In 2020, John Veatch and Cam Leggett created NOMAD Grills to be accessible and portable. Photography by Lauren Allen.
In 2016, John Veatch and Cam Leggett saw a gap in the market for portable grills. They found that most were poor quality, and they knew they could do better. So they did.
In 2020, NOMAD Grills set out to change the grill game with high-quality materials. The team celebrated their four year anniversary last summer, and has now shipped grills to over 80 countries and all U.S. states.
“It hasn’t been easy — we launched our business in the height of the pandemic,” Leggett says. “It’s tough to get any business off the ground and on its feet, but think we had a good combination of an incredible product and good timing in the market, and good product market fit that’s helped us send these all over the place, and kind of start up a grilling revolution.”
The brand started in a small space fulfilling out of a shipping container in a backyard with a tiny little apartment office for the first three years. They later moved into a space, 607 N. Clinton Ave., that was curated for the brand and built out specifically for them.
The all-in-one facility has a fulfillment operation, corporate offices, and plenty of open space to hold community events.
With their new headquarters, NOMAD is big on community.
“We were really careful to stay in this area,” Leggett says. “We just really wanted to stay down in this community, so we decided to invest here and invest in our space and improve the community immediately around us.”
Two to three times a week, they will set up a grill outside and cook for anybody walking by.
“It’s not scheduled. but if someone’s walking by, they get to come by and have a bite,” Veatch says. “We love cooking on the grills anytime we get the chance.”
Two to three times a week, NOMAD grill set up outside their headquarters and cook for anybody walking by. Photography by Lauren Allen.
Additionally, they love hosting parties at their headquarters, which features a large outdoor area and plenty of common spaces. Their most recent party had about 3,000 people stop by.
Camp NOMAD was held last fall, which featured an evening of laidback tunes, good eats, and great fun. Campers received free entrance to the campgrounds with access to a complimentary beverage and barbecue bites cooked by grill masters from Rossler’s Blue Cord BBQ, KHOI BBQ and Zavala’s Barbecue on the NOMAD.
With a curated collection of vendors, Camp NOMAD featured brands from all over Texas.
Cooking classes, dinners, networking and school events all take place at the headquarters.
“I feel like we’ve been very embraced, and we try to be real active with all the local events,” Leggett says. “Everyone is welcome here, our doors are always open.”
As far as portable grills go, the pair believe NOMAD is the best in the game.
“We built the products specifically to tackle an issue that we saw on the market,” Leggett says. “They’re really kind of the opposite of the other products that are available — they’re thin, they kind of fall apart and rust out. We just set out to kind of over-engineer one and use materials like aluminum that don’t rust, just a bunch of amazing features in the grill and a lot of capability that it has. We absolutely stand out from the crowd.”
The outer casing houses two heavy-duty, cast aluminum cookboxes that make up over 60% of the total assembly weight. All that mass ensures the grill holds heat in well and maintains stable smoking temperatures for hours on end.
NOMAD has partnered with plenty of big-name retailers, including Lowe’s, Dick’s Sporting Goods and Bass Pro Shops.
“The observation that most grills out there are this race to the bottom. How cheap can you make it?” Veatch says. “Customers end up buying a new one every season or two as the cheap ones rust out or fall apart. And we took this approach of, what if we engineered something with a really long design life that was built to last and built to travel, but also was incredible in the performance department as well.”
The grill is accessible and portable. Built like a suitcase, it can be carried with one hand and used on a variety of surfaces.
“They’re being used by everyone from backyard barbecue heroes to people that live in high-rise apartments to traveling chefs and everything in between,” Leggett says. “They’re out in RVs. They’re out on tour buses, so they’re just going in a lot of places and serving a lot of incredible meals.”
Photography by Lauren Allen.
