New barbecue opens in Gentry

8 Eighty offers customers quality barbecued meats and meals to take out or eat in the restaurant's picnic area

8 Eighty BBQ is a new barbecue restaurant in Gentry.
8 Eighty BBQ is a new barbecue restaurant in Gentry.

— A love for good barbecued meats and a longtime passion for barbecuing led to the opening of “8 Eighty BBQ” last month, and the new business has been busy ever since.

Shannon Braun moved to the area 13 years ago from Conroe, Texas, and said he missed the taste of good Texas barbecue.

“Everytime we went back to Texas, we ate at barbecues the whole time we were there because we missed it and you just can’t find good barbecue here,” Braun said.

Braun has been barbecuing as a hobby for at least 24 years and entered numerous competitions. He jokingly called his decision to start the new business as “a hobby gone South” because of his move into the mid-South region and his desire to provide good barbecued meats here in Arkansas.

8 Eighty BBQ provides a wide variety of dishes which customers can take out or eat in the shaded picnic area, complete with misters to keep his guests cool on hot days. Included on the menu are sandwiches, barbecue plates, baked potatoes, meat by the pound, and side dishes of coleslaw, baked potato salad, Texas-style brown beans, and buns or Texas toast. Customers can choose from beef, pork, sausage, baby-back ribs orwhole chicken.

Braun uses his own recipes for his dishes and insists on exact consistency so his customers know they’ll always receive thesame high-quality barbecued meats and sides whenever they come in.

Braun has three other employees at his barbecue, including Chara Sullins, who waits on customers and prepares their plates, and Denver Whitehead, who barbecues and cooks and competed in barbecue contests for 13 straight years in the Memphis area.

The barbecue is open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday through Friday (though the business will be open later, until 9 p.m., on July 4th because of the Gentry Freedom Festival).

The barbecue, which opened on June 18, is located on Gentry Blvd., south of the Arkansas Highways 12 and 59 stop light and across the road from the new Walmart. Its unique sign makes it hard to miss.

For more information or to order, 8 Eighty BBQ can be reached by telephone at 736-8880.

News, Pages 3 on 07/04/2012