C's Bar-B-Que opens new location

C's Bar-B-Que owner Robert Morris poses in front of his new restaurant on Highway 150. At left is Grant Hellard, cook; at right is restaurant manager Valerie Gallimore. Photo by Katie Scarvey, Salisbury Post.

Donnie Smith pours Tabasco sauce on his barbecue sandwich at C's Bar-B-Que. Smith and Dan Van Order, employees at Childers Auto and Truck Repairs, at C's for lunch recently. Photo by Katie Scarvey, Salisbury Post.

Robert Morrios, owner of C's Bar-B-Que on Highway 150, pulls meat from a freshly cooked pork shoulder. Morris also owns barbecue restaurants in Mocksville and Cleveland. Photo by Katie Scarvey, Salisbury Post.

By Katie Scarvey

kscarvey@salisburypost.com

Is there room in Salisbury for yet another barbecue restaurant?

Robert Morris thinks so.

If anyone would know, there's a pretty good chance he would. Now 38 and already the owner of three successful barbecue restaurants, he began learning the business at 15, working for Paul's in Salisbury. Later, he worked at Hendrix Barbecue for 10 years.

Morris opened his first restaurant in Salisbury, C's Bar-B-Que, Jan. 16. C's is located at 1106 Mooresville Road, a site that was most recently a Mexican restaurant and before that the home of PMS Firearms. And prior to that, it was a restaurant called The Country Kitchen.

Morris bought his first restaurant — also C's Bar-B-Que — 11 years ago. This original C's, on Salisbury Street in Mocksville, dates back to 1948, when it was begun by C. Ward, who later passed it down to his son, who allowed Morris to use the name when he bought the restaurant. Morris has since expanded the restaurant.

Morris, who lives in Salisbury, was attracted to the Mooresville Road site when it became available.

"I thought the location was great for a barbecue house," he said.

He's remodeled the building, adding new windows, a new parking lot and new equipment in the kitchen.

A new dining room, for private parties, is also in the works.

It's a tough time to be opening a restaurant, with the economy so weak, he says, which has prompted some folks to pronounce him crazy.

"It's always a gamble," he says.

But he's confident that his Salisbury location will do well. There is nothing similar nearby, he notes.

Danny Shaw, owner of Sudden Impact on Mooresville Highway, agrees. He showed up Tuesday for lunch, and it wasn't his first time.

"It's good barbecue," he says.

Morris tends to follow his gut in matters of business.

"I just believe in myself," he says simply.

And perhaps it's because he's had a pretty good track record.

Morris says he's been on his own since he was 14. He dropped out of school in the seventh grade and lived on the street for a while, he says.

He began working at 15 at a restaurant called Paul's, which was operated then by Ennis Cope. (That restaurant is now Marlowe's, Morris says.)

He then got a job at Hendrix and for a time was working at both Paul's and Hendrix. Call it total barbecue immersion.

The owner of Hendrix, Billy Garris, took him under his wing."He was kind of the father I never had," Morris says.

Morris appreciated all that Garris did for him, but eventually, he felt it was time for him to run his own show.

His grandfather's girlfriend had faith in him and loaned him money to open his first restaurant, he said.

He believes that his tough early years have made it easier for him to take risks in his business life.

"When you've never had anything, you're not afraid to lose anything," he says.

He started a restaurant at the old Blue Bay Building on Highway 70 a while back, but the rent was very high, and issues with road construction conspired to make the situation less than viable. He ended up moving that C's two miles down the road to a smaller place with lower rent. Now, that restaurant is thriving.

Opening this new restaurant was a little challenging, since his his wife, Angie, gave birth to their third child, a daughter, just two days before they opened.

Morris enjoys the business.

"I love barbecue," he said. "It kind of gets in your blood." He points out that his Chinese zodiac sign is the boar.

C's serves up Lexington-style barbecue, with a little twist.

"Ours is more red, more sweet than vinegary," he says.

He uses both wood and electric heat to cook his barbecue, making about 50 shoulders at a time, slow cooking the meat to fall-off-the-bone tenderness in eight to ten hours.

You can be served by friendly wait staff for breakfast, lunch or dinner at C's, or you can buy barbecue to take out. Chopped barbecue is $6.95 a pound chopped and $7.45 a pound sliced. A whole smoked shoulder is $5.25 per pound.

A family take-out special is a pound of barbecue, a pint of slaw, a pint of baked beans, dip, a dozen rolls or hushpuppies and a gallon of tea for $13.89 (chopped) or $14.89 (sliced).

There's more than barbecue on the menu, though. C's offers various specials, including country fried steak and brunswick stew. There are also hamburgers, hot dogs, chicken salad and wings on the menu.

C's also offers catering.

Hours are 5 a.m.-9 p.m.

For more information, call 704-636-2122.