There are three things Charles Kendrick asked for from life: a little red wagon, a Harley-Davidson he could push to 100 mph, and an endless stream of barbecue.
He bought himself the wagon. He never did get the motorcycle. And on Monday his biggest dream will come true when he swings open the doors of the restaurant he's long imagined, Mr. K's Barbeque at North Stone Avenue and River Road.
"It's always been on my mind from when I was a little kid," he said Friday as whirring saws, clanking metal and banging hammers created a symphony that filled the shimmering wood-and-brick dining room and spilled into the parking lot.
"I'm a little nervous," Kendrick said a few hours before he and his partners, daughter Rhonda Kendrick and local restaurateur and restaurant designer John Foster, hosted a party for friends and family members. "But I'm hopeful and anticipating."
This is actually the second Mr. K's that Charles Kendrick has opened. The first one has been around 13 years in the South Park Avenue storefront that houses Kendrick's Afro-American Museum. A loyal following swears by the smoked beef brisket and pulled pork dressed in tangy, peppery barbecue sauce made from a century-old family recipe. Many call it the only true Tucson barbecue.
Kendrick wanted to take Mr. K's beyond its humble beginnings to a bigger venue. He even toyed with the idea of multiple locations, but after turning the restaurant over to his son Ray about 10 years ago, he largely left the barbecue business. But Kendrick, 79, never really got barbecue out of his system.
"Charles has never had the opportunity to be fully self-expressed at Park Avenue," said Foster, who also owns Mays Counter Chicken & Waffles on East Speedway.
The new restaurant - which has no affiliation with its predecessor - is all about Kendrick, from the age-old family recipes handed down to him by his grandparents to the family photos and memorabilia that will eventually adorn the walls. There will be pictures of Kendrick from his days at the University of Arizona, family photos, collages of his military days and from the nearly 50 years he spent as a pharmacist in Tucson.
The centerpiece, though, is the barbecue, well-crafted from Kendrick's recipes that will be "humbly perfected" by executive chef Steve Sergeant, who worked with Foster at Mays Counter. Meats - pulled chicken and pork, brisket, smoked turkey breast and sausages - will be smoked in two gigantic state-of-the-art smokers and sliced to order.
"This is not a reheat-and-serve restaurant," said Foster.
Sides include fresh salad, the house-special coleslaw made with a hint of cinnamon, and Southern favorites including mac and cheese, collard greens, fried okra and yams, priced at $2 single, $7 family size.
"Whatever people want, that's what we're going to give them," said Kendrick, who had a hand in the direction of every aspect of the restaurant, from the menu to the decor.
In addition to lessons handed down by his grandparents, who raised him after his mother died when he was an infant, Kendrick is a self-professed barbecue scholar of sorts. Over the years, he has traveled numerous times to Kansas City and Texas, stopping by every barbecue joint with an open sign. He took note of the flavors, the side dishes, the decor. He visited small mom-and-pop shops and big corporate chains.
His travels brought him to three basic conclusions: Barbecue has to be simple, reasonably priced and always smoked with real wood.
Which is why there is a cord of neatly stacked mesquite wood at the front door of the 5,997-square-foot building that once housed a Chili's.
"If you don't see the wood and smell the smoke, you're in the wrong place; that's not barbecue," said Kendrick, who calls the restaurant his "last hooray."
"When we've reached perfection and the thrill is gone, I'll shake hands with my girlfriend, kiss my horse and ride off in the sunset hopefully in a blaze of glory," he said with a chuckle.
Kendrick won't be directly involved in the daily operations, but he will be a constant presence at the restaurant, dispensing his 'cue knowledge and greeting customers.
He'll also sneak some barbecue, even if his doctor says he should have it only on occasion because of his high cholesterol.
"But I interpret occasionally to mean every day," he said.
Kendrick family 'cue
• The Original Mr. K's BBQ, 1830 S. Park Ave. Hours: 10:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays. Moving this fall to 6302 S. Park Ave., just north of Valencia Road.
• Mr. K's Barbeque, 4911 N. Stone Ave. Hours: 10:30 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily starting Monday. Opening a Sierra Vista outpost in November.
"If you don't see the wood and smell the smoke, you're in the wrong place; that's not barbecue."
Charles Kendrick
namesake and operator of Mr. K's Barbeque
Original Mr. K's set to move south
So what happens to Mr. K's on South Park Avenue at Silverlake Road?
Ray Kendrick said it is business as usual, with the exception of the new name. This fall, he and his longtime partner will move farther south on Park Avenue, to the former Snuffy's Bar and Grill, which closed about seven months ago north of Tucson International Airport.
"There's going to be a lot of seating in there. We're going to have air conditioning as opposed to the swamp coolers here," he said.
The younger Kendrick turned down a chance to join his father and sister in the new restaurant.
"I didn't like the way they were going to be doing things," he said. "I have been doing things here a certain way for 13 years. There's a certain flavor profile and I don't want people to get confused. It's going to be something totally different" at the new restaurant.
Family members say negotiations over the summer often turned testy, but in the end, "we're still family," Charles Kendrick said.
"This is for my father. Basically, I would love to see the place get opened and I would like to see it do well while he's still around," Ray Kendrick said.
Kendrick, 39, said he may expand his menu once he moves into the new building. But for the most part it will remain true to what his customers have come to love.
- Cathalena E. Burch
Contact reporter Cathalena E. Burch at cburch@azstarnet.com or 573-4642.
