Bergen County officials said Mr. Dan Misuraca originally hails from Sanford, Florida.
Dan joined the United States Marine Corps right after high school in 1992 and served as a 2531 Field Radio Operator. His typical duties were setting up and tuning the radio equipment including antennas and power sources; establishing contact with distant stations; processing and logging of messages; making changes to frequencies or cryptographic codes; and maintaining equipment.
He spent most of his enlistment stationed at Camp Pendelton, California.
He was honorably discharged from the Marine Corps in 1996 as a Lance Corporal. Dan decided to stay in California, and he worked several odd jobs that included being a bar back, valet, roofer, and carpet installer.
Dan finally caught a break when he got the opportunity to be an Assistant Manager for Journey Shoes at their Miami, Florida location. Like most veterans, Dan worked hard, learned the ins and outs of the retail business, and due to this work ethic was promoted to Store Manager at the same location.
In 2005, officials said he became the District Manager for Journey Shoes in Washington D.C. In 2011, Dan came up to New York City and was the District Manager for the store located on 34th and Broadway.
In 2012, Dan met his wife Katie, who also worked for the company at the store located in Union Square on 14th Street. They decided to settle down in Little Ferry in 2014.
Dan loves to cook and is an inspired BBQ smoker. He YouTube recipes, buys equipment, and spends hours honing his hobby.
A while back while reliving his Marine days with his wife Katie over a plate of slow smoked brisket; Dan came up with the dream. In 2015, he called 8 of his colleagues from the Marine Corps to come up and enjoy a Southern Style BBQ in his backyard.
His Marine buddies loved the home cooked meal so much that one of them suggested to Dan that he should open a BBQ restaurant.
In February 2016, Red White and Que Smokehouse was born, and the couple opened their first location in Kearney, NJ (https://redwhiteandquesmokehouse.com/). When the community found out that it was a veteran-owned restaurant, the VFW post in Kearney reached out to Dan and asked for some of their events to be catered by Red White and Que Smokehouse. Dan and Katie were very thankful for the support that was offered by the veteran community and it has grown ever since.
In 2017, they and some business partners were able to open 9 restaurants at the following locations: Scotch Plains, Randolph Wayne, Barnegat, Mannahawkin, Little Egg Harbor, Easton PA, Carteret, and Brentwood, CA.
Dan and Katie are always searching for ways to give back to the veterans community. Their “Buy a Veteran a Meal” program was inspired from a customer’s shared vision in doing whatever they can to honor our military veterans.
In-store they offer Red White & Que Smokehouse “Vet Meal” gift cards that customers can buy and then donate towards feeding veterans some American BBQ! Red, White, and Que has been catered Bergen County Veteran events throughout the years.
The restaurant has also donated meals to our residents of the Alfred J. Thomas home in Garfield. Red, White, and Que smokehouse has been a staple in the Veteran community for years.
Both Dan and his beautiful wife, Katie currently reside in Little Ferry, New Jersey.
Thank you for your service to our country and to the community!