Jim’s Bar-B-Que & Catfish

Tastefully treating Waskom for more than 50 years

Christi Easterling chuckles in amazement when she talks about how her late father, Jim Easterling, started the Waskom restaurant that became known as Jim’s Bar-B-Que and Catfish. “He was working with his father at a service station next to State Line Cafe when the people at the cafe just asked him if wanted to buy it,” says Christi, who runs the restaurant now. “He’d never done anything with a restaurant before, but he just went for it.” Now, 51 years later and a year after the passing of its founder, Jim’s Bar-B-Que remains one of Waskom’s oldest and most popular traditions. People all around East Texas and Shreveport know Jim’s for its homemade, slow-cooked barbecue and fried catfish, smoked meats, baked beans, coleslaw, potato salad and cobblers. “We get people coming from all over,” Christi says. “It’s just always been a really popular place.”

Making It Good

Jim’s story is as American as they come. After buying the restaurant, he shuttled between working on diesel trucks at his father’s service station and helping his wife run the restaurant. “He’d be up on a rig, and Mom would holler to him, ‘Jim, come wash the dishes!’And he’d come down and run over,” Christi says. He channeled that same energy and work ethic into making sure each dish tasted good, starting with the barbecue sauce that covers many of the menu items. “People rave about our barbecue sauce,” Christi says. “We put it on every- thing. I had one guy come in from North Arkansas, who was working on the railroad. He said, ‘I could drink this stuff.’ It’s always good to hear when people appreciate it.”

Like most things with Jim’s, the barbe- cue started with a sliver of an opportunity and a huge amount of hard work. “This guy came by one day, and he had a piece of a barbecue pit,” she says. “It wasn’t even the whole thing — maybe just the top part of it. But Daddy asked another guy he knew to make him a brick pit, and he went from there. It was all trial and error until he came up with something that tasted good.”

He just wanted to make things that tasted good.
— Christi Easterling, co-owner and operator of Jim’s Bar-B-Que & Catfish, on her father, Jim Easterling

The restaurant’s popular fried catfish came about through trial and error, too. “One day, Daddy just decided to make some catfish,” Christi says. “He put some cayenne pepper and other stuff in the batter and called it Cajun. He just wanted to make things that tasted good.”

Hometown Hangout

Over the last half century, Jim’s Bar-B-Que has seen a few big changes. Its second location in Vivian closed after 25 years because of a bad economy, and other locations started and stopped, as well. missing. A few people got really upset.”

But the biggest change happened around 2000, when the restaurant moved from its spot next to the old service station to its current location at 77 Spur 156. “The restaurant that used to be here, Grandma’s Fried Chicken, closed because the owner was retiring,” Christi says. “We bought it, and it’s been the biggest blessing. Our original building seated maybe 30 people, and this one seats something like 80. You could fit that old building inside of this one.”

Still, the move initially startled fans of Jim’s Bar-B-Que, who feared they’d lost their favorite food spot. “Some people panicked,” she says, remembering the move with a laugh. “We had a sign that told them where we moved, but it went

missing. A few people got really upset.” Even with all the changes over the last 50 years, Jim’s still offers the same mouth-watering favorites its patrons crave. It also maintains a hometown service that’s hard to find in most restaurants.

Christi says some of the restaurant’s devoted following boils down to the staff’s commitment to greet each guest within seconds of walking into the restaurant. But mostly, she says, it’s the employees — several of whom have been working at Jim’s for decades. “I have one cook, Dotty Fearance, who’s been working here for 48 years,” Christi says. “She’s 67 now, and she’s only recently gone down to working three days a week. She was one of Daddy’s original people, and she’s still here.”

Christi lists off other employees who’ve stood the test of time, as well — Alberta Gordon, Erin Grable, Jamie Bur- row and Joyce Lee. Alberta, a cook, has worked there about 30 years, while Erin, who is front of house staff, has worked there about 27 years. Jamie has worked there about 25 years, and Joyce has been cooking there for 23 years.

“They’re my A-team,” Christi says. “Customers love them. They just love them. People even bring them gifts for Christmas. I think they’re a big reason for our success.”

More Than Great Barbecue

Jim’s Bar-B-Que and Catfish is known for its barbecue, fried catfish and its menu of hickory-smoked delicacies, including its specially made baked beans. Jim’s is at 770 Spur 156 in Waskom. Patrons can dine in or take their food with them. For more information, visit the Jim’s Bar-B-Q Facebook page, and for larger take- out orders, call (903) 687-3316.