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By Shirley Everett-Dicko We flew into Houston, Texas, picked up the rental car and went straight to Gatlin’s BBQ. A Black family-owned BBQ restaurant that had been open since 2010. Greg Gatlin is the founder and owner, but his mother Mary was the true star. My daughter Aiesha had mapped out a plan of which BBQ places to try and support for my birthday and Black History Month. Gatlin’s BBQ was first on her list. We pulled up to the restaurant, parked the car and smelled wood burning, which is always a good sign. We were greeted by the cashier, a young Black woman. When we told her we were from Oakland, California, imagine our surprise when the cashier suddenly reached down under the counter and pulled out a jacket with the words Oakland, 1966, and a picture of a Black Panther written on the back that she had recently bought. Hell yeah! Power to the people! Oakland was already in the house. We had come to the right place.  I ordered about everything on the menu: pork ribs, beef brisket, links, chicken, pulled pork, potato salad, collard greens, fried okra, mac and cheese, beans, and sweet tea. The food was delicious, and the portions were a decent size. We had eaten all we could and had to ask for some to go containers. We had so many leftovers that my children forbade me from ordering when we visited other BBQ restaurants. I was told just to stand and keep quiet, ha ha.  Mrs. Mary and the staff sang happy birthday to me and gave me a bottle of their BBQ sauce. Mrs. Mary told us that we were family so it must be true. This was a great start to my birthday week. We became family after eating at Gatlin’s BBQ. I simply love this lady, her warm welcoming spirit, and that southern hospitality. My daughter Aiesha and Regina, the cashier’s name, exchanged phone numbers and agreed to meet up when she came to Oakland. When you visit Houston make sure you stop by and support this amazing family and their business. Say hi to Mrs. Mary for me.  Hassan (BJ), Shirley, Regina, Aiesha, and Mrs. Mary
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By Shirley Everett-Dicko  I had such a fun experience at this iconic black owned barbeque restaurant in Austin’s historically Black neighborhood in Texas. It should be a law against having this much fun ordering BBQ. It was one of my favorite ordering experiences in Texas. With many faded pictures on the wall you could tell that this was going to be an authentic, old school, slap your mama good eating’ place; and it did not disappoint. It was Hella good! I love a good BBQ origin story. Sam’s BBQ has been around since 1957 and is currently owned and operated by Brian Mays. According to an interview on March 22, 2019, on Decibel KLRU-TV, Austin PBS Brian’s father Dan Mays Sr., won the restaurant from his cousin the original owner, Sam Campbell in a gambling game when Sam bet the restaurant and lost. Sam’s meat is smoked in an indoor brick pit, like Everett and Jones, over oak wood, again like ours, and has a tomato base BBQ sauce, what a coincidence, just like ours. Damn! You ain’t heard it from me, and I ain't one to gossip, but the Great Migration of Blacks leaving the south and settling in the west like Oakland, California keeps getting in the way of the narrative that Texas style BBQ is unique to Texas. I’m just saying. I did not know it at the time, but it was Brian’s younger brother David who fixed our order of pork ribs and links combo, with potato salad, mac and cheese. I just loved bullshitting with David. It was just so spontaneous, and I did not tell him who I was. He was such a hilarious character.  David and Shirley Brain's daughter and granddaughter opened the "Daiquiri Factory" next door where my son and daughter hung out. The daiquiris were delicious and went great with our BBQ. Sam's BBQ is on social media. Check out the videos and when in Austin go by and support this family owned and operated black business. What a legacy! By Shirley Everett-Dicko  Mama E’s Bar-B-Que & Home Cooking Ernestine Edmond Owner/Pitmaster Fort Worth, Texas My smile started before we parked the car. When my son BJ opened the door to Mama E’s Bar-B-Que restaurant in Fort Worth, Texas and held it open for me and his sister Aiesha to enter, my smile burst into a full-blown wide-ass grin. I was grinning from ear to ear. The restaurant reminded me of our Oakland Fruitvale Avenue location which opened in 1975. We walked up to the plexiglass covered counter and told the young Black girl, who turned out to be the great granddaughter of the owner and pitmaster, to give us a minute as we checked out the menu. We told her that it was our first time here, that we were from Oakland, California, and that we used Google to find her, and wanted to try her barbeque and support her during Black History Month.  Ernestine Edmond, Hassan (BJ) Dicko, La'niyah, and Shirley Everett-Dicko, Photos by Aiesha Dicko The older woman in the kitchen area heard us. She opened the door from the kitchen and came out to the lobby. Automatic, with no hesitation, she embraced me, and held tightly on to my hand, my heart was full. Ernestine Edmond introduced herself and her great granddaughter, La’niyah. She told us that she was 74 years old and was teaching her great granddaughter the BBQ traditions her mother had taught her, so she can pass the traditions on to the next generations. Legacy and a Black female pitmaster, I had hit the jackpot with my choice of adding Mama E’s Bar-B-Que to our tour of Texas BBQ restaurants in honor of Black History Month and my Birthday. Here in the male dominated world of Texas BBQ pitmasters I had found a Black Pearl, a real live, Bonafide, Black female pitmaster in Texas. See, we are out there and serving some great BBQ. Ernestine said that she was born in Texas. Ernestine’s smoking method using a brick pit, some oak wood, and adding BBQ sauce on your smoked meat confirmed for me that our Black BBQ culture followed us from the south to the west coast during the Great Migration and on to Oakland, California. We ordered a combo of pork ribs and links, potato salad and beans, with mild sauce. The ribs were tender and very good, the links were tasty, and the hospitality and neighborhood Black history lesson Ernestine shared about her corner location and the surrounding neighborhood were priceless. Mama E’s Bar-B-Que & Home Cooking restaurant is a Historic Southside site. We had to get our food to go because we had to meet a friend in Irving, Texas for brunch to celebrate my birthday. When I told Ernestine it was my birthday, she gave me one of her homemade mini cakes, which was delicious, and a t-shirt. I encourage everyone visiting Fort Worth to add Mama E’s Bar-B-Que & Home Cooking to your list.  |
(c) 2025 Shirley Everett-Dicko
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The Everett sisters organized a bus trip to the 1st President Obama inauguration
Sharing photos of the 1st President Obama inauguration.
Everett sisters Dorothy, Helen, Mary and Shirley @Jack London Square restaurant planning the "We Believe Get on the Bus" trip to witness history - 1st Obama inauguration.
(C) 2016 Everett and Jones
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