In 2010, Tony Harris decided he had finally had enough of the inconsistency with his pitmaster.
He never knew when he would show up or if he was going to show up at his BBQ concession stand in Starkville, especially on Mississippi State University game days when he needed him most.
Harris took up the tongs and apron and started working behind the grill.
He only had one problem: he had no idea how the ribs or any of the barbeque he grilled tasted because he is a vegetarian.
“I began to learn different techniques, dealing with the smoke, dealing with the chemistry, texture of the meat, and that’s how I began to perfect that craft,” Harris told The Dispatch. “… I took off by myself.”
As word spread and the long lines formed around his four door grill known as “Big Bertha,” Harris put in the reps that would aid him in operating his own restaurant later down the line.
Harris, 51, has mastered his grilling over the last 15 years by cutting his teeth behind grills and learning the intricacies of grilling while passing out samples for tasting to his employees and customers.
“I had to give a lot at first,” Harris said. “I had to give something to gain something.”
Tony’s father Sylvester Harris opened Harris Family BBQ in 2008 on Highway 45 Alternate, which later moved to Main Street in West Point under the Tony’s BBQ moniker. That location closed in 2011, but Tony reopened 13 years later in a space that he rents from his uncle off Mississippi Highway 50.
The goal of the restaurant was to give Tony and his brothers, Ben and Gates Harris, an opportunity for employment after the trio were incarcerated in 1999 for their involvement in a large drug trafficking operation that became a federal case.
Tony was arrested in 1999 and spent about eight years in prisons across the country before getting out early on good behavior.
Tony said that while his time in jail was difficult he credits it with bringing about his new outlook on life and the changes he made, which included becoming a vegetarian.
“It taught me, you still can be a hustler. You’ve just got to hustle with something legal versus something illegal,” Tony said.
Cooking with love and a whole lot of charcoal
After returning home and operating Tony’s BBQ for two years, Tony decided he wanted to try expanding with his own grill in Starkville.
While his efforts were soaring, his brothers were finding less success in West Point before that restaurant closed in 2011.
Tony kept working at grilling for about the next four years in Starkville and Aberdeen but decided he needed a break from grilling full-time.
So in 2015 Tony got his CDL to become a truck driver for an oil company in West Texas and drove from coast to coast while still barbecuing in his free time.
After about six years of trucking Tony realized his true passion was behind the grill. With a reignited passion, Tony went back to grilling full time out of his concession truck in 2021, which he took to various local festivals and large events in the area, including Artesia Day Festival and the Prairie Arts Festival.
“It seemed like every time I tried to run away from my passion, which is (being a) pit master … I just came back to it,” Harris said. “And the customers always show me so much love.”
After finding success running the festival and catering circuit, Tony opened his restaurant about a year ago with his co-owner and wife Nicole Harris. Tony said he credits her as “the backbone” of his operations dealing with the planning and marketing for the restaurant.
Nicole who has been with Tony for the last 33 years said that she has been impressed to see his growth over the last 15 years as a pitmaster especially as someone who doesn’t even try his own food.
“It’s very impressive,” Nicole said. “I mean, just to know that the customers that we have … coming in, didn’t even know that he was a vegetarian and I’m always letting them know that.”
While the location Tony operates out of has changed over the years he said there are two things that have stayed consistent: the intentionality he gives to every piece of meat he cooks and only grilling with charcoal – never wood.
“I would think that’s my secret, besides cooking with love,” Tony said.
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You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 33 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
