BLACKFOOT — Blackhawk BBQ Pit is riding high after a strong showing at the Eastern Idaho State Fair, picking up multiple awards for its food as the Blackfoot-based barbecue business continues to grow.

The trailer's Warhawk sandwich, a stack of sausage, pulled pork, cheese and jalapeños, took home the fair's People's Choice award this year.

Blackhawk also debuted its Hog on a Log Nachos, a southwest-style plate piled with tortilla chips, smoked pork, queso and a house-made crema, which earned third place for Best New Entrée in the fair's food competition.

The business rounded out its new fair offerings with hog steak chops, served in place of its usual pulled pork, and an All-American Barbecue Dog, a beef sausage topped with pulled pork, barbecue sauce and pickles, according to April Transtrum, who helps run the business alongside her husband, Nic.

April Transtrum said the Hog on a Log and the loaded mac and cheese remain the top sellers each day the booth is open, and several food reviewers who stopped by named the Hog on a Log their favorite item at the fair this year.

"It's been a great year for us," April Transtrum said.

That success traces back to how the business got started. Blackhawk BBQ Pit was founded in 2019 by Nic Transtrum, a U.S. Army veteran and former Blackhawk helicopter pilot who flew 79 combat missions during the Iraq War. After leaving the military, Nic Transtrum found the shift back to civilian life difficult and spent time searching for a new sense of purpose.

During his years in the service, Nic Transtrum was stationed at posts across the South, including Georgia, Alabama and Tennessee, where he developed a taste for the region's barbecue traditions. He bought his first food trailer in 2019, both as a way to teach his daughters the value of hard work and to share a barbecue style blending the influences he picked up during his travels. Along the way, he came to see the smoker as more than a piece of equipment — a way to bring people together around a table, the same freedoms he served to protect.

That mission has carried the business through steady growth in the years since. Blackhawk opened a second restaurant location in Logan earlier this year, situated near a grocery store, and April Transtrum said the new spot is settling in and finding its footing with the local community.

"They're getting in their groove and established, and having a good time down in Logan," April Transtrum said. "Such a good location."

Back in Blackfoot, the original restaurant continues to do steady business, and catering has become an increasingly large part of the company's work. Blackhawk has catered events this summer for Amalgamated Sugar, Simplot and Portneuf Medical Center, and the company has more catering lined up in the coming weeks, including another Portneuf event and Blackfoot's Spud Day celebration.

"We keep busy with events and catering — we love to serve our community that way," April Transtrum said.