Published: Tuesday, Aug. 31, 2010 / Updated: Tuesday, Aug. 31, 2010 08:03 PM
New player enters barbecue arena
FORT MILL --
Ernest “Pop” Jones Sr. has some skills when it comes to working beef atop a grill. So much so that he once ran a catering business.
“His passion was always to run his own restaurant,” Jones’ son, Ernest “Ernie” Jones Jr., said.
The younger Jones is no stranger to figuring numbers. Father and son are blending their culinary and business talents this month with the grand opening of Fort Mill’s E&J’s Pit Beef.
-
Hungry?-F71KKM2N"
Hours are 11 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. Monday to Friday and 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturdays. Visit E&J’s Pit Beef on Facebook. For carry out orders or catering services, call 547-1108.
“My dad is my best friend. He’s my partner. He’s my confidant,” Ernie Jones said. “When you think of us working together, it’s two peas in a pod.
The senior Jones will be the general manager while holding down another top duty.
“He’s the cook,” Ernie Jones, 40, said. “He’s the one who makes it (the food) really good.”
The town’s newest eatery at 101 Spratt St. opens Sept. 7. The grand opening celebration will include discounted food prices, Jones said.
“The food will be great, not good, barbecue cooking,” Ernie Jones said.
The new eatery showcases a “fast/casual style” of eating.
“In today’s world, you can get a fast food meal or you can go to a restaurant,” Jones said. “There really isn’t a barbecue business offering that fast/casual setting.”
While watching a game or game show from one of two TVs or surfing the web via free wireless, customers can enjoy several house treats, such as a half chicken.
“It’s a chicken cooked right on the pit,” said Jones, a Morehouse College graduate who works with a Fort Mill window and door manufacturing company and lives in Charlotte. “The chicken is spiced in our patented rub, which is a garlicky-type rub.”
The half chicken, priced at $8.75, comes with or without barbecue sauce. A rack of ribs goes for $16.
“What we do with the ribs is we start them in the oven completely wrapped in foil and with our special seasoning,” Jones said. “About three-fourths of the way cooked, we pit it. We put it right on the grill. It’s on an open flame to give it a real juicy succulent taste.”
There’s also the house speciality.
“Our speciality is a pit beef sandwich,” Jones said. “It’s a style of cooking beef where you put it on an open grill.”
That beef is serve on a kaiser roll with horseradish sauce and some onions. Pit beef, turkey or rib sandwiches are priced from $5.95 to $6.50.
For father and son, opening the eatery is an opportunity to do their share to help America rebound from its Great Recession.
“America will recover based on small businesses,” Ernie Jones said. “Unless small businesses survive, then this recession becomes a depression.
In addition to Jones Sr., two other employees will help operate the business, which will provide dine-in and to-go services. Catering services also are available; however, advance notice is required.