front doors open, the kitchen is a urry of activity. ungry customers head to the counter to order one of ick and achel iacopelli's creations for lunch. nline orders come in as fast as the couple fulfills tickets for guests in the dining room. s the restaurant fills an email comes in asking them to cater for the local football team riday night. he iacopellis definitely stay busy keeping up ith the demand for their delicious dishes but busy is a good thing. ick and achel are the oners of oneyadger rill in roy. or nearly five years they've served up their uniue fresh style of sandiches raps burgers and more to a steady stream of loyal customers in incoln ounty. he couple has roots in the restaurant orld first meeting as teenagers hile orking at a ardee's. hey moved to roy and both orked corporate obs in t. ouis ounty an hourlong commute. s their son rady gre older they became less and less interested in the rat race. We ould drive by this vacant building every day not far from our house ick says. We kne there used to be a restaurant there so it had to have some infrastructure. We took a look and ust kind of built the restaurant from the studs up and opened in arch . he food at oneyadger is an etension of the iacopelli's kitchen. reeer space is minimal so they prep fresh ingredients and housemade sauces daily. ick says that forces them into a popular side that sets oneyadger apart. ne of the most important things e do is fresh cut our fries he says. ou can get froen fries anyhere. ut fresh-cut fries ust taste and look so much fresher. t'll be hard to visit oneyadger and not try the adger auce their signature housemade seet and spicy barbecue sauce found throughout the menu. We have si everyday sauces alays available achel says. ut then e do special sauces every once in a hile as ell for specials. oo hungry to ait for your meal rder one of oneyadger's most popular appetiers for the table tumbleeeds. he thinly sliced onion stras are uickly fried and served ith a cup of ick's housemade chipotle ranch. f you've brought your appetite you can't go rong ith the namesake oneyadger sandich. he toering sandich starts ith a toasted brioche bun topped ith a pile of housemade pulled pork tumbleeeds seet and spicy colesla pickles and adger auce. he seet from the sauce and spicy from the colesla mi together ick says. hen the crunch of the pickles and tumbleeeds ust brings everything together. ther sandich options include the ubano ith pulled pork ham iss cheese mustard and pickles on a hoagie pressed on the attop and the customiable grilled cheeses ith your choice of cheese and plenty of protein options. ave a napkin ready if you order the adger urger. ne-uarter pound of freshly hand-pattied ground beef is placed on the attop before achel smashes it as thin as she can. t's cooked on both sides and topped ith your choice of cheese an over medium egg tomato onions pickles and adger sauce on toasted brioche. he ay to do it is ith that over medium egg and have the yolk break as you eat it ick says. t mies ith the adger auce really ell. t's going to get messy. A " We like people to come here for the community and camaraderie aspect. We put these 12-foot tables in for a reason, so different families might end up sharing a table and conversation. " - Rachel Giacopelli, owner, HoneyBadger Grill Far left: The HoneyBadger is the signature sandwich at HoneyBadger Grill in Troy. It features pulled pork, tumbleweeds, coleslaw, pickles and Badger Sauce on a toasted brioche bun. OCTOBER 2023 | RURALMISSOURI.COOP 35http://www.RURALMISSOURI.COOP