Tucked along the banks of the St. Joseph River in Buchanan, a new BBQ restaurant is ready to serve the southwest Michigan community.
Anton and Ariel Lockett, owners of the St. Joseph-based food truck Evelyn Mae’s BBQ, hosted a grand opening celebration Friday for their first brick-and-mortar restaurant, Fifteen-2-Twelve. The new restaurant is named after the building’s address, 15212 N. Red Bud Trail, in the former Wheatberry Tavern location.
“It’s been quite a journey to this point,” Anton Lockett said. “Like I told most of my staff, I hope this is a starting point for more to come. We’re excited to be here in Buchanan, we’re excited to just bring food here, feed people and bring a nice fun place to hang out. We hope to make this a place here for years to come. … The main goal is to give a family feel.”
The event included a ribbon-cutting ceremony with the Buchanan Area Chamber of Commerce, which is wrapping up its restaurant week this week.
“This is our finale, and I can’t think of a better event than a ribbon cutting and grand opening to put the capstone on the restaurant week here,” said Chamber Executive Director Brandon DeJaynes. “I speak on behalf of the entire community in saying that we are really excited about this location, and this business with Ariel and Anton doing scratch cooking here. I think this is really gonna help encapsulate and capture what makes Buchanan such a great place to live.”
The Wheatberry Tavern was a popular restaurant tucked along the winding, forest-lined road along the St. Joseph River. It was known for its tavern fare, as well as its take on southern-style BBQ. The restaurant closed in April 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and never re-opened.
“Wheatberry was one of my mom’s favorite restaurants,” Anton told us back in November. “It’s kind of weird coming around full-circle and owning it. … It’s a spot we frequented, so I know the history and I know the food they put out. We’re excited to re-open it and hopefully people will enjoy it just as much – or more.”
After a series of unexpected life events led them to open Evelyn Mae’s BBQ as a catering-only company in November of 2019, the two expanded their business to operating out of a food truck in the summer of 2021. Since then, the food truck has popped up at events all across Southwest Michigan, including the 2022 KitchenAid Senior PGA Championship where they catered the Makers Trail 19th Hole, helped push their demand to a level that required yet another area of expansion.
After a different location fell through, the Lockett’s discovered the potential of the Wheatberry location. Anton said its a perfect location between several southwest Michigan towns, and its natural beauty and proximity to the Red Bud motocross track will serve them well.
“I just think with the scenery and the things that are happening around this area, that it was the perfect location.” Anton said. “Hopefully, if we do it the right way and and get people talking about it, we’ll be able to reach a long way. … It’s a big plus that barbeque was on the menu when it was Wheatberry, I think it’s equal parts fate and luck.”
Anton says in addition to their BBQ offerings, they offer specialty cocktails by Jasmine Zickafoose of Jady Jae’s Cocktail Co local craft beer on tap. He described his style as a mix of different BBQ styles.
“The brisket is pretty Texas-style … the rest of our meats are more Midwest-style,” he said. “We don’t use a lot of sugar – we let the meat speak for itself. We have a vinegar-based BBQ sauce, as well as a mustard-based sauce. We also have a blueberry-habanero sauce we make with local blueberries.”
The restaurant hosted a soft opening in February, and Anton said they generally want to make the restaurant an inviting space for the community, with live music and more.
“We want to do some things to bring the community into the building,” he said. “Some feel-good music, activities and just make the space more than a restaurant.”
For more information on Fifteen-2-Twelve and Evelyn Mae’s BBQ, visit their Facebook page.
By Ryan Yuenger
ryany@wsjm.com
https://www.facebook.com/wsjmfm/videos/1397765174331226
