Willie Jewell’s Old School Bar-B-Q, the fast-casual spinoff from the 67-year-veteran Bono’s Pit Bar-B-Q concept, is headed North to the Granite State. Willie Jewell’s will be opening its newest location in Nashua, New Hampshire, on October 4. 

This will be the sixth location for the growing concept, which will now have restaurants in Florida, Georgia, New Hampshire, and South Carolina. In addition, multi-unit deals have been procured in Atlanta, Aiken, South Carolina, and Tampa, Florida. Willie Jewell’s is looking to double in size in the next nine months.

Willie Jewell’s Old School Bar-B-Q was created by Joe Adeeb and Josh Martino, CEO and president of Bono’s and Willie Jewell’s. The fast-casual concept has a smaller footprint and a less expensive check average, but will still smoke all of their barbecue the old-fashioned way, the low and slow method that has made Bono’s a Jacksonville favorite since 1949 and now Willie Jewell’s since 2009. Adeeb and Martino were looking for an opportunity to enter the rapidly growing fast-casual market as well as a less expensive franchise package for potential franchisees and area developers. 

It turns out that Willie Jewell Daniels was a real person and someone that made a big impact in Adeeb’s life. Adeeb’s grandfather rescued Daniels from the streets of Jacksonville when she was only a teen. She went to work in their family restaurant and quickly proved that she could cook almost anything. Adeeb attributes 95 percent of his cooking knowledge to Willie Jewell and says, “Not only was Willie Jewell an incredible cook, she was an incredible person.” 

He cherishes the things that she taught him about cooking, but more importantly the things she taught him about life.