Everett & Jones Barbeque - Oakland

photo by shmooth CC BY 2.0

Everett & Jones Barbeque ¹ is a much-loved local chain of barbecue restaurants. It was started by Dorothy Turner Everett (c.1931–2007) with her eight daughters, one son and one son-in-law (Jones) in Oakland in 1973.

Dorothy and her husband Cleveland were born and came of age in rural Alabama, in a small town named Westpoint. With three children and another on the way, the family decided to seek new opportunity in California. In 1952, Cleveland Everett departed Alabama first to find work and a place for the family to live and Dorothy followed later with the children. Eight years later Dorothy and Cleveland separated leaving Dorothy to care for the children.

She worked hard to support her children as a domestic and held a part time job tending a smoke pit for what was to become Flint's Bar-B-Q. She later became the first manager of the restaurant. Deciding to strike out on her own, she borrowed seven hundred dollars from her good friend Cora "the Angel" McKinnon. With a week's line of credit from her suppliers she opened her own barbeque restaurant, as she said, heavily dependent upon the Lord. She rented an old building on the corner of 92nd Avenue in need of much work; the whole family pitched in to get it going. Annie Everett-Jones was the only daughter married at the time, so the family named the new restaurant Everett & Jones Barbeque.

Dorothy Turner Everett died in 2007. ² The business began as a family enterprise and continues that way today, run by Dorothy's children.

The patio at the Jack London Square restaurant is dog-friendly.

Awards

In June, 2014, Fox News named 5th on a top ten list of best barbecue in the country.

Won 2014 "Readers' Choice" Best Barbecue in Oakland Magazine.

photo CC BY-NC-ND 2.0 by ~dgiesE. 14th St. location, 1973
copyright ©S. E. Dicko, used with permission ³