From a gas station restaurant to a franchise, here’s the story of GeorgiaBob’s Barbecue

Bob Evans has made barbecue all his life.

Not the famous Bob Evans of restaurant and sausage fame.

This Bob Evans’ grandfather was famous for making barbecue at the Peach Blossom Festival in Fort Valley, Georgia, in the 1920’s, Evans said.

He made barbecue for 20,000 people per day during the festival, and his skills were passed on to Evans’ uncle, who taught Evans the family recipes.

Evans opened GeorgiaBob’s Barbecue on Russell Parkway in Warner Robins in 2001 to fulfill a lifelong dream to get into the barbecue business.

“I never thought that it would do what it did in the first year,” Evans said. “We realized that we could do some things, and we could grow.”

From a gas station restaurant to a franchise

Evans opened the first restaurant with his son after his son graduated from college. The restaurant is attached to an Exxon gas station that was a Flash Foods gas station at the time of their origin.

“From then on, we just took off,” he said.

GeorgiaBob’s didn’t start to open new stores until Jennifer Cox joined Bob Evans as a partner in the company, Evans said.

“We both felt very optimistic in our buildings and excited about what we had to offer, and that’s when we said okay, let’s go for it. Let’s go for number two, and we did,” Cox said.

They opened their second GeorgiaBob’s location in Byron in 2009 and their third in Macon the same year, Cox said.

“I thought it was important to do it because I knew the opportunity was there,” she said.

Over the next 10 years, GeorgiaBob’s opened six barbecue restaurants and one wine bar and event venue.

The location in Milledgeville was their first franchise, and Cox said after they became used to that model of business, they started opening more franchises and turned the Macon and Byron locations into franchises as well.

Although shifting to a franchise model had its challenges, Evans said the franchise model made it easier for them to open more stores.

“Instead of me having to try to run all the stores, that particular franchise owner’s responsible, so it breaks down the management,” he said.

GeorgiaBob’s provides Georgia-style, vinegar-based barbecue to customers all over Middle Georgia, and Evans said surprisingly their home-style chicken salad is one of their most popular menu items.

“Our goal is to have top quality food customer satisfaction and be a part in the community,” Evans said. “We want to serve quality food. We do it in a fast, casual environment, so it’s not as expensive as a stable service, and hopefully, most people are pleased.”

Good people

Evans said the biggest challenge they faced as they turned into a franchise and opened new stores was to keep good people working for them, like Travis Ward.

Ward started working for Evans just after he opened the first restaurant in 2001 as a dishwasher, and now he owns the Highway 96 location.

“He’s somebody that when he speaks you just kind of listen, gravitate to and follow. He makes everything real easy on you, so I just stayed, and it’s probably the best decision I ever made,” Ward said about Evans.

Opening another store is the next goal on Ward’s list, he said. He has experience managing different stores because he was GeorgiaBob’s district manager for around eight years.

Evans has been more of a father-figure to Ward with all of the advice he has given him over the years, Ward said.

“I remember walking up to Bob one day and said, ‘Bob how do you never get mad at these employees when they do something wrong. You’re always calm, cool and collected,’ and he’s like, ‘One day you’ll realize that they’re not doing it to spite you. They’re just employees. It’s nothing personal. Make the best decision you can, and live with it.”

Across the franchise, GeorgiaBob’s employs around 90 people, and Cox said most of their employees are students.

“We are high supporters of education. We’ve had 99 percent of our payroll at certain locations have been students, and they are probably some of the best employees we’ve had,” she said.

GeorgiaBob’s Barbecue supports the community in other ways as well, such as hosting fundraisers for community organizations.

“We use our advertising budget and our marketing budget strictly on our communities,” Cox said. “We want to become even more involved. I want to get some programs together that would force my franchisees to actually get more involved in their local arena wherever they’re located.”

Locations and hours

• 140 Cane River Drive, Byron, Georgia; 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Monday-Saturday and 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Sunday
• 1882 Russell Parkway, Warner Robins, Georgia; 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Monday-Saturday and 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Sunday
• 120 Howland Avenue, Warner Robins, Georgia; 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Monday-Saturday and 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Sunday
• 2177-A Highway 441 South, Dublin, Georgia; 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Monday-Saturday and 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Sunday
• 4921 Riverside Drive, Macon, Georgia; 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Monday-Saturday and 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Sunday
• 107 Perimeter Road, Perry, Georgia; 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Monday-Saturday and 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Sunday
• 116 West Hancock Street, Milledgeville, Georgia; 11 a.m.-6 p.m. Sunday-Tuesday and 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Wednesday-Saturday
• 109 Broad Street, Hawkinsville, Georgia; 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Monday-Saturday and 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Sunday
• 114 East Johnston Street, Forsyth, Georgia; 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Monday-Sunday
• Georgia Bob’s Uncorked, 144 Cane River Drive, Byron, Georgia; 3-10 p.m. Friday and 11 a.m.-10 p.m. Saturday

This story was originally published January 11, 2020 at 6:00 AM.