After 49 Years and Kicking, Barney's BBQ is Back

Trent Toone can remember having to stand on a chair to paint ribs in his grandfather's restaurant. Now, decades later, Toone still paints ribs in the same restaurant.

"'Grandpa, can I paint the ribs?' " Toone, now 45, would ask his grandfather. "That was always my question."

As he looked around the back room of , Toone noted that not much has changed with the restaurant since his grandfather, Barney Carver, first opened it in 1963. This summer marks the barbeque joint's 49th year. 

The restaurant, at 16011 Manchester Rd., reopens every summer from May to the second weekend of September to serve several varieties of ribs, chicken, pork and beef. This season, Barney's-Bar-B-Q opens Friday afternoon, with running hours from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. every Friday, Saturday, and Sunday through the summer. 

Toone, who is from Chesterfield, said from past experiences that as soon as passersbys notice a few picnic tables or newly planted flowers outside the joint, the calls and questions come flooding from customers.

"People are like, 'We never thought this day would get here,' " Toone  said.

The restaurant takes on an old-fashioned ambience with its tin roof, dirt floors and maroon-colored fence and picnic tables. Toone noted the table he sat at has been at the restaurant since its original opening in 1963. He also said that up until 7 years ago, the joint had a wooden cooler from the 1950s.

Scott Sonntag, who has worked at Barney's Bar-B-Q for 14 years, described the restaurant as family-oriented as well as "old-school." Toone said he likens it to "something you would see on a two-lane road driving to Florida." 

"It's more of the southern-style barbeque joint," Toone said.

Toone said the restaurant is distinguished by its thin barbeque sauce, which is vinegar-based and allows customers to "really get to taste the flavor of the meat." The restaurant's workers also make their own wooden charcoal – another aspect of the preparation Toone said adds to their signature open-pit styled flavor.

When he talks about his restaurant, Toone's love for running the business shows. Before he reached 19 and officially started working at Barney's, Toone regularly helped out his grandfather there. But when his grandfather became sick in 1985 and passed away a year later, Toone began to run the restaurant himself. Toone thinks his passion for the business is due in part to his start as a helper, rather than a scheduled worker. 

"Being 19, I never had any idea I'd be looking my 27th season in the eye," he said.

Despite his love for this tradition, Toone admited keeping the business going amounts to long hours and "lots of physical labor."  

"You get used to it, but at the end of the day it seems like a lot of work," he said.

However, the hard work seems to pay off: Toone said he gets comments even from the most well-traveled customers saying Barney's has the best barbeque they've ever eaten.

When asked about the restaurant's impressive 49-year run, Toone paused.

"It means I'm crazy," he said with a laugh before adopting a more serious tone. "It means it's my passion, more than anything. I only do it because of my love for doing it. And continuing the tradition."