ARKANSAS
“I DIDN’T NEED TO THINK TWICE ABOUT WHAT TO DO WHEN THE DOCTOR TOLD ME I COULDN’T BE A DIESEL MECHANIC ANYMORE,”
Jim Vaughan tells me as he is showing off the newer, bigger smoker he made.
“That was the second time I tore up my back. It’s been ten years since we’ve opened up this place.” The other part of the “we” in J&N is wife Nora.
Jim was a serious hobbiest before he went at barbecue full time. In fact, when Clinton was governor, Jim went to Little Rock and cooked for the legislature. “The chickens were supplied by Tyson’s. We supplied about a dozen raccoons.”
When they first started out, they had a much better location. It was owned by a friend in the construction business who Jim used to maintain trucks for. “When I asked him about putting a trailer on his land, he told me I was the only person he would let stay there.” The road was eventually widened and so they had to move their trailer to its current location a little off the beaten path, but that’s okay because the folks in the Jonesboro area know where to find them. (Image 21)
Image 21: J&N Barbecue 3503 Dan Avenue • Bono, AR 72416 • (870)972-9724
They still operate out of that trailer, but it has been expanded a couple of times. “I have a regular who works in the advertising business who wants me to run some ads. I told him I couldn’t afford to do it. He keeps after me and I just had to tell him I couldn’t handle all that business he was going to get me.”
It’s not that Jim doesn’t take professional advice. In fact, he’s building a snow-cone room at the urging of his fifteen-year-old grand-daughter, Brook.
“Everything just fell right into place,” Nora tells me. (Image 22)
Image 22
“It has brought our family closer together because everyone helps out whenever they can. We even have a five-year-old great granddaughter, Emily. Whenever she’s here, she clears off the picnic tables. That is the job that she gave herself. One time a customer gave her a dollar tip. She always talks about it, and will never forget it.”
JIM VAUGHAN’S BUDDY PAUL CALKIN’S COON BURGERS
Trap a good-size raccoon. Clean and dress him. Put the meat through a meat grinder. For each pound of raccoon meat, add the above list of ingredients. Put through grinder again. Shape into desired-size patties and grill like hamburgers.