Austell Barbecue Spot Comforts the Soul

With a family history of serving Southern-style barbecue on Bankhead Highway in the 1940s, Gerald Wallace decided to follow in his father’s footsteps and open in the city of Austell in 1966.

Current owner, Mickey Taylor, married Wallace’s sister, Martha, in 1969 and began working with his brother-in-law at the restaurant in 1972. In 1975, Taylor bought the restaurant from Wallace and the Taylors have been running it ever since.

“The original location was a small house that Gerald had turned into a restaurant just up the street from where we are now,” said Taylor. “We could only seat 72 people at a time.”

With the growing success of the restaurant, the Wallaces started noticing people pull through the parking lot during peak serving times and leave because they had no place to park.

“After seeing so many customers leave because we had no room, we decided to expand the restaurant. In 1988, we bought some land and built this restaurant from the ground up. I remember we were very nervous the first day we opened because this place was so much bigger,” commented Wallace.

To the Wallace’s delight (and relief), customers came pouring in the very first day they re-opened in their new location. With its increased size, the Wallaces could now feed 192 hungry customers at a time.

In addition to more dining space, the Wallaces added  a separate entrance for the many take-out customers they serve as well as their burgeoning catering services.

“The take-out entrance lets customers get in and out quickly with their take-out or catering orders,” said Taylor.

Using homemade recipes for their sauces and sides and serving succulent beef, pork and chicken, smoked 10 to 12 hours over smoldering hickory wood, has kept generation after generation of customers coming back for more.

“We have second and third generations of families that eat here. Some of our customers who have been coming in since the beginning are bringing in their great grandchildren now. We have a lot of customers that are like family to us,” Taylor said.

These days, Taylor and his wife still have an active hand in running the restaurant but most of the day-to-day operations are handled by their sons, Scott and Mark.

“Scott and Mark have been working in the restaurant since they were old enough to wash dishes,” remarked Taylor.

Not forgetting about the less fortunate residents in the community, Taylor donates large quantities of food to the Sweetwater Valley Community Action Program or C.A.M.P. charity twice a year when the restaurant closes down for vacation.

Due to this generosity, Taylor received an award of appreciation from C.A.M.P. for his continued support of the organization.

Keeping true to this community spirit, Taylor has kept the pricing of his menu items well below most of his competitors, while still serving up generous amounts of delicious southern cuisine.

“I’ve tried to keep it affordable for families to enjoy dining in or taking food home from the restaurant,” says Taylor. “With the slow economy over the past few years though, it’s been getting harder to maintain that pricing.”

Taylor went on to say that if he does have to increase the prices of any menu items, it will be as minimal as possible.

As to why Wallace Barbecue has been so successful over the years, Taylor had this to say:

“We’re very proud of the quality of food we serve here, and our employees care as much about our customers as we do. We offer quick service and make each order fresh on the spot. I think that’s why we have such loyal customers.”