Growing up in his small town of Parrish, Fla., Joe Beasley caught the bug for outdoor cooking and grilling as a youngster. He experimented by smoking mullet on mangrove and grilling pork chops on rusty barrels. He headed off to Florida State University in Tallahassee to learn the trade of real estate investing and went on to become a securities broker.

But he never quite got the smoke out of his eyes and eventually got hooked into barbecue competitions after helping a friend at a cookoff.

His grandparents loved to spend time in the Carolinas and Joe frequently tagged along with them and became familiar with the region as a kid. During a 2013 trip there with his family, he ran across a barbecue restaurant that was for sale. He pondered if he had “the stuff” to make a living doing what he loved. His heart told him he did, so he took an entrepreneurial gamble and bought the shuttered barbecue joint in Waynesville, NC. It operates today as Haywood Smokehouse.

“I made every mistake there was but somehow I learned a lot in the process,” Beasley said. “Running a restaurant was totally new to me. Still, it turned out to be one of the best decisions I’ve ever made in my life, and I sure learned a lot quickly.”

He decided early on that if he was going to own a business, he would do it his way.

“Some barbecue restaurants just bought their meats already cooked from distributors; drowned the product with some commercially made sauce,” he said. “That’s not what I wanted. To me it had to be prepared on site every day and be competition worthy. Getting the highest price possible wasn’t what it was about. I was hooked on being the best around.”

Beasley’s commitment to excellence proved to be a hit. His one location grew to three over the last decade and he has earned national recognition and won many awards for his cuisine. North Carolina style barbecue is distinct, and Tar Heels are nothing if not purists. So, it wasn’t surprising when Beasley’s attempt to sell Texas-style barbecue brisket to North Carolina diners faced strong headwinds in the beginning. But he cut no corners and took the more intensive way of his craft, using the same techniques and creating the same style of food that he did a decade ago.

Based on the traffic at his eateries, the public agrees it is worth the effort. Recently, Yelp named Haywood Smokehouse (the common name for all three locations) the best slow-cooked brisket in the United States and Canada.

Joe Beasley expects his middle child, Will, to lead the charge soon for a new franchise program for Haywood Smokehouse. (Source: Haywood Smokehouse)

 

The secret sauce

So, what does it take to make an excellent barbecue restaurant? Beasley said it takes three simple things:

“First you had better figure out what is great food. It is not just what you as the owner like but what your customers like. It is not about me but them.

“Second is great service. My way-better half Brenda is so amazing at making people feel welcome and cared for; it’s like they are at our home. She keeps the front of the house running smoothly and puts out the fires when they surface. Our matriarch is Miss Carole, and she is the bomb. From her world class desserts to her amazing Southern hospitality, she sets the tone for the entire restaurant.

“Finally, if you can create a warm environment with the right music, ambience and character, you develop what we all strive to deliver as restaurateurs...a wonderful experience. It’s not easy and sometimes we come up short...but that’s the goal.”

The need for advertising is minimal because there is always a long line at the door. His three locations each have indoor and outdoor (deck) seating for 80-100 customers. The barbecue that is served at those locations is cooked at each individual site for the best taste and quality.

At 58, Beasley wears the title of founder and has turned much of the daily operations over to his three sons who work at the business and already do what he calls “the heavy lifting.” Sons RJ, 35, Will, 31, and Wyatt, 21, keep things smoking in the operation. He said RJ was there from day one and has more talent on the pit and in the kitchen than anyone he’s ever met.

Beasley credits Will for sacrificing a promising football career to step into the business, and brags that he has been the one to perfect their Texas brisket. He calls him rock-solid and has enabled the business to grow intelligently; and, in some cases with pure brute force. Will is going to be leading the charge soon for their new franchise program, Beasley said.

Wyatt, the youngest, has been cooking ever since he could reach the grill. He has learned from the best — his two brothers. Despite being the youngest, his father projects Wyatt is next in line to lead the charge and avows that there is no doubt he is ready.

There is a refreshing humility to Joe’s comments, and it comes through as well on the company’s website, haywoodsmokehouse.com.

There are seven versions of barbecue sauces that are homemade and helped propel his specialty product to national recognition. Joe insists that “great meat does not need sauce,” but it can certainly enhance the flavor. They’ve created sauces reflective of the area in which they are located which is the crossroads of Carolina, Georgia, Texas, St. Louis, Mo. and Memphis, Tenn.

“We’ve got the original East Carolina style, which I call the ‘mother sauce of barbecue’ because of the simplicity and availability of vinegar and spices,” Beasley said. “In the 1600’s eating ‘high on the hog’ meant enjoying the loin or lean cuts while the poorer folk ate the fattier belly and ribs. The vinegar was used as a preservative and helped tone down those fatty pieces.”

From there Haywood Smokehouse created several ketchup-based sauces, each with varying levels of heat and complexity such as Sweet Red, Hot Red, Strawberry Chipotle and SOB (let’s just say it’s very hot).

And because of their proximity to South Carolina and Georgia they crafted a couple of mustard-based sauces, Sweet-Carolina, and Georgia Fire. Also essential are the rubs used in the smoking process. They are simple but bursting with flavor.

“When it comes to our rubs, we keep it simple with only two basic rubs,” Beasley said. “We use our pork rub for our butts, ribs, turkey and chicken. Our brisket rub is used just on brisket, but we all use it on steaks and tri-tip at the house. Soon all rubs, sauces and meats will be available at our online and brick and mortar locations.”

Haywood Smokehouse has 75 employees, about 25 at each location, and Beasley doesn’t hold back on praising his workers, which he said are a blessing. Beasley said he has been able to get excellent staff and offers them higher wages than many other restaurants and a four-day-a-week work program. The Waynesville, Dillsboro and Franklin restaurants are open for business Wednesday through Sunday starting at 11 a.m.

“It’s good for the customer and the business as well,” he said about that policy.

Native hickory is the choice of wood for smoking. Locally sourced and delivered weekly, all three locations rely on this essential step in the process to create the unique flavor profile that draws a crowd from around the country.

Beasley admitted he had to work with the existing facilities as he bought them but would construct them differently if he were building from scratch. He said that since the barbecue is already cooked and ready to plate, the average dinner can be served quickly, and the seating and tables turned around for the next in line quickly.

Those diners can have their choice of barbecue in a sandwich, multiple-entrée platters or slabs of meat, along with sides of collard greens, coleslaw, and other side dishes as well as pecan pie, chocolate brownie sundae, or bourbon chocolate pecan pie.

The business has become so popular as “the place to meat” that Beasley has recently been approached by several groups and individuals about franchising.

“It’s very exciting and quite humbling to know others want to invest in your brand,” he said.

Beasley is aiming for the franchise operations to be ready by the end of the year. In addition to franchising, the company is working on a large retail/online production facility which will also serve as a test kitchen and catering facility.

While he rents a billboard from a friend along the busy Blue Ridge Parkway, Beasley is happy that his locations are close by and make attractive and welcome stops. Incidentally, that billboard accesses the Great Smoky Mountains National Park which is visited by 15 million people annually. Many come for the scenic views of that national reserve. Many others come for a memorable meal at Haywood Smokehouse.