5/22/08

New BBQ restaurant blooming with great flavor, friendly service

by Beckye Randall

Kenny Rogers is smokin’ in Marysville.

No, not the Gambler. This Kenny Rogers is a restaurateur who’s opened Rhodies Smokin’ BBQ at 11601 State Avenue, inside the Shell station.

The new store, which opened in mid-April, is the second location for Rhodies. The original restaurant, operating since 2001, is in North Bend.

Rogers has a lot of history in the food service industry. He grew up working at his grandfather’s restaurant, Ken’s Truck Stop, and managed the busy diner for 10 years before opening his own eatery.

“I bought a gas station in North Bend and put in a Taco Bell/Pizza Hut franchise,” said Rogers. “After about 5 years of dealing with corporate limitations, I decided it was time to go my own way.”

He had the equipment, location, restaurant management experience, and knowledge about how to provide fast, dependable service to hungry people on the go, but he didn’t have a product. So he started to experiment.

“I wanted to try barbecue, because it’s such an iconic food and it can be prepared ahead of time and served quickly,” said Rogers.

Learning the barbecue secret wasn’t easy, though. “I made a lot of bad barbecue,” he confessed.

That experimentation has paid off for his customers today. Rogers’ barbecue brisket is tender, smoky and tangy with just the right amount of heat. In fact, Rhodies was voted the Best BBQ at the Bite of Seattle in both 2006 and 2007.

Rhodies uses an electric smoker that holds 1400 lbs. of meat. Each night, the smoker is loaded up with briskets and pork butt and the meat is slowly cooked for 18 hours. In the morning, the beef and pork comes out and replaced with chicken and ribs.

“Making good barbecue is a matter of taking inexpensive, tough meat and cooking it long enough to make it tender and delicious,” said Rogers.

Then there’s the sauce. Rhodies offers diners their choice of mild to hot, with a “hooch” sauce at the hot end of the scale.

Rogers also spent a lot of energy finding just the right bread for his barbecue sandwiches. The tender meat is piled high on freshly-baked rolls that are crisp on the outside and delicious throughout. “The bread has to stand up to the moistness of the barbecue, and not fall apart in your hands,” explained Rogers. Mission accomplished.

The restaurant, which is open from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. 7 days a week, also offers the standard side dishes, from baked potato salad to cole slaw.

Manager Pete Strand, a former coffee store employee and owner, is learning the restaurant business and loves every minute of it.

“We’re excited to be in this community, to get to know the people,” said Strand. “We think if people give us a try, they’ll be back for more.”

Visit Rhodies for a quick sit-down meal or take-out. The business also does catering.

And the name? Rogers explained, “My grandfather loved rhododendrons and had them everywhere outside the truck stop. He passed away a few years ago, and this was my way to honor his memory.”

Grandpa would be proud.