Feature article
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Braeden’s plates flavor, friendly service
By Fred Sauceman
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Although I haven’t conducted exhaustive research, I’d venture to say that Braeden Collette is the youngest kid in America for whom a barbecue house is named.
Before deciding what to call his new restaurant on Eastman Road in Kingsport, Barry Collette announced a family conference. He wanted to make sure his son Nicholas and daughter Sydney could handle being upstaged by their young brother, then two years old. With assurance that the name would cause no family discord, Barry opened Braeden’s Barbeque & Eatery on February 1, 2005.
Barry and manager Troy Jarvis-Comi reworked the former Antonio’s Pizza building. They laid tile, wired, installed ceiling fans, did the woodworking themselves, and designed the kitchen — all in five months.
They didn’t have to worry about constructing a pit, though. Braeden’s meat is shipped in three times a week from Nashville, where it’s barbecued over hickory.
Braeden’s is Barry’s first restaurant venture. He sold ads for the Yellow Pages for 10 years and spent eight in the vending services business, working with nursing homes, hospitals and industries. Along the way, he did log some cafeteria and catering experience.
“Braeden’s is consistently in the 90s on health ratings,” says Barry. “We get a lot of repeat business. There’s not a slow thing on the menu.”
At lunchtime, customers literally line up out the door, awaiting pulled pork or pulled turkey sandwiches or platters, ribs and four different riffs on the hamburger: Classic American; a Smoky Mountain Burger with smoked cheddar and bacon; a Braeden Burger with cheese and barbecue sauce; and the Devil’s Demise, with American cheese, chili and jalapeńo peppers.
Barry says all the burgers “have an au jus built into them.”
Barbecue is plated up “dry,” which means the customer can add his or her own sauce. Specify “wet” and the kitchen staff mixes in the house barbecue sauce before the food is brought to the table.
Five different squeeze-bottled sauces sit in Coca-Cola cartons on each table: the House, a Carolina, Honey, Hot & Spicy, and Sweet and Bold. The House, Hot & Spicy, and the Carolina are all made in-house.
Barry describes the House as “an across-the-board, traditional sauce, both sweet and slightly tart.” The Hot & Spicy is similar to the House but more piquant. The Carolina is a blend of vinegar, mustard and ketchup, burnt orange in color.
The Honey-flavored sauce is the mildest on the menu, Barry says, while the Sweet and Bold has overtones of hickory. Another mustard-based sauce, heavier in mustard than the Carolina, is available at the counter.
Six different sides are served. The Barbeque Coleslaw, Barry says, is a “Carolina area thing, with a vinegar-based sauce.”
BBQ Beans “start with baked beans, like pork and beans,” Barry tells me, “and we add barbecue sauce, ketchup, mustard, and seasoning. It’s a simple recipe.”
Barry believes fries will always be Braeden’s top-selling side, but coming in at a close second are the homemade chips, deep-fried and sprinkled with seasoning salt. Braeden’s sells five, five-gallon buckets of chips a day.
Anyone you talk to about Braeden’s quickly follows up a comment about the flavor of the food with praise for the friendliness of the staff, who kindly serve upwards of 350 diners a day.
Braeden’s Barbeque & Eatery
LOCATION: 823 North Eastman Road, Kingsport, Tennessee
PHONE: 423-378-0500
HOURS: Open Monday through Friday, 10:30 a.m. to 7 p.m.;
Saturday, 10:30 a.m. to 4 p.m.; closed Sundays
MISCELLANY: All major credit cards accepted
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Food writer Fred Sauceman, author of the book “The Place Setting: Timeless Tastes of the Mountain South — from Bright Hope to Frog Level,” is senior writer and executive assistant to the president for public affairs at East Tennessee State University. E-mail him at sauceman@etsu.edu.
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