Grumpa Bear BBQ opens in Rocky Top
Sandy Foster, left, and her grandson Gavin Wade, 2, of Rocky Top, look on as the Blas family serves the first order of food from the new Grumpa Bear BBQ in Rocky Top on Monday. The Blas family includes, from left behind the counter, Kris, Haley, Cindy and Louis. (photo:G. Chambers Williams III )
The new eatery is at 211 S. Main St., behind the Coal Creek Miners Museum and just in front of the Rocky Top fire and police departments.
After passing its initial state Health Department inspection on Friday, Grumpa Bear BBQ opened for lunch on Monday with, for now, a limited menu that includes tri-tip beef, pulled pork, and sliced chicken sandwiches – all made from meat smoked on site.
Also featured are side items such as smoked macaroni and cheese, street corn, and pinto beans.
Louis Blas, who moved to the Medford area from California in February, bought the building with his wife, Cindy, and son, Kris, and immediately began gutting and remodeling the interior to prepare for the new restaurant.
“I retired Dec. 1 from working for the state of California, and I always had a vision of doing a barbecue business with my son,” Blas said earlier.
“I’ve been running through my retirement income, and decided I needed to do something to get some money coming back in.”
He, his wife and his son, along with his son’s wife, Haley, are running the restaurant. All four were on hand for Monday’s opening, which was still a bit rushed for them, Cindy Blas said.
“We were here all day yesterday trying to get everything ready,” she said.
They did not have menus printed in time for Monday’s opening, but had a tablet computer at the ordering station that displayed what was on the opening-day menu. The credit/debit card processing system was up and running, however.
For the first two weeks, now, Grumpa Bear BBQ will be open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. every day. Then it will cut back to Friday-Tuesday, and will be closed Wednesdays and Thursdays.
“The barbecue business is new for us, but we’re going to do tri-tip, which is similar to beef brisket, and of course we will have pulled pork,” Blas said. “We smoke the meat on site here.”
Besides smoked meats, Grumpa Bear BBQ also serves hot dogs and chicken nuggets for kids.
“We also have three of our own barbecue sauces,” he said. “They include a regular sauce, which will have a touch of heat, along with a mustard sauce and a bourbon sauce.” They will all be made in house, he added.
Customers will order at the counter, but there are two small dining rooms for them to sit to eat their meals if they are not taking their food out. There also will be some picnic tables in the front yard, Blas said.
Grumpa Bear BBQ joins a growing list of new downtown Rocky Top businesses, which also include the Coal Creek General Store and Coal Creek Coffee.
Also new downtown are South Main Furniture and Mercantile at 522 S. Main St., which opened in May, and Thrifty Treasures at 305 S. Main St., an antiques and home-décor business. which opened in early March.