On a Friday night, Charles Ambers parks his Hyundai Kona near a strip of bars in Montrose. He gets out, unfolds a chalkboard sign listing a menu of turkey legs, ribs, brisket, chicken and a side. He opens his trunk. Customers walk up to purchase food, as Ambers proffers to-go plates until he sells out, sometimes around 3 a.m.

He has parked in the same spot to sell his smoked meats for about a year; first-timers often return, he says.

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“A lot of times, (customers) are like, 'man, you cook with love,'” Ambers said. “When a lot of them try my food, they say, 'I’ve never had anything like this before,' and it’s a good feeling. I enjoy people liking to eat my food.”

The goal is to one day have his own food truck or barbecue joint. For now, selling food out of his car’s trunk has become Ambers' full-time job. 

He starts at home in the Hiram Clarke area of south Houston by seasoning all the meat on Tuesday, allowing it to marinate overnight. On Wednesday morning he smokes brisket, which takes about 12 hours. On Thursday, the first day of the weekend he goes out to sell, he cooks the turkey legs, ribs and chicken, which takes about four hours.

Thursday through Sunday, he reheats individual servings of the meat wrapped in foil (to keep the juices in) on the grill before placing the bundles in a cooler in his car. He also makes a side that rotates between options such as chicken spaghetti, dirty rice and beans.

Unwrapping the foil releases a smoky, fragrant aroma. The meat is so tender that it falls off the bone — even the turkey legs. The flavor is all in the seasoning, he said.

He describes it as an “all-in-one” seasoning that can go on any protein or even french fries. It doesn’t contain salt, he said, so it’s OK for diabetic customers. He started selling the seasoning to those who ask for it and hopes to sell it on a wider scale one day.

“No one has made a blend or combination like this,” Ambers said. “I know this seasoning is going to be the thing of the future.”

Ambers, 51, moved to Houston from rural Louisiana in 1996. That same year, he started playing basketball with his cousin at a park on San Felipe. He began to cook for the group of guys that he would play basketball and dominoes with at the park. He said people were always telling him how much they liked his food.

He had never worked in the food service industry, holding a variety of other jobs from maintenance man to engineer. In 2018 he decided to commit to selling food by buying a new smoker. He also got a food handler’s license. 

Ambers then started driving for Uber and Lyft, scoping out places that might be best to sell to customers. For a short time before the pandemic hit, he sold outside of Nordstrom. And post 2020, he did some catering and hopped around locations until most recently getting comfortable at a corner in Montrose.

His customers include at least 40 people he sees every week. They compliment him on his prices: Turkey legs are $12, all other meats are $10, and sides are $3.

“Even if (the price of) meat did go up, I still wouldn’t go up on my price because it’s like anything you do, you’re gonna lose some and you’re gonna gain some, so it doesn’t matter. You still have your customers, they’re still coming, so take that loss.”

So far, the business, which he is calling Ambers Southern BBQ, is sustaining itself. He said he doesn’t want to rush anything and believes everything will happen at the right time. 

“If you stick to it, and you’re true to it, and you’re good at what it is, and you’re good at what you do, it’s going to happen for you,” Ambers said. “People say, 'I like your hustle,' and I’m like, 'if you want something out there, you gotta try putting it out there.'”

The Houston Health Department can issue a citation to someone it observes selling food without a food dealer’s permit. A municipal judge decides a fine between $200 and $2,000. Food safety permits and inspections are required by the city to ensure food is prepared in sanitary conditions and sold at proper temperatures to prevent food-borne illnesses.