Newly opened barbecue restaurant destined to be a local favorite

After working in the restaurant business for several years, four employees of the now defunct OB’s BBQ in Austell decided to try their hand at opening their own brand of barbecue restaurant.

In November 2010, with the demise of OB’s BBQ, Ashley Payne, Ed and Justin Dombrowski and James Bartlett joined forces and opened a new restaurant in Austell. By chance, the previous location of Nana’s Fish & Wings on 5770 Harris Street was up for sale.

They held their grand opening of  J-Bones BBQ and Grill  on March 14.

“We’ve put our heart and souls into this business. We all spent a lot of hours getting the restaurant ready for the opening on our own,” Payne said.

Not only is Payne a partner in the business, but she also works fulltime in the restaurant as a server. The cooking is handled by the Dombrowskis while Bartlett helps out when has time.

Resembling an old log cabin with the actual smoker residing on the “porch," customers can smell the delicious aroma as soon as they step out of their cars.

“Our barbecue is dry rubbed with our own secret recipe, then smoked for a full 12 hours. The sauce is our own recipe, too,” Payne said.

The partners periodically take their unique “smoker house” to other areas in the surrounding communities to promote their offerings.

According to Payne, the restaurant is slowly but surely gaining ground. Not only is word spreading throughout the community, but the food is quickly becoming a favorite of some of the local police officers as well as a favorite of members of the surrounding business community.

The steady stream of hungry customers come and go throughout the afternoon, and it doesn't seem to be slowing down any time soon.

Barbecue isn’t the only thing that has customers buzzing however. One of the restaurant’s specialty sandwiches called “Whitney’s Pony Shoe” is a large mound of seasoned, scattered burger atop a piece of Texas toast smothered with crispy fries and creamy melted cheese. The sandwich is named after the daughter of one of their regulars.

Along with dine-in and take-out options, J-Bones also offers free business delivery and a catering service. Barbecue can be purchased by the sandwich or plate as well as by the pound, along with the customer’s choice of freshly made sides such as collard greens, baked beans or brunswick stew to name just a few.

J-Bones also offers a variety of seafood choices including catfish, tilapia, shrimp and oysters. The Friday night all-you-can-eat fish fry is a treat not to be missed. All-you-can-eat sides can be added as well for $3 each.

Experts of true southern style barbecue and cuisine are sure to be impressed with any of the succulent meals or sandwiches served at J-Bones BBQ and Grill. This restaurant is literally “smokin' ” good. Show your support of this newly opened local business and stop in today for real taste sensation.