It’s been a whirlwind past six years for Scott and Karie Greenhill – from founding a home-based business to starting what was probably the best-known food truck in Petal, and now, a brand-new storefront in the Friendly City.
Back in 2016, the husband-and-wife couple lived in Tupelo, with Scott serving with the Tupelo Police Department and Karie working for Hancock Fabrics. On the weekends, the Greenhills competed in barbeque tournaments, where their seasoning rub became a hit – leading them to found Babes BBQ to sell it.
“Everybody loved our rubs so much, we decided to bottle it, Karie said. “We worked with a company and they bottled our seasoning up, and we actually sold it in grocery stores in North Mississippi. We competed with that rub a lot.”
In 2019, the Greenhills moved to Petal to be close to Scott’s father, who was battling Parkinson’s disease. While deciding what to do for work, the couple decided to bring a food truck, and worked with the owner of Dana’s Family Hair Care on Old Richton Road to set up shop on the back side of her property.
With that, the name of the business changed to Babes Backyard BBQ, where the Greenhills specialized in items like brisket and pulled pork, along with sides such as baked beans and potato salad.
“We flourished right there,” Scott said. “People would ask where we were at, and I’d say, ‘we’re in a pasture behind a beauty shop in a neighborhood.'
“That’s how we went from Babes BBQ to Babes Backyard BBQ – we were literally grilling out in these peoples’ back yard. They started coming and supporting us, and it just grew and grew.”
About a year ago, the Greenhills started looking for a storefront.
“We were like, ‘hey, I think we’ve got our feet under us enough that we could tackle a sit-down restaurant,’” Scott said. “The food truck business is different than a store front – it’s just totally different.”
Scott and Karie initially picked out the site of a former convenience store on U.S. 11 in Petal. That spot, however, didn’t turn out to be right for the couple.
“We couldn’t get a lease on it,” Scott said. “We had a lot of people come to us and say, ‘don’t do this,’ but we gave it a chance.
“We waited and waited, and tried to get a contract. We just never could get a lease, so we just took it as, that wasn’t the place for us. It was God’s way of telling us that it wasn’t the place we should go.”
Because of that, the Greenhills brought the food truck back to the Old Richton Road location. But not even a week later, they got a call informing them that the restaurant spot inside the Dandy Dan’s Texaco at 853 U.S. 11 was available.
The very next week, Scott and Karie got their contract and began operations at their new location on March 4.
“(The owner) fixed everything like he said he would, so we knew that everything was going the right way and it was time,” Scott said. “With the atmosphere, we thought we’d do good business here, and we already have a lot of people – nearly 4,000 people on our (Facebook) page.
“So it’s just a perfect setting for us, and it was already set up. It seats nearly 90 people, and the kitchen was all there. (The previous restaurant) had been in business within about a month prior, so really all we had to do was make it our own.”
And Scott’s hunch about doing business in the new location turned out to be true – on the first weekend of operation, the Greenhills had to stop serving because they ran out of food.
“We were overwhelmed – we did kind of a soft opening, and we didn’t do a whole lot of advertising,” Scott said. “
Babes BBQ continues to serve its well-known items such as brisket, pork and homemade sides, along with grilled steaks, and homemade sauces. In the future, the Greenhills plan to add fish, along with homemade family meals such as casseroles.
“Also, people love our meal prep,” Karie said. “So as soon as we get our feet under us in the new building, I really want to bring meal prep back too.
“Then we’re going to do all kinds of lunch specials with greens, cornbread and all the country veggies. So we’re going to do a lot of different things like that with our grilled meats … and Scott’s going to continue to grill steaks.”
Babes BBQ will hold a grand opening on March 31.
“We want to do everything we’ve been doing, but on a larger scale,” Scott said. “We want people to be able to come put a steak on a plate with a salad and a baked potato, and be able to sit down with your family and eat it in a nice environment.
“We want to keep the family environment, where the kids can come … and you can just come with your family and enjoy yourself.”
Babes BBQ is open from 11 a.m.-7 p.m. on Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays. For more information, call (601) 602-4414 or visit the Facebook page, Babes BBQ of Petal.
