“He came into a concept meeting and said, ‘I want a barbecue concept,’” says Hilton Eades, vice president of concept and strategic development for BBQ and Ribs Co. It was a natural calling for a company based in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, the heart of barbecue country.

Eastern North Carolina is famous for its chopped pork soaked in a thin vinegar and hot pepper sauce, while those in the western part of the state prefer their pork topped with a thicker, red, vinegar and tomato–based sauce. BBQ and Ribs Co. tries to satisfy both camps and also serves dry-rubbed ribs.

Hilton Eades was new to Boddie-Noell when it launched BBQ and Ribs Co., but was a perfect fit to manage the creative process.

“I’m deeply dipped in North Carolina barbecue,” Eades says. “My grandparents were rural people. When everybody within five miles butchered their hogs, they would come together for a big feed. I remember my granddaddy working in the shed with vinegar seasonings to make the sauce.”

BBQ and Ribs Co.’s sauce, based on Eades’s grandfather’s recipe, is called Pig Wyzz.

“It don’t come from pigs, it goes on pigs,” Eades says with a chuckle.

Eades has combined the country influence of his youth with formal culinary training and extensive franchise experience with Bennigan’s and Macaroni Grill to create a concept with Boddie-Noell that’s upstaging some hometown barbecue spots with loyal followings.

“We’ve created a low-brow, high-tech mom-and-pop shop,” Eades says. “It doesn’t look or act like a chain. We hire local people, promote from within, and give them a lot of ownership. That’s the secret of Boddie-Noell’s fortysome years of success.”

The company operates 330 Hardee’s restaurants, 30 Texas Steakhouses, and a chain of seven cafés in North Carolina, called Café Carolina and Bakery.

Three BBQ and Ribs Co. restaurants operate in North Carolina—in Siler City, Graham, and Raleigh—and one is located in Chesapeake, Virginia. Two locations are also under development, one in Rocky Mount and another in Virginia Beach. The company plans to focus its growth in North Carolina and Virginia for several years.

The high-tech part of BBQ and Ribs Co. lies within the cooking process, a secret Eades won’t share.

“We cook the old-fashioned way; we hickory-smoke it all night long. But we use modern, cutting-edge methods that the old school doesn’t know about. That just makes us better,” Eades says.

Evidently, he’s not the only one who thinks so. The restaurant has won numerous national awards in its short history, including being named one of the 35 best barbecue places in the United States by National Barbecue News and featured in the book Peace, Love and Barbecue, by barbecue guru Mike Mills.

BBQ and Ribs Co. sells more chopped barbecue plates than anything else, but the menu offers a full complement of traditional barbecue fare, including fried chicken, catfish, shrimp, collard greens, creamed corn, Brunswick stew, hushpuppies, and freshly made banana pudding. The restaurants use proprietary low-trans fat oil to cook fried foods, but all vegetables are slow-cooked with fatback. The hours are 10:30 a.m. to 9 p.m., Sunday through Thursday; and 10:30 a.m. to 10 p.m., Friday and Saturday. The average check is $8.95.

Catering is also a moneymaker and a marketing tool for the chain. The BBQ and Ribs Co. 26-foot mobile trailer has been as far as Washington D.C. and served parties of 1,500 people. Vans serve smaller groups.

The word “pizza” was deliberately left out of the restaurant’s name because creator and owner John Ordway wants his brand to overcome entrenched assumptions about pizza. “We’re trying to dispel accepted paradoxes—if it’s fast, it’s fatty; if it’s healthy, it’s bland; if it’s tasty, it’s expensive,” says Ordway, a former New York City advertising executive who was inspired to open his own restaurant after years as a frustrated consumer.

“It’s hard to find fast, healthy, and affordable food, but it’s important to all of us with busy careers and families,” he says. “Kids love pizza, and I’d much rather give my two little girls something I know is made with healthy ingredients.”

Jules Thin Crust, which opened in May, sells crispy thin crust pizza made with organic ingredients. The flour, from Naples, Italy, has half the calories of standard pizza flour, and the dough is made with olive oil to provide healthful benefits and a crunchy crust. Topping choices include meats, salmon, chicken, fresh organic vegetables, and locally made and imported cheeses. Organic salad greens are also grown locally.

The rectangular shape of the pizzas—the large is 28 inches by 9 inches—allows customers to buy by the inch from a display of fresh pizzas.

“It’s the tapas idea,” Ordway says. “We usually have about 15 pies out there, and customers usually try two or three in three-inch increments.”

Jules’ best-seller is topped with chopped tomato, basil, arugula, garlic, mozzarella, and tomato sauce. Another popular pie includes homemade potato chips, ricotta, walnuts, rosemary, and mozzarella. Customers can also create their own pizzas.

Jules bakes dessert pizzas daily, some topped with mascarpone cheese and fruits, others with organic chocolate chips and Nutella (a chocolaty hazelnut spread). Moreover, Ordway serves brunch pizzas, prepared with organic eggs, on weekends.

Though the atmosphere in the 2,200-square-foot space is modern and sophisticated, with vaulted ceilings, tiled walls, and granite countertops, Jules combines that sophistication with comfort, giving special attention to families with children. The restaurant’s “fly-by” service uses the convenience of cell phones and credit cards.

“We have an alley in the rear of the building and ask customers to call right before they pull in,” Ordway says. We run their pizza out to them. It’s perfect for parents with kids in car seats.”

Jules also offers pizza-making birthday parties for children, where every child creates a pizza to take home and bake.

“I think what sets us apart is that I have taken the best of what I’ve seen during my business travels, whether in New York or San Francisco or in Israel or Europe, and combined them to create a one-of-a-kind experience,” Ordway says.

Ordway doesn’t want to keep Jules truly one-of-a-kind for long. He already is looking for his next location and plans to roll out the concept gradually throughout the Northeast.

To that end, he has focused on his brand identity from the start, carefully designing his logo, menu, and boxes. He’s also considering bottling his popular salad dressings.

“We’ve designed the restaurant to look bigger than it is. About 40 percent of our customers ask if it’s a franchise,” Ordway says.

Whether Jules will be a franchise is yet to be determined. Ordway says he wants to maintain quality control and likely will use investors to help grow the chain initially.