Dewey Fitzpatrick, Jr.
Dewey Fitzpatrick, Jr. was originally from Palestine, Texas, where he learned about the food business working at his father’s restaurant as a young man. He spent time in the Army studying commercial dietetics and was in charge of the mess hall in Alabama at Ft. McClellan. He and Goldie Faye Manning married around 1941 and had seven children together. The family moved to Chicago before Dewey accepted a job at the Oakland Vocational School, a veteran trade school in Greenville.
In 1951, Dewey and Goldie Faye Manning Fitzpatrick opened the Spare Rib Bar-B-Q Pit, in Greenville. In 1974, the restaurant moved to South Wesley St. after the Audie Murphy overpass was built. It originally opened as “The Spare Rib”, but his family continued the tradition with “Dewey’s BBQ Market with an online store and in the Chicago area. Fitzpatrick’s son, Robert, also had plans to open a physical store in the Chicago area as of 2018.
The Spare Rib was one of the earliest restaurants in town to defy Jim Crow laws, as they had a mixed-race dining room.[1] Dewey and his meat smoking skills were featured in a National Geographic piece on Texas BBQ in 1980. It was a world-famous restaurant that people from all over came to experience for themselves.[2]
For preparation of the meat they used a “smoked meat preparation process” and special dry rub seasonings. The meats were cooked with “hardwood fire methods.”[3] The business also served as a catering service in the Greenville area while it was open. According to the “Herald Banner,” the business did not have a name at first until they went to place newspaper ads and they were told they needed a name to advertise.[4] The Spare Rib in Greenville closed in 2004.
Dewey and Goldie were active members of the Catholic Church and Dewey was a member of the Knights of Columbus where he was an active philanthropist organizer. Goldie was a member and supporter of the United Way of Hunt County, the NAACP, the League of Women Voters, the Women’s Guild, the Interfaith Women’s Council, the Greenville Entertainment Series, and the Dallas Symphony Concert Series in Greenville. Dewey died in 2013 at the age of 89 and Goldie Fitzpatrick died in 2020 at 95.[5]
[1] Interview with Roz Lane and Betty Franklin.; https://issuu.com/phalconstarnews/docs/khnfeb152012, page 3 and 5.
[2] https://www.heraldbanner.com/news/local_news/iconic-local-restaurant-owner-dead-at-89/article_1d148c8a-5f47-5ad6-a22b-90aa71971076.html
[3] https://deweysbbqmarket.com/
[4] https://www.heraldbanner.com/news/local_news/fitzpatrick-matriarch-of-legendary-local-restaurant-passes-away-at-95/article_0efd09f4-6fc2-11ea-a322-5f9aef949aa8.html
[5] https://www.heraldbanner.com/news/local_news/fitzpatrick-matriarch-of-legendary-local-restaurant-passes-away-at-95/article_0efd09f4-6fc2-11ea-a322-5f9aef949aa8.html.; https://www.heraldbanner.com/news/local_news/iconic-local-restaurant-owner-dead-at-89/article_1d148c8a-5f47-5ad6-a22b-90aa71971076.html.
Ernie Carroll
Ernie Carroll was born in Quitman, Texas in 1926. He died in 1991. After he got out of the Navy, Ernie Carroll worked in Dallas for Shoemaker’s Barbecue, a group of now-defunct barbecue joints founded in 1926 that once dotted downtown Dallas. When he opened his eponymous barbecue joint in 1948, Carroll borrowed their look, with only school desks for seating and a scant menu of barbecue sandwiches.
After Carroll passed away, his daughter Shannon Routh eventually took the place over with her husband, Frank Routh Jr., and their business partner, Howard Barrow. Shannon remembers when sliced beef, ham, and sausage were the only meats in the old brick pit. The popular Ernie Burger was a brisket sandwich topped with barbecue sauce, yellow mustard, and sweet pickle relish. Still in business, Josh Thomas has been the owner of Ernie’s Pit Barbeque since 2018.
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