Feature
Kristin Howell and daughter Whitley prepare to serve food at Ashe County Park for the area’s Friday in the Park event. Photo by Bailey Little
Kristin’s Hook’d on Smoke West Jefferson Food Truck Offers ‘Good Times, Good People and Good Experiences’ In Ashe County, a bright orange truck offers award-winning barbecue, hospitality and is praised by both locals and visitors to the area. Kristin’s Hook’d on Smoke food truck can be spotted on weekdays in downtown West Jefferson and at festivals and events throughout the year. “Feeding faces” and making a name for herself over the years as a mouthy, barbecue connoisseur is owner Kristin Howell. The path which led her to this place in her life — which she said is the happiest 30 | July-August 2021
she has been —was not an easy one, with several bumps and setbacks. However, she did not give up when “the going got tough” and says joining the food truck industry was the best decision she ever made. She was introduced to the food industry at a young age because her mother’s family owned and started Shatley Springs Restaurant in Crumpler. “I started off underneath biscuit tables watching my great-grandma,” she says. “And I was there all the time because my mom worked all the time.”
She soon began waiting tables, which suited her well because she is so personable. Since she was chatty and took the time to get to know the customers, she made a good living as a waitress. In her 20s she opened up a restaurant called the Whistle Jacket Grille for a man living in Eden. She returned to Ashe County while pregnant with her daughter, Whitley. As a single mother, she had to work multiple jobs in order to stay afloat, including waitressing jobs at several local restaurants in addition to cleaning and aawmag.com
