Jones Bar-B-Q Diner
Industryrestaurant
Founded1910s
HeadquartersMarianna, Arkansas
Productsbarbecue

Jones Bar-B-Q Diner is a barbecue joint in Marianna, Arkansas, US, that has been open since at least the 1910s. According to business guide Black Business, it is believed to be the country's oldest black-owned restaurant. In 2012 it was recognized by the James Beard Foundation as an "American Classic".

History

The smoking business was first started by the current owner's grandfather's uncle, Joe.[1] The exact year it opened is disputed; Garden & Gun specified 1910 when naming it to their Barbecue Bucket List.[2] The Beard Foundation said it had been open "since at least the 1910s."[3] According to the Encyclopedia of Arkansas, it "is perhaps the oldest continuously operating restaurant in Arkansas, as well as perhaps the oldest continuously operating restaurant in the South owned by a black family."[4] According to Oxford American, it is "the oldest black-owned restaurant in the South, and, perhaps, one of the oldest family-owned black restaurants in the nation."[5] According to business guide Black Business, it is "believed to be the oldest black-owned restaurant in the country."[6] According to Southern Foodways Alliance, "there are some people who believe it's the oldest continually operated African American-owned restaurant in the South."[7] According to The Chicago Tribune, "Food historians say it may be one of the nation’s oldest restaurants owned by an African American family."[8]

Joe's nephew, Walter Jones, originally served barbecue on Fridays and Saturdays from the back porch of his dogtrot house.[3] Walter's son recalled in a 1986 interview that the first pit setup was "a hole in the ground, some iron pipes and a piece of fence wire, and two pieces of tin."[3][4][9]

The next owner was Walter's son, Hubert Jones. Hubert's son told Saveur that his father's original place was called The Hole in the Wall, because "that's what it was. Just a window in a wall where they sold meat from a washtub."[5][9] Hubert moved the business to its current location in 1964 and changed its name to Jones Bar-B-Q.[4]

The next and current owner is Hubert's son, James Jones, and his wife Betty.[10] In 2010 James Jones told Oxford American that his son, a local coach, was not planning to continue operating the business.[5]

In 2017 James Jones shared his recipes and permission to use the business name with Kevin Arnold, who opened a Jones Bar-B-Q in Jacksonville, Arkansas, about 100 miles (160 km) away.[11]

Operation

The Marianna diner is located in a white cinder block two-story shotgun house on a corner lot at 219 West Louisiana Street.[5][9][12] Hubert Jones and his wife lived upstairs when they operated it.[5]

Jones smokes 10 to 12 pork shoulders over oak and hickory in cinder-block pits for at least ten hours three times a week.[8][9] He simmers the cooked meat in sauce in a slow cooker. The sauce is thin and vinegar-based and contains paprika and cayenne.[5][13] The menu offers only chopped pork, either by the pound or as sandwiches on white bread such as Wonder[14] or Sunbeam,[13] with or without a mustard-based coleslaw.[4][13] As of August 2019, sandwiches were US$3.50, a pound of meat US$7.00 and a pint of sauce US$3.00.[8]

The diner opens at 6 a.m. six days a week and closes whenever it sells out, often by 11 a.m.[4][10] According to The Chicago Tribune, "On a summer Saturday, that could happen before 10 a.m."[8] There are only two tables,[15] providing seating for at most ten.[8]

As of 2010 the restaurant offered smoking service to hunters who would bring their catches in.[5]

Recognition

In 2012 the James Beard Foundation named it one of America's Classics,[12] making it Arkansas' first [16] Beard Award winner.[1] According to The Chicago Tribune, University of Mississippi academic John Edge "helped nudge the Beard Foundation" to consider the diner.[8]

In 2017 it was inducted into the inaugural class of the Arkansas Food Hall of Fame.[17] In 2019 Food & Wine named it the best barbecue in Arkansas.[18]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Jones Bar-B-Que Diner: Arkansas's Only James Beard Award Winner | Arkansas.com". www.arkansas.com. Retrieved August 25, 2019.
  2. ↑ "The Barbecue Bucket List". Garden & Gun. June 26, 2015. Retrieved August 25, 2019.
  3. 1 2 3 Brantley, Max (March 13, 2012). "Jones BBQ in Marianna wins Beard Foundation honor". Arkansas Times. Retrieved August 25, 2019.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 "Jones Bar-B-Q Diner". Encyclopedia of Arkansas. Retrieved 9 February 2019.
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Edge, John T. (March 21, 2010). "In Through The Back Door". www.oxfordamerican.org. Retrieved August 25, 2019.
  6. ↑ "The Oldest Black-Owned Restaurant in the U.S. – In Business For More Than 100 Years!". Black Business. June 5, 2018. Retrieved August 25, 2019.
  7. ↑ "Arkansas BBQ". Southern Foodways Alliance. 2010-02-22. Retrieved 2019-08-25.
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Bergin, Mary (August 26, 2019). "It's all about the barbecue at no-frills Arkansas diner with unpredictable hours — and a James Beard Award". chicagotribune.com. Retrieved September 10, 2019.
  9. 1 2 3 4 Edge, John T (May 26, 2011). "BBQ Nation: The Preservation of a Culinary Art Form by John T. Edge". Saveur. Retrieved August 25, 2019.
  10. 1 2 Strassmann, Mark (May 8, 2012). "Tiny Bar-B-Q restaurant wins big food award". CBS News. Retrieved 9 February 2019.
  11. ↑ Brantley, Max (March 24, 2017). "Jones Bar-B-Q of Marianna has a related outpost in Jacksonville". Arkansas Times. Retrieved August 25, 2019.
  12. 1 2 Winners 2012 James Beard Foundation
  13. 1 2 3 "Jones Bar-B-Q Diner". Food Network. Retrieved August 25, 2019.
  14. ↑ Lynch, Kevin; Alexander, Matt (September 23, 2016). "The Best Barbecue Joint in Every State". Thrillist. Retrieved August 25, 2019.
  15. ↑ Vellner, Tom. "Jones Bar-B-Q Diner: A Nation, AR Restaurant". Thrillist. Retrieved August 25, 2019.
  16. ↑ Brantley, Max (2020-02-19). "Lassis Inn recognized as 'classic' by James Beard Foundation". Arkansas Times. Retrieved 2021-02-28.
  17. ↑ "Winners have been announced for the newest class of the Arkansas Food Hall of Fame". www.arkansasheritage.com. Retrieved August 25, 2019.
  18. ↑ Landsel, David (July 22, 2019). "The Best BBQ in Every State 2018". Food & Wine. Retrieved August 25, 2019.

34°46′06″N 90°45′54″W / 34.76845°N 90.76503°W / 34.76845; -90.76503

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