LOCAL & FAMILY-OWNED

As a child, when Jeff Carver would go to visit his father’s family in Metropolis, Ill., the most memorable thing to him was the barbecue.

“I remember going to my great-grandmother’s house and walking blocks away with my family to some old guy in a garage, shredding up barbecue, wrapping it in a piece of foil, and giving you your barbecue sauce in a baby food jar,” Carver says. “There were a lot of places that sold pulled pork by the pound, so that was kind of intriguing as a kid; the simplicity of it, how good it was.”

In the fall of 1999, he took those memories and created a business.

Carver’s now boasts a full menu with fresh salads, stuffed potatoes, nachos, and wings.