The Backyard Barbeque Company Stays the Same With New Owner.

Hometown favorites tend to stick around. In Magnolia, the neighborhood barbecue a generation grew up with has a new owner dedicated to keeping the traditions there alive.

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Dustin Cross took over the Backyard Barbeque Company in Magnolia in January of 2024. Before that, David and Susan Greer cultivated their spot along east Main Street from start-up to establishment, specializing in that Lower Arkansas style long smoked, fall-apart brisket and pork butts and ribs, along with a cooler consistently full of Miss Glenda Jones’s pies.

They spent 35 years operating out of the lowslung tan building beginning in 1989. It became a family gathering spot, and over time earned a reputation for its product and atmosphere.


Cross grew up eating at the restaurant. He already owned a truck stop and liquor store on the other side of town before taking on the established barbecue joint - but smoking meat? That was new to him. Fortunately, David Greer was happy to take on a new student.

“Yeah, he trained me,” Cross says, “I’m not a rocket surgeon.”

Cross spent a while under Greer’s tutelage before taking on the restaurant full-time. While some processes were more complicated, the smoking itself was relatively simple. Some barbecue joints across the area use different oaks in the smoker. Here, it’s all hickory.

“I mean, you can fluff it up. You can do it a lot of different ways, you know, put this in for this long and this for this…” Cross tells me, “doing what he did, it's all I'm doing. There was nothing wrong with the food. No need changing it”

The meat, large well-trimmed briskets and pork butts, goes on in the late afternoon. The next morning, 16 hours later, they’re ready to go. Time - and how much of it goes into ensuring a good product - may be the biggest challenge he has. Unlike the bustle of a truck stop, the meat demands patience. “It’s hard to get ahead here because it’s all cook to order,” he shares, with the importance of knowing what to start when and how weather and different cuts affect that timing.

But overall, the important similarity in his previous business and what he’s doing now comes down to a simple equation - whether or not he adds in anything new, it all comes down to people, both those in his employ and those who come through the front door.

It hasn’t been especially easy. Cross says there are folks who just assumed things would be different because the Greers were no longer there, that suspected the flavor would change. “I’m still fighting the new owner stigma,” he says. “If they come in here and the beans aren’t just exactly like they thought they should be, then it’s my fault.”

What will change, at least a little, is the decor. “I don’t have a whole lot of room to expand,” he shares, “but I’d like to grow it into more of a sports bar, so people might linger.” He started the process by removing booths and replacing them with long tables where groups could share space while rooting on their favorite teams. The move increases the capacity of the space without the need for opening up walls or adding on to the structure.

Still, the food stays the same. When asked what the first-time visitor should order, he says straight out, “the pies and the ribs. These ribs are the best ribs I’ve ever had, just like they’ve always been.”

And that pie case is still full, with lofty peaks on chocolate and coconut meringue pies, cream whipped onto fresh strawberry pie, rich pecan pies, smooth Key lime pies, and whatever Miss Glenda decides to make.

The Backyard Barbeque Company continues on at 1407 East Main Street in Magnolia. Order ahead at (870) 234-7890 or through the website (https://www.backyardbbqmag.com) or check out and see what’s going on there on the Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100025794587487).