Dena Lightsey, owner of The Bar B Q Shack in Maplesville, believes her new restaurant serves multiple roles in her hometown.

While providing people with a place to buy homemade, hickory-smoked barbecue, The Bar B Q Shack also stands as a tribute to Lightsey’s late brother, former Chilton County Commissioner Tim Mims.

Lightsey, 43, had planned to open and operate the restaurant with Mims until he became ill unexpectedly and died in November 2013.

“We were going to open this place together, and then he became sick in October,” Lightsey said. “The thing that he wanted to do most was cook the first batch of meat, and it just didn’t happen, God bless him.”

Lightsey had worked for Mims at his restaurant called Fat Daddy’s in Maplesville before it closed in 2009, but prior to opening The Bar B Q Shack on Jan. 17, her experience with cooking and smoking meat was limited.

She worked in banking for nearly 20 years before her stint at Fat Daddy’s.

Lightsey had counted on Mims being able to prepare meat for The Bar B Q Shack and to help her navigate owning her first business.

“He was going to be the brains of the operation,” she said. “He knew the numbers and business side. It hurt me so bad just thinking about him and losing him. I couldn’t imagine opening [the restaurant] without him.”

But Lightsey pushed forward and opened The Bar B Q Shack because she knew Mims would have wanted her to.

With help from her parents, Gene and JoAnn Simms, Lightsey learned how to cook ribs, pork and chicken in the smoker housed in front of the restaurant, as well as how to make homemade barbecue sauce served on the side of each plate.

Lightsey said it hasn’t taken long to become familiar with how to prepare everything.

“It’s just like it came to me,” she said. “We haven’t been here a month, and it’s like I’ve been doing it my entire life. I had to sink or swim, so I decided I better swim.”

Mims’ 13-year-old son, T.R., helps Lightsey at the restaurant and said he remembers some of the advice his father gave him about cooking and serving food to customers.

“Dad taught [me] if it’s a good size, you got your money’s worth,” T.R. said.

Lightsey said her recipes are modeled after those previously offered at Fat Daddy’s.

She said The Bar B Q Shack’s signature items—the ones most popular with customers—are its ribs, barbecue baked stuffed potatoes, barbecue sandwiches and baked beans.

“It’s all hickory wood-smoked barbecue,” Lightsey said. “Nothing’s frozen; everything’s fresh, made to order. The ribs are so tender you can just pull the bone right out.”

The restaurant also serves hamburgers, hand-battered fried chicken fingers, barbecue pork by the pound and slabs of ribs.

Lightsey said her restaurant has received much support from the community since opening in January, and customers appreciate her efforts to make hers and Mims’ plans a reality.

“They all tell me all the time that he’s smiling down on us,” Lightsey said of Mims. “I’ve been very pleased.”

In addition to carryout orders, The Bar B Q Shack offers indoor seating and outdoor seating on a covered patio for dine-in customers.

It is open Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m.

The Bar B Q Shack is located at 8341 Alabama Highway 22 in Maplesville, next to Maplesville Supermarket.

For more information, call (334) 518-9365.