Acclaimed Mesa restaurant is a family affair and a labor of love
By CRYSTAL PETROCELLI
GET OUT
Wearing a flour-smeared black apron, Reggie Payne saunters out of the kitchen to check on a table of customers at his small Mesa restaurant, R&B Ribhouse. “Y'all took that long drive; I gotta make sure I’m taking care of you,” he says loudly as he pats Dave Gress on the shoulder.
Gress, who is lunching with his wife, Gina, daughter Ava and friend Shannon Musa, often makes the long journey to R&B from his home near Ellsworth Road and Hunt Highway. “In the last month, I’ve been here about six times,” Dave says. “We’re trying to get him to open one up by us,” Gina adds. “We gave him directions and everything!” A few minutes later, Reggie stops again to compliment Musa on finishing her plate of ribs.
“Man, you can eat!” Reggie says with genuine amazement. “I could eat about three times that much,” the slender woman exclaims. Before leaving, the table orders two pounds of brisket and a rack of ribs to go. If restaurants were huggable, R&B Ribhouse would have barbecue-stained hands wrapped around it all day.
Not only do customers love the slow-cooked meats and made-from-scratch side dishes, they also appreciate the hard-working family behind the food. Payne, 43, opened the unpretentious, rhythm-and-blues-themed rib joint on Main Street just west of Gilbert Road with his 41-year-old wife, Mary, in late 2003, seven years after moving here from Mississippi.
On this day, Reggie and his 19-year-old son Marcus are running the 18-seat restaurant. Mary has a rare day off; their daughter, LaToya, just had a baby, the Paynes' sixth grandchild. “I think Mary and Reggie are great because they actually try to get to know their customers,” says Paulette Hagar, a Mesa-by-way-of-Kansas-City barbecue aficionado. “All the barbecue is wonderful, and the fried catfish is melt-in-your-mouth good,” Hagar adds. “The peach cobbler is straight from heaven — and the sweet potato pie isn’t far behind.”
BEST RIBS IN ARIZONA?
Reggie’s face lights up when he sees regular Peter Mason walking toward the restaurant. He smiles big and excitedly says to no one in particular, “Oh, here comes my man. Here comes my main man!” Mason, who lives in Gilbert and works at a nearby Circle K, was lured to R&B by Payne’s flier claiming “best ribs in Arizona.” “You know all-you-can-eat ribs doesn’t start until 4, but I’m gonna take care of you,” Reggie says.
A few minutes later, Marcus pops out from the back. “Long time no see,” Marcus says.
Mason tells Marcus he’s been working some strange hours and putting in overtime.
“Don’t need overtime today, huh?” Marcus asks. “I need overtime,” Mason says, “but I need the ribs more.”
Between bites of sauce-slathered spareribs, Mason declares, “I haven’t found anything better.” He starts on his second plate of six ribs, promising to take a run at the restaurant’s all-you-can-eat record of 18.
FIRST IMPRESSIONS
I stopped into R&B for the first time about two months ago with three co-workers. We were so giddy about our thin slices of sauce-covered brisket, meaty ribs and scrumptious Southern sides that we threw culinary caution to the wind and ordered desserts — a rarity for our group. Mary delivered two scrumptious hot bread puddings — a dish Reggie says he spent three years perfecting — a slice of white chocolate raspberry cheesecake and a giant wedge of sweet potato pie. A medley of “ooohs” and “ahhhs” soon followed, as did many return trips.
With each visit, we try something new and fall even harder for the slightly cramped restaurant with its red-and-blue-checkered tabletops and pecan-smoke-filled atmosphere.
It was obvious from that first trip that the Paynes want customers to feel like guests in their home. And it works. They’ve become so close with some of the East Valley’s winter visitors, Mary says goodbyes are tough.
“We got an invitation to Kentucky, we got an invitation to Michigan, Canada, Washington,” Mary says with slight disbelief. “(Customers) invite us into their homes! It’s just so heart-touching when they leave, we’ll be in here hugging and about to cry.” “Our customers are like our family. They bring us Christmas presents and lemons off their tree,” Reggie says.
BACKYARD BEGINNINGS
The Paynes, who live in Mesa, opened R&B after their home-based barbecue business outgrew itself. “Before we started our restaurant, we used to sell barbecue out of our back yard. We had so many cars lined up on our block, the police thought we were drug dealers or something,” Reggie says with a laugh.
The cops weren’t too far off — R&B can be addictive. “I’m not a big meat-eater, but I could come and eat (R&B) ribs every night,” says a smiling Kristyn Chandler, a Gilbert resident.
Colter Bradshaw, who also lives in Gilbert, makes his way to R&B every Friday. He’s been there so many times, he’s lost count. “(A co-worker) brought in some of their ribs, and everybody was like, ‘Where the heck did you get those ribs?’ And now we started coming in once a week,” Bradshaw says. ‘‘I grew up in a restaurant,” Reggie says when asked what made him take the leap to restaurateur. “My uncle had a restaurant, and I was working there when I was probably 7, and I just always loved that place. It’s something that was always in my blood.
‘‘I’ve always had good jobs, I’ve always made a good living, but this is what I really, really always wanted to do. When I got my opportunity, we just gave up everything. “We got our whole life savings into this place right now,” Reggie says in a rare sober tone. “Sometimes it would be so frustrating, especially starting out. You don’t have a customer base or anything. I mean, there’s a few times we almost closed the doors.”
17-HOUR DAYS
No more R&B? The thought sends a chill up my spine, especially when I think about never again being able to tear into one of Reggie’s perfectly smoked spareribs. If the restaurant doesn’t make it, it won’t be for lack of effort. The Paynes typically work 17-hour days making virtually all their down-home grub from scratch — boiling and skinning potatoes for the sweet, mustardy potato salad; making their cumin-and-chili-powder-free secret rub; mixing up his grandpa’s mild, medium and hot barbecue sauces; and blending the many ingredients that go into the hot, sweet, pecan-dotted bread pudding.
“We haven’t taken a vacation in two years, and that makes me feel bad, especially for my wife, because I know she’s been working hard,” Reggie says as he glances over at Mary. Then he smiles big and says, “Me? I could do this every day, 24 hours. But she needs a break; my family needs a break.” Reggie has tried hiring more people, but hasn’t had much luck.
He says it’s tough to find someone who will do things the way he needs them done. Instead, the Paynes are planning to close R&B for two weeks in August to take a much-deserved vacation. In the meantime, Reggie will continue to tweak and perfect his recipes. “If people find any barbecue that can beat mine, let me know, because I could kick it up a notch. I still got some tricks up my sleeve,” Reggie says with a hearty, confident laugh.
“I haven’t even brought out the big guns yet!”
R&B Ribhouse
Where: 1616 E. Main St., Mesa
Prices: $4.95-$18.95
Hours: 11 a.m. to 8 p.m.
Monday through Thursday, 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday
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