JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A legendary local barbecue restaurant is closing its doors today after 68 years in business.
We first told you earlier this month when Jenkins Quality Barbecue announced the decision to close all of its locations.
Vera King, better known as Mama, is one of the dozens of people who lined up outside of Jenkins Quality Barbecue Tuesday morning to get one last taste of what she describes as heaven. She told me she would wait 5 hours for Jenkins’ famous sauce if necessary.
The best, I mean the very best barbecue chicken, and I just love their baked beans, their coleslaw, oh, I just love it all,” King said.
Earlier this month, the owners announced on social media they were closing after 68 years in business due to ‘rising costs of food and labor, shifting consumer trends, and supply chain issues.’
I spoke with the CEO and President of Jenkins Quality Barbecue, Ms. Meltonia Jenkins May, the day after the announcement was made. She says the past four years have been rough for them.
“After COVID, things just started going south,” Jenkins May said. “We don’t have the same volume of customers at all. And with the customers going down and the cost of food and labor going up, there’s not much else we can do.”
King says she’s been coming to the Jenkins Lakewood location every day since the announcement to stock up on their famous Jenkins Sauce.
If they got two bottles, you could get two…then sometimes you can get an extra two, so that makes you have four sauces: Hot, Sweet, and Mild!
Above all, King says she’s going to miss the community Jenkins created.
“I met some beautiful, good people here, we’re like family,” said King. “They are really going to be missed, they really are.”
The doors close at 9 pm one last time.
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