Davis and Shafer

Bill Davis’ hands are roughened from hard work and stained black with the char that comes with being a barbecue pit master.

Davis said he’s happy to once again oversee operations at Hickory Barn Bar-B-Que after a six-month hiatus. The restaurant, west of Athens in the old Catfish Inn location on U.S. 72, is running full steam ahead after an EF3 tornado destroyed Hickory Barn’s old location in April. From the road, for now, there is no Hickory Barn Bar-B-Que sign, but this is a minor problem, Davis said.

“For us not to have a sign out at the road saying what it is, we’ve stayed busy,” he said. “People have been good to us.”

It’s been a long six months for Davis, and it began April 28. Tornado-velocity winds tore the roof off the small red cinder block building that housed his restaurant and catering business at 10047 U.S. 72 West. Though Davis immediately began to search for a way to reopen, red tape and finances slowed the process down immensely.

“I’ve had some (customers) tell me, ‘man, we like to starve to death waiting on you to open up,’” he said. “And I did, too. Six months is a long time to go without a job.”

The Catfish Inn property came available through an offer to Davis from the Evans family, who owned the building and also own Old Greenbrier Restaurant. They’d heard what happened to Hickory Barn and wanted to help.

“We went from six picnic tables to 6,000 square feet, so that’s a pretty good jump,” Davis said.

At the old restaurant, it was only Davis and his girlfriend Mary Shafer managing the kitchen and serving customers. Now they have a full staff of waitresses and cooks to look after.

“This is my first time having to have employees,” Davis said. “All the employees have been great, once everybody fell into place and found their little groove and learned how we wanted things.”

With an expanded menu and larger floor plan, Davis said he’s scaling back the catering aspect to focus on getting customers to host private parties at the restaurant. The building has two banquet rooms that seat 100 apiece that can be rented out even when the restaurant is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays.

“We’re booking up Christmas parties and stuff left and right, three or four of them a day,” Davis said. “We can offer more options here, we have waitresses and it’s a lot cheaper for them to come out here.” 

As Davis settles in for the holiday rush, he’s not thinking about storms, he’s simply trying to get back to normal — or the new normal of managing employees, pleasing customers and keeping the fires lit.

“That’s the fun part, keeping it all moving along.”