Grafton BBQ restaurant's grand opening is Saturday

EATON TWP. — There is no such thing as "good, clean BBQ," Bryan Jones said. Serving heaping helpings of ribs, pulled pork, burgers, wings, sandwiches, macaroni and cheese, and other comfort food, the food at Jones Bones BBQ & Grub is anything but "clean" — and Jones said if anyone tries the food once, that person is bound to come back. The cafeteria-style restaurant's grand opening is Saturday, but it has been serving customers at the corner of Island Road and state Route 82 for about a week. Many across Northeast Ohio know the Joneses from Bryan and Krista Jones' food truck under the same name, Bryan Jones said. The pair have run the food truck for the past six years, serving an abbreviated menu of the southern cooking settling into Eaton Estates. "It's not like work because I love what I do," he said. "I've been doing this recipe, not by myself but with my grandmother since I was about 11 years old. My daughter, she's 6, she helps. So passed on down to another generation." Those recipes have been in his family for more than 50 years, passed down from his grandmother, Mabel Jones. While he's taken a street-food twist to some — like heaping macaroni and cheese and pulled pork on Texas toast — the heart of his food is still her Tennessee cooking. Krista Jones said she was originally against the idea of opening a stationary restaurant after years with the food truck. She was looking to move south, but when her friends from Florida announced they'd be coming to Ohio, she warmed up to the idea of a kitchen without wheels. From there the hunt was on to find a space. Initially looking in Elyria, as the couple lives in Elyria Township, they eventually widened their search and found the green-roofed diner off Island Road. "They say everything happens for a reason, but there was no parking in downtown Elyria, no place to put my smoker, it would have been a struggle," Bryan Jones said. "This is perfect." A crowded, narrow kitchen is similar to working in the food truck, and customers will get their orders in carry out boxes whether or not they are dining there. Watching the sun rise at the smoker behind the building, Bryan Jones said he can often be found cooking at 5:30 a.m., trading his pig-hat for a headlamp. Once established, the pair plans to offer a $5 meal special for first responders and veterans, as well as a free community pig roast in the fall. "We just want to build roots in the community because we don't want to go nowhere," Bryan Jones said. "We've been in that truck all over the state of Ohio and we just want to ground somewhere." Jones Bones BBQ is open 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday and 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday. It also offers carry-out bulk pickup with 24-hour notice and its food truck can be booked for events. For more information visit Jones Bones BBQ on Facebook or call (440) 420-2210. Contact Carissa Woytach at (440) 329-7245 or cwoytach@chroniclet.com. Follow her on Twitter @CWoytach.