Hutchens BBQ:
A Marshall County Landmark
Written by Justin D. Lamb
Above: Hutchens BBQ in 1948. W.C. Hutchens is standing beside the stove and Reubene is pictured standing behind the counter.
(Courtesy of Glenda Hutchens Gammel)
The smoke began rolling out of the barbecue pits at Hutchens in 1947 when W.C. Hutchens, originally of Lynn Grove, Kentucky, came to Benton with only a frying pan and an old percolator. He soon purchased a small block building on a dusty lot at 601 Main Street for $4,500 and after a remodel, the barbecue restaurant opened up just in time for Big Singing Day and served barbeque, hot dogs, cokes, ice cream, and hamburgers.
Though the first few years were shaky, W.C. Hutchens was determined to make a success and Hutchens soon became the place in town to buy barbecue. Business picked up by the early 1950s and it became so good that often times W.C. Hutchens thought that he had bitten off more than he could chew. One hundred and twenty-eight shoulders could be barbecued on the pits at one time and many times this still wasn’t enough meat. A barbecue sandwich cost twenty-five cents and the crew had a hard time keeping up with orders. One of the largest orders ever placed was by the Sprinks Clay Company of Paris, Tennessee in the 1950s for a company picnic. They ordered 2,785 pounds of barbecue, ninety gallons of baked beans, and ninety gallons of slaw. By 1954, seven new indoor barbecue pits were constructed to keep up with demand.
The restaurant also sold tons of ice cream and milkshakes and Mr. Hutchens made sixty gallons of homemade ice cream each day. One day, the electricity remained off for eight and a half hours and sixty gallons of ice cream melted. W.C. Hutchens once commented, “If I could have gotten my money back on the restaurant that day, I would have given up and left Benton.” Fortunately, W.C. Hutchens stuck it out and business kept thriving especially during the holidays. W.C. Hutchens’ daughter, Jolane Hutchens Colonese recalled the busy holiday season at Hutchens, “On Christmas Eve, everyone stayed up practically all night, busy barbequing many customers’ Christmas dinners. Finally, Daddy would come home and plop face down on the bed, fully clothed in the white shirt and pants he usually wore. We kids always feared he would be too tired to enjoy Christmas morning, but somehow he always got up after just a few hours’ sleep, in a good mood, and ready to see what Santa had put in our stockings.”
At first, Hutchens was open seven days a week. After a few years, W.C. and Reubene Hutchens felt they could afford to take one day off. They considered closing on Sunday so they could attend services at First Missionary Baptist Church where they were close friends with Brother J. Frank Young, the pastor. Finally they decided they would be letting down the people of Benton if they were not open on Sunday because so many of them ate at Hutchens after church. So Wednesday became the day off. The restaurant was open six days a week from 6am to midnight and it became a popular hangout. People would stop at the restaurant not only to eat, but to catch up on the latest gossip and current events of the county.
Hutchens BBQ on opening day in 1947
Hutchens BBQ after a remodel in the 1960s
Since the restaurant stayed open late, many of the youth in the county would stop off at Hutchens on their way back from seeing a movie at the Calvert Drive-In or the Benton Theatre or after a ballgame. Many times there was standing room only in the restaurant. The jukebox was always playing, but often times couldn’t be heard over the noise of the crowd. A small crowd always gathered around the pinball machine.
W.C. Hutchens, who was a carpenter before entering the barbecue business, built a house directly behind the restaurant at 100 East 6th Street. The back door of the house was connected by a sidewalk to the back door of the restaurant. W.C. Hutchens installed a buzzer in the house kitchen and whenever he needed Reubene’s help at the restaurant he rang it. She would drop whatever she was doing and run over to Hutchens to pitch in. W.C. and Reubene Hutchens’ three daughters, Jolane, Glenda, and Gerilyn, grew up at the restaurant and would often pitch in when needed.
Hutchens installed one of the first short order grills in the county and W.C. Hutchens’ brother, John Hutchens, worked as grill cook for several years. John Hutchens had been a cook in the United States Army during World War II and when his brother moved to Benton he joined him and helped start Hutchens BBQ. John lived in the Hutchens house basement until W.C. Hutchens constructed several cabins along Poplar Street behind the restaurant and John lived there until the cabins were destroyed by fire. John Hutchens worked at the restaurant for several decades and passed away in 2002.
Earl McCuiston, W.C. Hutchens’ father-in-law, also worked at the restaurant. McCuiston worked daily in the barbecue pits and was often called on during the busy hours. “Earl, bring another shoulder,” or “Earl, put in another pan of rolls,” and the story is told that one day as they called on him for first one thing and then another, he was heard to mutter, “Earl, Earl, easiest damn name ever called!” Earl McCuiston and his wife, Lola Hontas, lived directly across from the restaurant on 6th and Poplar Street. Everyday before the lunch rush hour, Lola, would fix dinner for Earl so he could eat before the busiest time of the day. Earl McCuiston passed away in 1963. Lola Hontas McCuiston followed in 1966.
In the early days, only two other employees besides W.C Hutchens and his wife Reubene were hired. The wages in the early days were $8 per week plus waitress tips. Most of the time, waitresses were lucky to get a nickel tip if they received anything at all. A few of the early waitresses were Marie Chambers, Kate Brewer Richardson, and Mayme Jewel Phillips. Another of the early waitresses was Ruth Ann “Tootsie” Green who began working for W.C Hutchens in 1957. “I started at Hutchens when I was 18 years old.” recalled Green. “W.C. was a good man to work for.” Green worked at the restaurant up until the early 1990s when she along with John Hutchens went to work at Four Little Pigs BBQ.
W.C. Hutchens was a well loved member of the Benton community. It is remembered by many that W.C. Hutchens always carried a sizeable amount of cash in his pocket and he would often cash paychecks for many of the employees of the chemical plants in Calvert City and the filing stations and oil distributors of Benton. Many would often call him the “Bank of W.C. Hutchens.” He also kept a tab for these same employees, who lived on modest means, so they could eat during the week. One story has it about a man who came into Hutchens looking to buy a barbecue sandwich which at that time cost twenty five cents. The man sat up at the counter and gave W.C. Hutchens his order, but when he reached into his pocket to pay he realized he only had twenty cents. W.C. Hutchens looked at him and said “The price just went down a nickel. How do you want your sandwich?” It was his neighborly generosity that many still fondly remember the most about W.C. Hutchens. Another story has it that on one Wednesday morning in the 1960’s, on finding Hutchens closed; two hungry drop-in guests came knocking at the house. W.C. Hutchens opened up the restaurant to cook a country ham breakfast for Colonel Sanders and his chauffeur. The restaurant gained national fame when it was mentioned in the 1980 biopic movie of Loretta Lynn, “Coal Miner’s Daughter” which starred Sissy Spacek.
W.C. Hutchens was a member of the Benton City Council as well as a Director for the Bank of Marshall County. He was also an active member of the Woodmen of the World and organized a comical men’s beauty contest at the Benton Theater for the club and he dressed in a long black curly wig and won the contest as “Miss Barbara Q Hutchens.” W.C. Hutchens eventually sold the restaurant in 1975 after the passing of his wife. W.C. Hutchens passed away in 1994 at the age of 81. Gerilyn Hutchens Lane remembered her father’s love of the restaurant business, “My father was the most kind hearted and humble Christian man I’ve ever known. He loved people, and he loved serving them in his restaurant.”