You have to go through security for this barbecue. It might be Columbus’ ‘best-kept secret.’
The unsuspecting Columbusite might not know it, but this could be the best lunch deal in the city.
A barbecue sandwich will only cost you about a buck. The catch: you’ll have to empty your pockets, take off your belt and walk through a metal detector first.
Chester’s Barbeque in the bottom of the city’s Government Center might not be the first place that comes to mind when deciding on a downtown lunch spot. But those prices might make you reconsider — even if you have to go through security.
The location, said the fourth-generation owner of Chester’s Barbeque Trenton Chester, is one of four restaurants he owns in the Columbus-Phenix City area.
“It’s the best-kept secret in the Government Center,” he said.
Chester’s got its start in 1939 on St. Mary’s Road as a grocery store before moving to Northstar Drive in 1944. The business was run by Trenton’s great-grandfather, then his grandfather, then his mother before it was passed down to him. The store started selling barbecue in the late 1970s or early 1980s, and it has been growing ever since.
Its most recent expansion came in 2014 when the city awarded Chester’s a contract to serve food at Columbus’s government and judicial complex. It was awarded that contract again in 2019. The cafe was a good way to introduce the local chain to an audience that might not have been familiar with them, Chester said.
The restaurant is down a narrow hallway just beyond the main public entrance on the right.
Four Chester’s employees work at the Government Center location, and it is the only place there to get a hot, full meal. It’s a surprisingly large space with more seating than the Chester’s location about a mile away on Veterans’ Parkway.
The cafe opens around 7 a.m. on weekdays and closes around 2:30 p.m. Menu items include pancakes, soul food staples and, of course, barbecue. Closer to the weekend you can even order ribs, Chester said.
Lawyers, judges, sheriff deputies, defendants and others who can’t or don’t want to leave the building’s confines are among its most common diners.
The $1 barbecue sandwich is stuffed with bite-sized pieces of pork and topped with a mustard-based barbecue sauce. The meat is placed between two white hamburger buns, and a solitary pickle slice is placed on the top bun. It’s served quickly after ordering and wrapped in aluminum foil.
Count Columbus Mayor Skip Henderson among the sandwich’s fans.
“I usually work through lunch, and I get a lot of those $1 sandwiches just at the last minute,” he said. “I knew there was a freshman 15. Partially, thanks to Chester’s, it’s been like a freshman 20 for (this first-year mayor).”
It hasn’t always been easy. Issues at the Government Center have affected the cafe.
The longstanding and documented troubles started in 2017. Then-Mayor Teresa Tomlinson had already formed the “Commission on New Government and Judicial Building” to review conditions at the center when maintenance staff worked to repair leaky, corroded pipes in the building’s east wing.
A litany of issues followed. Courtrooms were shut down to repair the heating system. In June and August 2018, the center flooded three times.
Clogged sewer pipes, repairs and construction kept the restaurant closed for brief periods or made it difficult to get to the cafe. The longest period of time Chester’s was closed was a full week, Chester said.
If the restaurant isn’t allowed to open, employees who normally work at the Government Center are shifted to other store locations. However, the city has done a good job of communicating with the restaurant ahead of closures, Chester said.
“It’s frustrating at times,” he said. “You’re ten minutes from having lunch ready to go, and they come and tell you that you have to shut it down because there’s an issue with water being backed up.”
The Columbus Council is moving forward with plans for a November 2020 sales tax referendum that would pay for the construction of a new Government Center, along with other capital projects to be determined.
There could be new structures built on the current site, new buildings on a new site or extensive renovations to the current building. No decision has been made on the existing complex’s future.
Chester’s current contract with the city lasts two years with an option to renew for an additional three years, which could coincide with a potential move to a new building. Any complex would likely have to have a restaurant or cafe to feed its employees. However, the question is one the city won’t have to deal with for a while, Henderson said.
“Even if we pick a site and got started right away, it’s probably still another couple of years before we got to a point when we wanted to move anyway,” he said.
Regardless of what happens, Henderson said Chester’s has done a great job serving the city. It would be hard to supplant them as the city’s contracted food service provider, he said.
“Chester’s, those folks, they go above and beyond,” he said. “We’ve had different functions where we’ve asked them to help us out and prepare the food. They donated the food. ...They’ve done a great job, and they’ve been an outstanding partner.”
Chester said he hasn’t had any conversations with city leaders about what will happen, but he’d like to continue his relationship with the city, regardless of where the government does its business.
“Whatever they do, I want to be a part of it,” he said.
This story was originally published January 24, 2020 at 5:00 AM.