Grizzly smoking up downtown Cedartown
Barbecue restaurant enjoying success just behind Main Street.
Take a walk or a drive through downtown Cedartown on a weekday afternoon and the smell of pork or chicken slowly cooking on a smoker will likely be in the air.
That unmistakable aroma is coming from Smoking Grizzly BBQ, and owner and pitmaster Mark Adams has been taken by surprise at the amount of notice he and his family-run restaurant has received since they quietly opened their doors in August 2020.
“We still have people who find us almost every day. It’s interesting because we’re not exactly out on a main road but once you turn off of Main Street we’re right back here with our smoker and a nice place to sit and enjoy the outdoors,” Adams said.
Located at 110 Herbert Street, Smoking Grizzly is nestled next to Cedar and Smoke Cigars just a few steps from Main Street. Adams worked on opening up the kitchen at the back of Cedar and Smoke thanks to its owner Ron Morris Sr. and his son, Ron Morris Jr. His sister, Tracy Adams, works on making sides and working the register.
“I did a lot of cooking for my lodge and for different groups for charity and things like that and everyone kept saying I should open a restaurant. I kept saying no, but then Ron gave me an opportunity to start something here,” Mark Adams said.
“I fully expected to give it a shot and in a couple of months nobody was going to show up and we would be done, but that’s not the case. There has been a lot of word of mouth.”
Starting a barbecue restaurant with outdoor seating in August as the COVID pandemic was still on the minds of many had its challenges, buth Adams said he saw the reactions to his food early on and worked to make sure people wanted to come back.
“I’ve been really surprised people have liked the food the way they do. Sometimes if you cook something enough you don’t really want to eat it, so I rely on our customers and friends to really let me know how the food is and what they like about it. Then I can go and try to change a recipe or make sure I do it the same way to keep them coming back,” Adams said.
He has worked with both Cedar and Smoke and Cedar Valley Chops just a few doors down to offer delivery for people who place an order, and they offer curbside pickup.
In the 2021 Polk Standard Journal Best of Polk voting, Smoking Grizzly came in second among all barbecue restaurants in ribs and smoked brisket.
“You know, I gave up a good job to do this. And it’s just been unbelievable to see what we’ve done so far,” Adams said.
While he makes his own rubs and sauces — St. Louis, Alabama, and Bulldog — he
said he just cooks the meat the way it is supposed to be cooked and lets the preparation he puts into each selection be the difference.
Something Adams is most proud of that has surprised him is his smoked chicken wings. That has been bittersweet over the last year as supply issues have not only
caused wholesale prices to jump significantly, but also made getting wings difficult sometimes.
“There has been a learning curve, and we continue to learn each and every day. You don’t see brisket cooked around here a lot, so we’ve tried to do that when we can,” Adams said.
“We have a lot of loyal, repeat customers who I try to personally thank them each time I see them out here. The support we’ve had from the community, the local government, from everybody, it’s overwhelming. And we’re going to keep doing the best that we can every day.”