Justin Mixon and his wife, Talisa, have opened Mixon’s Beef Jerky at 1745 E. Memorial Blvd. in Lakeland to have more space to prepare an extensive 16 varieties of beef jerky.
“We started out last year as a food truck,” Talisa said. “In less than one year, we outgrew it. We got really busy, fast with more and more orders coming in. We needed a bigger space to cook outside the truck.”
The storefront, overlooking Lake Parker, allows the couple to keep a wide selection of beef jerky on hand alongside hot to-go food items. Talisa said the honey heat flavor is the couple’s best seller.
“It’s the most popular, as people like the sweet and spicy together,” she said.
Justin said he’s more of an “old-school, traditional” guy who prefers keeping it simple with pepper beef jerky.
Alongside the jerky, the Mixons offer loaded beef jerky nachos and loaded beef jerky French fries. They take two different bases, nachos or French fries, and add shredded original-flavored beef jerky with jalapenos, tomatoes, and sour cream. Other items offered for sale include funnel cake fries, homemade banana pudding, and a variety of fruit lemonades.
The couple hopes the new storefront will prove popular with Lake Parker boaters, as it’s close to the public launch ramp and offers easy on-site parking.
“Hopefully in the future, we can grow to expand to different locations,” Talisa said. “Someone from Winter Haven reached out to me to launch a spot over there, but I just launched one here in Lakeland.”
Mixon’s Beef Jerky is open Monday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Its website at mixonsbeefjerky.com offers options to schedule food pickup, delivery and shipping on available items.