SACRED SPACES
STORY AND PHOTO BY JARED CROSS
Community and culture at Bowlegged BBQ in Mount Hope.
Barbecommunity Cumulus clouds of applewood smoke have been keeping the blocks surrounding Bowlegged BBQ on Market Street fragrant since 2018. Inside, the walls showcase records of Motown elite. Laughter syncs with slow jams playing from a speaker staged on the patio. Glazy barbequed ribs rest at patrons’ fingertips like harmonicas. Sibling co-owners Maria Reese, Carlos Stance, and Ken “Bowlegged” Stance are also inside. They’re embracing familiar faces and welcoming first-timers. “That’s what Bowlegged is about: celebrating diverse people. Everyone is relevant when they walk into Bowlegged,” Maria says. The siblings are from San Diego, but their parents, Art and Flora, fled the South in 1959. Mom and Dad purchased the building in Mount Hope 30 years ago where, before BBQ, they successfully ran a 99-cent store and a flower shop. In 2017, a transition was on
the horizon, but the notion of selling the place seemed unhinged. A few family meetings brewed a novel idea: opening a southern-inspired BBQ joint. Maria, a teacher at the time, headed the kitchen. She is first to admit the full racks of baby backs, signature brisket dinners, and slices of sweet potato pie derive from the training she received from her mom, Flora. “My mom knows the art of manipulation. She might use a recipe, but she will make it her own. She told us to keep the recipes in the family. To share the recipes with our kids,” Maria says. Maria kept her end of the deal by recruiting her daughter, Jessica, to assist. Beyond remaining a tight family unit, Maria believes that BBQ success relies on not cutting corners—and keeping the faith. “Everything we do is from scratch,” she says. “We peel every green, sometimes 17 cases. And God was with us every step of the way. We had never owned a restaurant.”
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JUNE 2023
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