Tulsa World: Bixby gets its own taste of Elmer's barbecue

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Bixby gets its own taste of Elmer's barbecue
The menu may be limited somewhat, but the taste is the same.

The famous Badwich is on the menu at the new Elmer's BBQ in Bixby. Tulsa World file photo

By ROBERT EVATT World Staff Writer
Published: 11/20/2009 2:24 AM
Last Modified: 11/20/2009 2:24 AM

It be bad — and it be growing.

Elmer's BBQ, the "It Be Bad" barbecue mainstay at 41st Street and Peoria Avenue for more than 25 years, now has a satellite location in Bixby in front of the SpiritBank Event Center.

The new Elmer's, which opened last week, is in the tiny former location of Coppertown Coffee on Memorial Drive and has a more limited menu than its big brother. But rest assured, it still has the same homemade, wood-fired taste that customers are used to, said Keith Jimerson, a co-owner of Elmer's.

"We smoke the meat at Peoria and drive it down every day," he said. "It wouldn't make any sense to cook at two different locations, because you wouldn't have consistency."

Jimerson said he had been thinking about a second location for some time, but the opportunity never arose. Then Mary Ann Brinton, who owns the area's Maggie Moo's franchises, came to him with a proposal.

Brinton said she realized that the now-vacant coffeehouse near her Bixby store could be an opportunity to branch out.

"We knew this building was available, and it had great visibility," she said. "We looked at it and thought, 'South Tulsa needs some barbecue.' "

In addition to the relative lack of barbecue places nearby, there are very few that offer quick meals, she said.

Brinton and Jimerson, who co-own the new business and its building, decided they could offer rapid service without compromising quality. The Bixby store serves an array of meats as sandwiches, including the infamous Badwich — a combination of rib meat, chopped beef, smoked bologna, hot links and smoked sausage — as well as some of the dinner combos.

Elmer's in Bixby won't offer the bulk meat packages such as the Nelson Plates simply because they won't fit in the building, Jimerson said.

"It's a small building, so we have some limitations," he said. "The bigger plates take our inventory out too fast; we couldn't store enough food in there."

Brinton said that although the new store has been open only a week, it already is doing better than the owners expected.

"It's amazing the people who came in the first few days, just from driving by and seeing the sign," she said.

Jimerson said Bixby could be the first of more branch locations.

Robert Evatt 581-8447
robert.evatt@tulsaworld.com By ROBERT EVATT World Staff Writer

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	Report Comment Dr. Strangelove, Las Vegas (11/20/2009 8:20:40 AM) I thought this would be an excellent idea, they need to do it in all of those closed Coppertown Coffees
	Report Comment Elusive, Owasso (11/20/2009 11:49:29 PM) Bixby sure is growing.

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