›› Lauren Gaultier

As many Fernwood restaurants ­temporarily closed down during the COVID-19 ­pandemic, one restaurant persevered and looked for opportunities to go beyond in serving our region. Rather than shut their doors, Jones-Bar-B-Que was quick to re-group and communicate their dedication to safety, pivot to include a delivery model, and they didn’t stop there. Early on when the pandemic forced many hospitality and service establishments to close their doors and layoff staff members, Jones offered a special discounted honour system menu to help these industry colleagues as they were struggling through tough times. From there, they also opted to participate in the Boxes of Hope program with the ­Coalition to End Homelessness which involved providing food boxes to those in need in addition to providing jobs to out of work service industry members.

Chris Jones opened Jones Bar-B-Que in 2016 to add to his restaurant repertoire including The Ruby breakfast restaurants. Jones is touted as a classic Texan BBQ joint specializing in brisket and pork butt. As one of their Instagram posts puts it, “[this restaurant] is where we found out who we are in our industry. We are not suits, chef whites, and ‘Oui Chef’ people. We want to swing axes, have dirty hands, but also and most importantly, make great god damn food.”

If you are looking for ways to support the service industry, your community, or simply impress your bubble with some delicious food—check out some of my favourite recommendations below:

For Individuals:
The big crunch chicken burger – this sandwich makes the McChicken look like child’s play… come hungry when you order this $12 gem.
The pork butt sandwich – this ­flavourful smoky meat is everything a BBQ lover dreams of with a coleslaw topper for $8.50.

For Family & Friends:
Check out their Mama (feeds 2-3) or Papa Jones (feeds 4+) platters which both come with brisket, ribs, pork butt, chicken thighs, sausage, slaw, pickles and tasty mini brioche buns for $50 or $95 respectively.

Check out their menu at jonesgotmeat.com and call ahead to arrange for contactless delivery or pick-up 778-265-4227.