It is barely 25 degrees inside and Clem Pantalone begins to strip off his black winter jacket. He said it's too hot to wear it.

Bright red ashes whirl around him as he attacks the pit with two lengthy metal tongs, poking and prodding the oak logs beneath the grill into the perfect position.

This is the Clem of Clem's BBQ, a roadside barbecue off of Route 220 in Port Matilda with a carport for a roof, few walls, no doors and no heating, even in the deepest cold of winter.

And business is booming.

Pantalone said sales are up 60 percent since last year and catering orders have nearly doubled.

"We've got a river of barbecue coming out of this place," he said. "We're literally steady all day long."

The only heat emanates from the pit Pantalone and a select few employees keep busy with a selection of pork, chicken, loins and baby-back ribs searing on the grill through out the day.

"I like the excitement of the fire, the casualness," he said. "When you get in front of the fire it seems to ignite your passion."

Customers come from all over the country. To keep track of them, Pantalone and his business partner, Dean Campbell, have put up a large map of the United States on one "wall."

Pins dot the map indicating the hometowns of customers. One pin sits on the Aleutian Islands of Alaska.

"It's almost as if they make pilgrimages to be here," Campbell said.

Pantalone said the place gets a lot of hungry and curious travelers since it is located on a busy highway. But many locals visit, too.

"It is amazing. My roommate introduced me to it last year," Steve Ayer (sophomore-architectural engineering) said.

Ayer said he enjoys the friendly staff and the unique atmosphere, and stops whenever he drives by.

"Our customer base is a real cross-section," Pantalone said, citing truckers, workers, professionals, students and, at the original Clem's BBQ on Route 22 near Blairsville in Indiana County, some gypsies.

"I just let them take over the grill," he said, laughing as he recalled a memory of about 100 people pulling up in RVs, station wagons and pickup trucks, buying some ribs and cooking a feast.

In fact, Pantalone said he has a lot of tales to tell since he opened the first Clem's BBQ in Blairsville in 1995.

He said he's had one customer who flew into town and bought ribs; another trekked to the north pole with a Clem's BBQ flag; a third, who didn't have cash or a check to pay for his order, gave an I.O.U. and returned a year later with payment.

While the first Clem's BBQ is still in operation, Pantalone sold it in 1999 and now concentrates on the Port Matilda business that opened in August 2000.

For Pantalone, his passion is good barbecue, a simple life and a lot of hard work. As much as he loves his business, he said the pace is sometimes difficult to handle.

What originally began as a food-serving station, a barbecue pit and a trailer in the parking lot of a gas station has morphed dozens of times over the years.

However, next fall Campbell said he wants to build a permanent structure to house the operation.

"I've said that every winter now," Campbell said with a smile.

But Pantalone said he's not too concerned.

"I don't have much of a desire for four walls," he said. "I live day-by-day."