The old restaurant on River Road is about to get a new occupant.
In recent years the building at 500 River Road has been home to a Mexican restaurant, a barbecue place and a Cajun fish joint. Next up: J.P.’s Wimberley BBQ.
Workers are digging, hammering and painting to get the building ready for a planned March 1 opening. Every day, people driving down River Road stop in and ask when the restaurant will open and what the menu will be like. “The interest has been incredible,” new owner Justin Pearson says with a laugh.
The Wimberley BBQ won’t be starting from scratch, however. An experienced restaurateur, Justin currently operates two barbecue restaurants in San Marcos — one on Hunter Road; the other on the I35 Frontage Road.
Justin has plenty on his plate these days. In addition to upgrading the Wimberley site, he’s changing the San Marcos Barbecue, just off I-35, from barbecue to a fast-casual concept. Says Justin: “Hunter Road takes the majority of my business. We thought the 35 corridor restaurant would bring in more traffic, but it really just resulted in more internal competition.”
Reasonable prices The menus at the San Marcos and Wimberley locations will be much the same. Basically, good food at a reasonable price, he says.
For example, the J.P. Special features a quarter pound of brisket, a rib, sausage, two sides and a drink for $20.50. The “Rattler” Special for $16 includes a quarter pound of brisket, sausage, two sides and a drink. The “Bobcat” sandwich — which is brisket and turkey — goes for $12.
Justin admits the names may change from the Rattler (the San Marcos High nickname) and the Bobcat (the Texas State nickname) to fit the Wimberley market.
Justin bleeds barbecue sauce. Growing up, he worked for his grandfather, who owned the highly regarded Lockhart Chisholm Trail BBQ. Lockhart, of course, bills itself as the barbecue capital of Texas — which is saying something. “I was raised in the old school (barbecue) trade,” says Justin. “My grandfather worked with the Blacks (of Black’s Barbecue, one of the original Texas barbecue joints).”
When he was growing up, Grandad would put Justin to work making sausage — probably the nastiest job in the kitchen, he says. That sausage will be on the menu in Wimberley. The regular barbecue sauce recipe has been in the family for decades; the spicy barbecue sauce is a fairly recent creation.
The best thing on the menu? Pork ribs. “A lot of love goes into those ribs,” says Justin.
The Wimberley BBQ will offer burgers, chicken-fried steak and other non-barbecue items, as well. “We’re aiming for good food at a decent price,” says Justin. “We’re trying to bring more attention and grow the barbecue scene here in Wimberley.”
Getting ready
But before the big smoker out front is fired up with post oak, Justin is getting the 4,000-squarefoot building ready to go.
“It’s in really good shape,” he says. “We’re trying to give it a barbecue feel. There’s a ton of good bones here.”
Right now the place is in disarray. All the equipment from the kitchen has been moved into the dining area. “The kitchen has been a disaster,” Justin says. “I don’t know how anyone operated in that kitchen.”
The kitchen floor is being replaced, but the stoves and other gear are in good shape and ready for action.
A new pit room will be added.
Justin signed a five-year lease on the property. He plans to stick around for a while.
Prior to the anticipated March 1 unveiling, Justin is planning a couple “soft opening” nights where sample-size portions will be given away to guests and the staff will have a chance to familiarize themselves with the operation.
When things get going, Justin says about 15 people will be employed at the Wimberley BBQ. He had a sign out front asking prospective employees to give him a call. He’s had so much interest, that sign came down.
Justin has a core of employees at the San Marcos location who have been with him for years. He repeatedly refers to them as “family.” At first, some of those veteran employees will shift from San Marcos to Wimberley. “They have been with me for a long time and want to be part of this opening,” says Justin. “We have a culture and want everyone to feel comfortable in that culture.”
Booze coming later Initially, customers may have to bring their own bottles of adult beverages. Justin probably won’t be able to cut through the red tape at the Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission by March 1. Eventually, the outside bar will be lit up and ready to start churning out margaritas.
Justin was raised in Luling. Aside from working at Chisholm Trail BBQ with his grandfather, he helped harvest watermelons in the “Watermelon Capital of the World.”
He enrolled at Texas State where he studied business, communications and sociology. After college, he went to work for HEB and figured he’d make that his career.
With the urging of his uncles, he took a chance and approached the owner of the then-empty Hunter Road restaurant location in San Marcos. Remembers Justin: “I told him I was just a broke college student. If you want to give me a chance…” That was 10 years ago.
The Wimberley BBQ will also offer catering services, sell their own spices and merchandise and provide mobile bartender services.
The desserts — cheesecake, pecan pie, peach cobbler, buttermilk pie, and more — are all made locally by Justin’s sister, Sabrina, who runs Brina’s Baking Co. Again, the prices are reasonable with most desserts going for $3.50 each.
At first, the restaurant will be open from Thursday through Sunday. Those hours should expand as things get settled.
To get an idea what the Wimberley menu will look like, go to www.sanmarcosbbq. com.
