By Mindy Ragan Wood
Staff Writer
A local barbecue eatery has been so well received in Piedmont that the owner already is considering an expansion of his restaurant.
Logan Sharp and his father Bill Sharp opened for business May 12 at 83 Monroe Avenue, next to Bill’s Barber’s Shop. Logan is working 80 to 90 hours per week, he said, to keep up with demand.
“When I first started out I was going to be open Thursday through Sunday from 11 to 8,” Logan said. “But it got so busy, I had to cut it back to one session a day. I don’t have the room or enough employees for that. The reaction was a lot better than we anticipated.”
Next to the barber shop, the restaurant does not have space for a dine-in room, but tables with patio umbrellas are set up outside on the east side of the building and draw a small crowd.
“Most people order it to go, but we have a few who sit out there and eat, especially around seven or eight when it’s cooler. We think we’ll have a bigger crowd out there this fall. I’ve seen outdoor TVs with the protectors on them and I’m going to get one set up, put up some speakers for football season. We expect it to be busy this fall but I think winter will be a down time,” he said.
Logan said he and his father are considering expanding.
“We’re going to keep it like this for a little bit,” he said. “We want to wait and see first how things go through the winter.”
A few customers were stopping in just after the restaurant opened last Friday around 4:30 p.m.
“I’ve known the Sharps for a while,” Dusty Cullers said. “I love it. I usually get the ribs and I come here at least once a week, sometimes more.”
Rhonda Shepherd was trying the cuisine for the first time.
“I’m excited to try it,” she said. “We’re going to try it and if we like it we’ll have them do the meat. It’ll be a lot easier for them to do it than it is me.”
Logan’s food may be a hit, not for the secret in the sauce but for the methods he uses.
“We make everything from scratch, even the sauce and the rub,” he said. “We buy local meat, fresh every week. My dad started cooking several years ago and he was pretty well known for his whole hogs around here for parties. We use his famous spicy baked beans. It’s the number one side on the menu.”
His interest in professional cooking started about six years ago.
“I watched YouTube videos and on Facebook and liked studying it. I’ve been doing it in my backyard for several years and everyone always enjoyed it, so we thought it (restaurant) would be a good fit,” he said.
