Who's hungry for Walls' BBQ? A walk down memory lane with Nostalgic Eats

In 1963, Richard and Janie Fireall Walls opened Walls’ BBQ as a barbecue pit that offered one meat, two sides and a roll to its patrons who found it tucked inside a woodshed in the middle of York Lane. Over time, Walls' BBQ grew into a cinder-block destination and a Savannah food institution.

Granddaughter Teresa Weston, now in her late-60s, built upon on her grandparents' legacy. “Them coming from South Carolina, as well as a good 50% of my relatives, who grew up in an all-Black community off of a dirt road, where everybody knew everybody… At this stage it makes me feel a connection to my grandparents' past and to those that stayed in Bellinger Hill Road, South Carolina, that came before me.”

All that smoky goodness started in a woodshed

Richard Walls was a character ― stocky, protective and a provider. He had only a second-grade education and limited vocabulary that was hard to decipher because of his heavy accent. However, his mind was sharp, considering how much of a self-starter he was. Firmly business-minded, Richard found viable ways to support his wife and two children. He sold wood from the shed used as the original Walls’ BBQ restaurant and moonlighted as a taxi cab driver at night.

An accident caused the Walls to change course. Janie, quiet by nature, put her cooking and butchering skills to use, helping craft the menu that led to the beginning of Walls' BBQ. She served as CEO and chef of the restaurant, cooking up the now-famous Walls’ BBQ ribs, fresh crab boils straight from the river, fried fish and chicken, a green vegetable and the potato salad that put them on the map. Because of Janie’s skills in the kitchen and her knowledge of using a wood-burning stove, her family and community were able to partake a fresh farm-to-table meal every night, even before farm-to-table was fashionable. She retired in 1979, and turned the restaurant over to her daughter, Margaret Walls Weston, Teresa's mother.

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From local joint to national spotlight

Weston's introduction to the inner workings of Walls’ BBQ came at 8 years of age. Around this time, she moved from New York City with her parents and found her footing in Georgia, where she has lived since. She was destined to run the small restaurant and started her unofficial apprenticeship in the restaurant doing inventory for the smaller snack items such as cookies and sodas, a minor task that led to her learning significant life skills that carried her until she became owner of Walls’ BBQ in 2004 at the age of 48.

"The restaurant taught me how to become a better chef that amended the recipe to cater to a bigger crowd,” Weston explained.

Under the tutelage of Weston, Walls' BBQ continued to gain exposure, even on the national stage. The little gem down York Lane gained a following from near and far from folks intrigued by the menu options, especially the slow-smoked barbecue ribs graced with a tangy sauce with a hint of smoke that lingers on the taste buds. In 2017, the Food Network shot an episode of "Super Southern Eats" inside the restaurant.

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The secret to deviled crab is consistency

If you were to ask Teresa Weston what Walls' BBQ's proverbial secret sauce is, she would say that they took typical and basic ingredients to create the mouthwatering flavors in their recipes.

After spending an afternoon making Walls' iconic deviled cakes with Weston, however, I realized that it’s not only about the ingredients but also about patience. I watched how those inventory skills that Weston learned at age 8 influenced her cooking skills. She created an assembly line of ingredients and triple-checked the recipe passed down to her from her grandmother. We made a small batch of 12 crab cakes, using both blue crab lump and claw meat. The key point I took from this moment is that less is more. It's all about consistency and making sure each ingredient and seasoning blended perfectly into the next. Even though Weston isn't too keen to share that recipe, I could tell that a little seafood seasoning took the crab cakes a long way.

What’s Next for Walls’ BBQ?

Weston closed Walls' in late 2018 because the building and kitchen required upgrades to meet current health and safety codes. The closure always was meant to be temporary. A GoFundMe campaign led by Stu and Donald Card of Savannah Taste Experience food tours raised $6,000 from more than 70 supporters. Walls' BBQ re-opened in April 2019 but then COVID hit in early 2020, and the restaurant has not reopened ― yet ― because the cost of equipment and food has skyrocketed since.

Weston wants to cater to the new downtown scene that continues to grow, and come-heres haven’t had the opportunity to taste Walls' signature dishes. “We own the property. We have always owned the property. We see people walking down the lane and always asking if we’re reopening, and at this point, we need to,” she said.

That's a need many people in the community share and have amplified. We can remain hopeful that one day soon Weston will turn on the lights again in the old shed that Richard and Janie Fireall Walls built and serve a few more plates of ribs with a scoop of potato salad the Walls’ BBQ way.

This article originally appeared on Savannah Morning News: Savannahians hope Walls' BBQ will open again