Alabama-style BBQ restaurant plans to open next month in Columbus near Fetch Park
The Alabama-based restaurant chain Moe’s Original Bar B Que is coming to Columbus next month.
The restaurant, next to Fetch Park on Fifth Avenue, is expected to open in mid-September, said co-owner Mac Watkins, and it will be the fourth location for the chain in Georgia. Having already opened a Moe’s location in Destin, Florida, Watkins told the Ledger-Enquirer that he is excited about bringing the chain to his hometown of Columbus.
“I grew up eating Columbus barbecue,” he said. “And Columbus has great barbecue, but this is definitely a different style of barbecue that Columbus has not seen.”
The restaurant will serve Alabama-style barbecue with white sauce, Watkins said, which is the chain’s staple. The meat is smoked every morning and afternoon, he said. While people can expect the normal sides such as potato salad and baked beans, the restaurant will rotate about 70-80 other sides that are made from scratch each morning.
These additional sides include different types of gumbo, jambalaya, chili, soup and casseroles.
“I think our sides are what’s going to really separate us apart (from other barbecue restaurants) because we’ve got close to 100 sides,” Watkins said.
When Columbus residents come to Moe’s, he wants the feel of the barbecue place to feel less like a restaurant and more like a dinner party. Watkins wants people to walk in the door, see people they know and feel free to converse at one of the community tables that will be available.
“We’d like it to be more of a down-home kind of feel,” he said. “And not just come in, sit and stare at each other.”
The restaurant is expecting to hire around 30 employees for the full-service bar, kitchen staff and food runners, Watkins said, and more information about hiring will be posted on social media in the coming weeks.
‘I’m pretty passionate about it’
After graduating from Columbus High School, Watkins began working at Moe’s while earning his business degree from Auburn University. At the time, it was “just a college job doing dish washing and cleaning the front of the house,” he said.
He eventually began cooking for the restaurant and realized that he really enjoyed this position and working at Moe’s. Once he graduated from Auburn, Watkins moved to Colorado where he learned from Mike Fernandez and Jeff Kennedy, two of the founders of Moe’s, for around eight years.
When he began his college job, he didn’t expect that it would turn into a career he was passionate about, Watkins said. Fernandez and Kennedy advised him that if he isn’t passionate about his job, then he didn’t love it.
“And I was like, I’m pretty passionate about it,” Watkins said. “And they were like, ‘you love it then.’”
After moving to Destin, Watkins got a call from his friend Martin Huff, who wanted the restaurant chain to be part of the development that centered around the dog park and bar combo Fetch Park in Columbus.
“It’s kind of cool that I’ve come full circle back to my hometown,” Watkins said.
