The story below is from our July/August 2019 issue. For the full issue Subscribe today, view our FREE interactive digital edition or download our FREE iOS app!
Mama Jean’s Barbecue, named after Madison Ruckel’s mother, is making a name for itself in BBQ.
Roanoke has plenty of barbecue joints dotting its valley. But I say bring on another; especially if it’s Mama Jean’s Barbecue.
In the fall of 2018, Madison and Kelli Ruckel moved to Salem. For Kelli, it was a homecoming. For Madison, however, living in the mountain south was an entirely new experience. Madison grew up in Destin, Florida with his mother, and both sets of grandparents nearby. While his grandmother was the cook of the family, Madison credits his mother, who passed away in 2010, for influencing his creativity in the kitchen. He named Mama Jean’s Barbecue in her honor.
“My mom was an artist,” explains Madison. “She was also a single mom. Growing up, it was just her and me. She practiced all kinds of artforms. She taught me how to express myself artistically with integrity.”
A couple years after high school, Madison landed a job with Home Team BBQ in Charleston, South Carolina. He helped open the original location in 2006, became a partner and helped grow the restaurant to its current multi-location status throughout Charleston.
After 12 years in Charleston, Madison and Kelli were ready for a change. Kelli missed the mountains and Madison was ready to strike out on his own. Madison researched the market possibilities in Roanoke and found it wide open for his style of barbecue—brisket in particular. This, coupled with Roanoke’s positive economic trajectory and being close to Kelli’s family, made Roanoke an easy choice.
Moving to a new area, settling a family and opening a business is challenging enough. Challenges compound when said business involves moving (literally) parts like a 108-inch wood smoker and a 24-foot Airstream camper turned food truck. And while food trucks don’t carry the same overhead associated with restaurants, they have their own set of challenges; namely, food prep and storage.
With Mama Jean’s in particular, mobility and places to set up also become a concern. Madison says Roanoke folks have been incredibly friendly and accommodating, making the transition for his family and business much easier than it otherwise could have been.
Like the work of wood-smoking meats, Madison learned barbecue the slow and patient way: traveling to barbecue hotspots across the south, sitting under master grillers and old-fashioned trial and error. His artistic eye for taking photos of his food opened further learning opportunities chefs only dream of. Through Instagram, Madison started connecting with chefs from around the world. This led to invites to make barbecue at giant food festivals in places like London, Dublin and Brazil.
Madison says these experiences, while a great honor and loads of fun, are all about learning something new. All of it—the years at Home Town, traveling the country and the world—have been culling experiences he now pours into Mama Jean’s.
Madison and Kelli divide the work of Mama Jean’s much like a traditional restaurant. Madison does the cooking. He takes two days to make the sides, sometimes making as many as seven sides for weekend service. The evening before each service, Madison fires up the smoker and—like the parent of a newborn—sits up with his smoking meat all night long. Meanwhile, Kelli preps the chalkboards and Airstream, as well as manages the books.
Mama Jean’s offers four meats per service: pork, brisket, wings and sausage; ribs on the weekend. Madison says hands-down his best seller is the brisket, which was a bit of a surprise. He didn’t know if folks would take to his fatty, Texas-style brisket. Most places don’t sell the whole brisket, only the lean section—a sin against brisket (and Texans) in my estimation. Madison adds burnt ends to everyone’s order. When necessary, he educates customers on the ins-and-outs of authentic brisket.
Eating Mama Jean’s barbecue is a gift every time. Their brisket is a time warp to my family’s short years of Texas-living: sun-soaked evenings spent at the local barbecue shack, messy with brisket grease, burnt ends and buttered sides. And then there’s Mama Jean’s ribs—St. Louis style. These are the foods and places of my past; foods I’ve turned to time and again for comfort, celebration and every time in-between.
As for Mama Jean’s sides, pick your favorites or try something new. You won’t be disappointed. Mac-n-cheese and coleslaw are obvious choices. I shamelessly hoard their fried Brussel sprouts. I’ve even discovered a new favorite: baby lima beans.
Try all their homemade sauces. Madison developed a new one especially for Roanoke: Sweet Virginia Heat. This one’s my favorite, except for the Alabama White Sauce. Or eat your ‘cue with nothing but Madison’s pickled red onions on the side.
Madison says even if Mama Jean’s opens a store front, they’ll keep the Airstream alive. I love this. There’s something good and right about driving along and happening upon the smell of smoking meats at a rambling place on the side of the road. It jars me from my personal agenda and reminds me-once again—how this place is full of the best things in life.
See you at Mama Jean’s!
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