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Hernando Today

BBQ Restaurants A Neighborhood Staple

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By TONY HOLT

Hernando Today

Published: February 22, 2009

BROOKSVILLE - Howard DeLanie has been through all kinds of aches and pains in his 42 years as a business owner.

In the mid 1980s, he was promised grant money to build a sparkling new restaurant, but he never received it. He still isn't sure where it went. He just knows Howard's Barbecue never saw a dime.

"That's the truth," he said. "I was promised this and that ... and I fell for it."

He needed to pay more than $200,000 for a building or pay an exorbitant amount to fix the existing restaurant. Instead, he vacated the building. Nowadays he cooks, serves and makes change inside a trailer next to the restaurant.

His customers don't care. They always have savored the tender chicken and rib dinners he famously serves. Delanie could sell them out of a bat cave and they would still come.

"People come from all over - Inverness, Bushnell, New Port Richey," he said. "I could do great business if I could get places for people to sit down."

Across the street at 401 Martin Luther King Jr Blvd. is where Oliver Spears sells his own variety of ribs and chicken. His wife opened the business a year ago and he manages it.

"You go to neighborhoods that have McDonald's on one side of the street, Wendy's on one side of the street and Checker's on one side of the street," Spears said about the competition between him and DeLanie. "It's just like that here. People will go where they want to go. I can't serve them all and Howard can't serve them all. Everyone has their favorite place."

Both he and DeLanie have noticed a decrease in sales during the slowed economy. At age 82 and with business still on the decline, DeLanie admitted he wasn't sure whether he would stay in business much longer.

Spears was more upbeat. His restaurant, called S.O.S. Famous Bar-B-Q, is still new. On a busy day, he might serve up to 100 customers, he said. By 1 p.m. Saturday, he had only seen two.

"It's getting there," said his wife, Genevieve, a Brooksville native. "It takes time for people to get to know your business."

Another barbeque stand operates a short distance away. L&B Barbeque is located across the street from the Hernando County Public Works building.

There are no fast food restaurants nearby. Barbeque is the preferred take-out cuisine of South Brooksville.

Genevieve Spears worked most of her professional life as a nurse. She thought opening a restaurant would provide a boost to her neighborhood. She acknowledged the efforts being made to revitalize the area. She said nothing of the failed attempts of the past. She's looking ahead.

"This is very important to me," she said of the economic outlook of South Brooksville. "It really speaks to my heart. If we all stick together and pray together, we'll come out of this better than ever."
DeLanie also remains hopeful, but hasn't let go of the past. He still has the blueprints of the sparkling new restaurant he was promised nearly 25 years ago. He rolls them open for anyone who asks about it.

"I used to have pool tables and game machines," he said of his old building. "I just never could get the money to get this up to (code)."

As for revamping the neighborhood, he knows the county and city are trying. He is just more focused on what he can control.

"I've been here all my life," DeLanie said. "I've seen the good and bad ... and I'm still working."

Reporter Tony Holt can be reached at 352-544-5283 or wholt@hernandotoday.com.

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