CROPWELL — A local restaurant is continuing its 40-year tradition of offering quality food in a new building.

“Fat Man’s Bar-B-Que was started by my grandfather, Fletcher Davis, in 1969,” said third-generation owner Jon Davis.

Davis said the Fat Man’s Bar-B-Que was originally located across the road from its current location on U.S. 231 in Cropwell.

“My dad, Larry Davis Sr., built a restaurant in this location in 1978,” he said.

Davis said about 15 years ago, the restaurant his father built burned down, and the restaurant moved to the small building next door.

“When I took over in 2006, I decided to rebuild on the original location (that burned down 15 years ago),” he said.

Davis said the new restaurant has the same layout as the original restaurant his father built.

“We slightly modified the outside, but it is almost the same as the original restaurant,” he said.

Davis said the new location opened for business Oct. 28.

“Business is good so far,” he said. “Everyone loves it.”

Davis said the new restaurant more than quadrupled the size of the smaller building.

“We can seat about 70 people inside, and about 44 outside on the tables on the porch,” he said. “We could only seat about 20 to 30 people in the smaller building.”

Davis said there has been a lot of positive customer feedback about the new building.

“We were just overcrowded in the other building, and needed more space,” he said. “We wanted a nice place for customers to come and eat.”

Davis said the smaller restaurant handled more take-out business, especially during the fall and winter.

“The new building has better accommodations for customers who want to dine-in,” he said.

Davis said Fat Man’s Bar-B-Que offers beef, pork and chicken barbecue, ribs, hamburgers, salads, catfish, hushpuppies, hot dogs, Polish sausage dogs, and more.

“We are looking to offer meat and vegetable plates soon,” he said.

Fat Man’s Bar-B-Que is open from 10 a.m.-8 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday, from 10 a.m.-9 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, and from 11 a.m.-8 p.m. on Sunday.

“We plan to open on Tuesdays when I can hire more help,” he said.

Davis said he is in the process of adding additional employees.

“I need at least 6 to 10 more employees,” he said.

Davis said he grew up in the restaurant business, and is happy to see it continue to grow.

“We intend to keep growing, and stay in this area,” he said.

Davis said there has been a lot of positive feedback from loyal customers, and wants to thank them for supporting Fat Man’s Bar-B-Que.

“The community has been excited about the whole process,” he said. “I have not heard anything negative. The customers say the food is just as good as it always was.”