The story of C&J Barbeque is an interesting one. In 1981 Chip and Jo Manning bought a convenience store down on Harvey Road near Highway 30 in College Station, Texas. Chip sold gas, cigarettes, beer and soda. Soon after opening, he put in a barbeque pit. In the beginning, Chip was cooking an aver- age of 20 pounds of meat a day. People started coming by for gas and a sandwich or hot link. The food was gaining in popularity.

By 1997, Chip and Jo made the decision to get out of the convenience store business and converted the store to a deli style BBQ restaurant. It’s a small store with an even smaller kitchen. The whole space is 2,200 square feet. There is a small staff that serves up an impressive amount of food each day. The original always seems to be every- one’s favorite. The loyal customers come by to eat and tell the staff stories of back in the day when they would stop to eat, pick up a gallon of milk, and share an infamous Chip Manning story. This store was truly a family affair. Chip’s mother Evalyn used to help out doing the books and ringing up the customers.

In 2000, they won the Reader’s Choice Award for best BBQ in the Brazos Valley…and winning every year after that including 2016, making it 17 years in a row. In 2001, they were honored with the Newman 10 Award for the fastest growing small business. In 2002, they won the Best of the Brazos award for BBQ and have also won every year including this past year (2016) making it 15 years in a row. All three C&J locations combined are now cooking an average of 2,000 pounds of meat a day.

In 2002, a man approached the Mannings about opening a second location in Bryan, Texas. It was a big decision because this location was 8,400 square feet… four times the size of the current restaurant. After some deliberation, they decided to open the location, and the Bryan store was born. Because the Bryan store is the company’s largest store, all catering and all large deliveries (100 people or more) are handled at that location. They also have three private rooms that can be reserved for special events. This location also works directly with an organization called the Tailgate Guys during home football games. This location has handled up to 26 large deliveries within a 5-hour time block. The staff and management at this location work extremely hard and enjoy being the go-to store.