The Morning Journal (Lorain, OH)
Uncle Bo’s Slow and Low opens restaurant
Elyria’s own Bo Granger is bringing a taste of the south to his city as a trained chef and owner of the Americana, multi-regional barbecue restaurant Uncle Bo’s Slow-n-Low.
Uncle Bo’s is located at 2000 Midway Mall, former home to Lone Star Steakhouse.
The eatery was transformed to make guests feel like they’re in someone’s grandmother’s southern home with barn-like features, Granger said.
With just one approval by the city on a piece of equipment for the business, Granger said he hopes to serve customers in early March.
The restaurant will include indoor and outdoor seating with southernstyle decorations, collectibles and music to set the ambiance.
“We want people to walk in here and feel like they’re in a southern-style barbecue eatery,” Granger said. “There’s not too many people out there celebrating that southern American culture.
“So, what we have is multi-regional barbecue with southern comfort food. Things you can’t find anywhere else.”
Uncle Bo’s will offer East Texas-style brisket, Carolina-style pulled pork and Memphis-style dry-rub ribs served with southern comfort sides such as collard greens, Cajun jambalaya rice and jalapeno mac n’ cheese.
It also will eventually offer shrimp and catfish poboy sandwiches, shrimp n’ grits and gumbo.
Uncle Bo’s will feature flavored moonshine drinks to celebrate southern culture, as well.
The home-style foods are made from scratch and sold at reasonable prices, Granger said.
He said he plans to offer fresh, free samples of most of his dishes because he said he wants customers to feel confident in what they’re ordering if they are unsure prior.
“My logo is buy with confidence,” Granger said. “If you don’t like it, you risk nothing but your time.”
Southern barbecue is so multi-regional with many different tastes originating from Kansas City, Memphis, Texas, Alabama, Carolina
and Louisiana.
This is Granger’s second location after owning an Uncle Bo’s in Bullhead City, Ariz.
Career as a chef
Granger moved from Elyria to Las Vegas in 2008 to grow in his career as a chef.
Granger said he began catering
and sharing the southern-style barbecue delicacies he made and his cuisine quickly became a hit.
He invested in a mobile kitchen in 2016 and brought his flavors to Lorain County to share with hopes of securing a restaurant.
Patrons traveled from Lorain County and other areas
such as Youngstown and Toledo to dine in his foods and visit the mobile kitchen parked at North Ridgeville’s American Legion.
However, before Granger could pursue a business in Ohio, his plans took a turn and he ended up establishing his first Uncle Bo’s restaurant near the Arizona and Nevada border.
After only a few months in business, he said Uncle Bo’s Slow-n-Low was the top-rated restaurant to visit in the area, beating out 11 casinos, according to Yelp, Google, Trip Advisor and Facebook.
The Arizona location had a great response, but Granger said he still wanted to return to Elyria.
Granger acquired the larger Elyria location in July 2018.
He said he and his team are ready to hire staff and train them as soon as they can.
“I really do hope we are half as successful as I think we’re going to be here, because this area needs it desperately with so many businesses closed down,” Granger said.
Uncle Bo’s success can help attract more restaurants and businesses to the Midway Mall area, he said.
“It’s a matter of the service, the ambiance, the food, how you treat people,” he said. “I want people to come in here and enjoy what they’re getting from us.
“I want them to enjoy the overall experience, because let’s face it, you don’t just go out to eat, you go for the overall experience.”