STRICTLY OBSERVING: Duke’s-a-cue

Wytheville Enterprise: Living > Smyth County News: Living > Bland County Messenger: Living >
Tue Nov 11, 2008 - 04:24 PM

By ZACH COOLEY
Lifelong citizens of Rural Retreat, Greg and Cheryl Hash have considered community hospitality to be of the utmost importance when it comes to running Duke’s Bar-B-Q. As owner and operator of Duke’s since its conception in 2004, Greg and Cheryl say that one of the keys to the success of their business is making sure their customers feel at home in the restaurant, as if they were eating at the home of a family member. That is expressed not only through their excellent home-style cuisine and exceptionally friendly, accommodating staff, but also through the nostalgic memorabilia that covers the restaurant walls. Generated by items given to Greg by his mother and grandmother, this collection includes many old photos and newspaper clippings depicting the community over the last several generations. Among these items is various paraphernalia from local police and fire departments, including the Rural Retreat Fire Department, with whom Greg logs an approximate quarter-century of service.
Greg has another 25 years in his cooking profession, which began at the Rockin’ R in Rural Retreat in the 1980s. With barbecue immediately becoming his specialty, Greg continued perfecting his culinary forte over the next two decades or so before Duke’s was established four years ago. The restaurant carries the name Greg was given by his hunting buddies, Gerald and Ernie Musser. “I had a dog named Duke who would run away at the sound of a gunshot,” Greg explained. “Every night, I would holler for him so much that they started calling me Duke.” In April 2006, Duke’s Bar-B-Q relocated from its West Lee Highway site to its current Monroe Street location, which tripled business. “It made the restaurant more accessible to people,” Greg said.
For Greg, the most rewarding and challenging aspects of running the popular Wytheville restaurant are basically the same things. While he and Cheryl love hearing how much people love coming to Duke’s, Greg says that keeping everyone consistently happy is an impossible challenge. However, Duke’s has received a number of accolades including a 2008 “Best Catering” honor as well as “Best BBQ” for the second consecutive year, as voted by readers of the Wytheville Enterprise. Greg credits those achievements to his employees, including cooks Becky Cline, Charles Cook and Rochella Kennedy. “My employees the ones who worked hard and earned us those awards,” he said. “They deserve them.” While Greg and Cheryl appreciate such recognition, it is the personal thank you notes from customers, which they post on their wall of memorabilia that mean the most to them. On the flipside, a complication is ensuring his entire staff is trustworthy, dependable and hard-working. “I’m very picky about the way my kitchen is run,” Greg stated, admitting he has terminated more people as a restaurant owner than during his 17 years working at a manufacturing plant. In terms of cuisine, Greg says that using pulled pork has helped to improve the barbecue, higher quality meat has resulted in top-notch hamburgers and ribs have reached near-perfection after 25 years of improvements. While the types of meats and cooking techniques used at Duke’s are top secret, Greg credits these to the success of his and Cheryl’s menu. “Anyone can make a rack of ribs,” he added. “But if they don’t fall off the bone, they’re not good enough.”
Always willing to try new things, Duke’s Bar-B-Q recently unveiled its sauce burger, which is their take on the sandwich formerly featured at the Burger Haven in Wytheville. This is a six-ounce double-decker hamburger with a triple-decker bun and special sauce. With its immediate success, Greg says it’s likely to be a regular feature on the menu. In the future, Greg would like to see his and Cheryl’s restaurant eventually expanded to accommodate a live band for outdoor summer activities complete with a screened-in picnic area and buffet-style food service.
For anyone interested in pursuing the restaurant business, Greg advises them to do their homework, making sure they go to the courthouse or town office to obtain proper permits and licenses. “You have to know who to ask and keep them involved from the start,” he said. In terms of skill, Greg says that anyone who believes in him or herself enough to market a culinary specialty, all they need to do is be committed and determined to do whatever it takes to achieve the goal. Despite rough times and scary moments, Greg says his and Cheryl’s overall venture has been a worthwhile success, given the minimal complaints received and the many Wythe County residents they have enjoyed meeting and serving.
Duke’s Bar-B-Q has many regulars and I am privileged to be one of them. For my grandmother and me, Thursday would not be complete without my usual cheeseburger and her favorite macaroni and cheese. However, as great as the food is, it is the welcoming reception offered by the entire staff that makes Duke’s one of my favorite restaurants to visit. Such staff members as Derek Govin, Peggy Smith, Spencer Collins and Meghan Hash always treat me like family every time I’m there. The same can be said for the boss. No matter how busy he is, Greg always makes it a point to come out and speak to me personally. He even gave me an official Duke’s Bar-B-Q T-shirt, which I treasure. It is that sense of community fellowship that I feel should be a part of every restaurant, locally owned or otherwise. If that were the case, perhaps there would be a lot less complaining in the world of food service and much more satisfaction.
A graduate of Wytheville Community College, Zach Cooley lives in Wytheville. Contact him at .

Reader Reaction:

Maybe the Enterprise is the wrong place to get Restaurant reviews… Duke’s BBQ is misleading, it shouldn’t even be called BBQ. There is a reason that his cooking techniques are secret, that is because this is not barbeque at all, instead it is boiled crap that they try to pass off as barbeque. I ate at Duke’s when they were still on Route 11, and I liked it, but since then I have gotten into authentic barbeque, and so I gave Duke’s another chance a month or so ago. I went in and got ribs, which came out and had no smoke ring, no smoke taste, nothing that it must have to be considered barbeque, a complete and total waste of $7…

Maybe Greg needs to figure out what real barbeque is and change his methods to make his product REAL barbeque.

I guess ignorance is bliss, but for me the truth is bliss… I know what real barbeque is, and Duke’s is not even close… I will continue to educate others about what real barbeque is and will never eat Duke’s crap again.

Drew

Posted by dr00bie from on 11/12 at 02:01 PM