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Southern Barbeque goes out of business after 38 years

By Tara Fasol, The Southern

Sunday, May 11, 2008 10:57 PM CDT

ANNA - Owner Pat Tripp stood behind the cash register with tears in her eyes Sunday afternoon as a line of patrons vied for parking and seating during the last day of business at the Southern Barbeque in Anna.

"I won't miss the work but I will miss the people," she said, wiping tears from her eyes.

In a walkway between the outside and inside, Tripp displayed a collage of pictures from her family's 38 years of ownership.

"You just don't realize how many sweet people there are," she said. "We are just physically, mentally, and emotionally tired. You just get tired after 38 years."

The wall showed pictures of past cooks, including her husband Jim's late mother and father, who helped with the business when she and her husband first took it over.

Tripp pointed out a picture of the late Marguerite Harrison, a former cook who dedicated about 10 years in the Southern Barbeque kitchen.

"When she started to become ill, I began to work right by her side," Tripp said. "I tried to learn some of the things she did. She did a lot of her cooking from scratch. I had to learn those recipes."

The home-style cooking of the Southern Barbeque restaurant is one of many things carried on from owner to owner.

Colleen Garrott, 91, of Anna was around to see all the changes and also showed up for the last day of business Sunday.

"I've been coming here since 1923," she said. "It's because they serve such good food."

Chicken and dumplings with an order of chocolate pie is Garrott's favorite combination. She said the food tastes better now than ever.

"If you were to eat some (chicken and dumplings) like I did this week and then eat here, you would see the difference," she laughed. "I will definitely miss this, but I know they (owners) have worked really hard all of these years."

Andrew and Dorothy Pribble of Anna also showed up for one last plate of the seemingly popular chicken and dumplings.

"I was coming here before she ever got it," Andrew said. "I was here when the old place was here."

The restaurant was opened in 1923 by "Nip" Bowen, one of 13 restaurants he owned in Southern Illinois. After Bowen, several people owned the establishment until 1970 when the Tripps signed their name to the lease of the building.

As Tripp watched her customers come and go, she kept wiping her teary eyes, all the while smiling. The longtime owner said she has some other things she will enjoy doing more but will really miss her friends.

"I've already had some people asking me to if they can come over and eat breakfast at my house," she laughed. "I would really like to work on a cookbook."

Tripp said her most loyal customers were buying the barbecue, complete with the secret sauce, by the bagful. She said taking it home and freezing it allowed them to keep the tradition alive just a little bit longer.

For the Tripps, the tradition will never leave their hearts as they bid a bittersweet goodbye to a business that brought together a community.

"Most of all I just want to thank all of the people that have been coming here all of these years," she said.

tara.fasol@thesouthern.com / 351-5824