The Missouri Hick Bar-B-Que in Cuba, Mo., suffered a fire that closed it for weeks last summer. The Cuba Free Press today detailed about how the Route 66 restaurant came through its misfortune better than ever.
Owner Dennis Meiser said the blaze caused his restaurant to be closed longer than he anticipated, but it persuaded him to do some things that he delayed.
“When I designed the kitchen originally, it wasn’t big enough, especially after we began to grow the business,” explained Meiser, “and I didn’t do a very good job of laying it out. There wasn’t much organization and we were always bumping into each other. It was pretty much elbow to elbow in there. But after the fire, they were going to tear everything out anyway and start over, so I began to think about how we could do things better, make it more efficient and make it better for our cooks and servers. We went from basically having outgrown our kitchen to now having a nice, big kitchen where everything is spread out and has its own space. It’s a much better situation.”
In addition to the total kitchen remodel, which included all-new commercial appliances and equipment, Missouri Hick replaced its smoker with an even larger one and added a second, smaller indoor smoker. “We went from being able to smoke 60 slabs of ribs at a time to 90 slabs, plus the extra smoker allows us to do small smoking jobs,” Meiser explained. “We were at a point where we couldn’t really expand anymore. This gives us the ability to continue to grow our business.”
The Missouri Hick reopened in October, and it’s marking its 10th year this month. Meiser also said 2012 is shaping up to be a record year for business.
The Missouri Hick’s revival after a fire resembles the one by another Route 66 restaurant — the Rock Cafe in Stroud, Okla. However, the 2008 fire was much worse — it gutted the building and left nothing but the stone walls standing. However, owner Dawn Welch’s rebuilt restaurant now can serve more customers and boasts a bigger kitchen.
Oh, I’m so glad to hear the Missouri Hick is back in business—and that the new kitchen is easier for the cooks to work in, too. We can be barely over the IL/MO border and I’m already salivating over the prospect of a meal at the Missouri Hick—I hope that they find continued success and awesomeness in BBQing. 🙂
We were in Cuba and ate at Missouri Hick the day before the fire … and we were in Cuba again the weekend before Dennis reopened. I talked to him that weekend and I knew he had been able to make some much needed improvements due to the fire. While Missouri Hick is a newer place on Route 66, I am thrilled that Dennis was able to reopen and in better shape to continue to feed travelers for years to come. Thanks for the positive coverage!