By Alex Irizarry
Staff Writer
The savory smell of smoked meat overtakes your senses the moment you step out of your car. The smell, scenery, and sound of fire cracking gives customers a small preview of the experience they are about to have. Welcome to Hard Eight Barbecue.
Ten years ago, the first Hard Eight opened in Stephenville, TX. Since then, three other locations have opened in Brady, Roanoke and Coppell. After winning many awards in Texas and around the world, Hard Eight was recently announced as the Small Business of the Year for Coppell.
It is hard to believe that it all started with a small ranch in Stephenville. The Hard Eight was an exotic deer ranch owned by Vicki and Philip Nevins. They, with their son-in-law Chad Decker, decided to open their own barbecue joint. With their first location came part time labor and great business, but this was only the beginning.
At that time, Philip and Decker were flying down to Brady very often to go on hunting trips. Philip had the idea to open another restaurant down in Brady, and shortly thereafter they did just that. It ran like this for around five years, then a city councilmen for Coppell named Bill York came to town.
York lived near the Hard Eight location and immediately knew Coppell needed one of them so he went to the Nevins every day – for a year – until he finally convinced them to open a new location. Eventually, this led to the opening of a Roanoke location two years ago, and soon another will be opening in Arlington. But there are tragedies that come with the good fortune
Sadly the Brady location closed down a few years ago due to low business most of the year, the only high points were during deer season, forcing the team to close the doors of the second location. The other tragic story involves the family behind the business. Nearly five years ago, Philip Nevins past away leaving his wife, son-in-law, and daughter behind to run the growing franchise on their own.
And run it they have. Not counting the Small Business award, or the multitude of awards in barbeque awards for contests here in Texas. In only 10 years, Hard Eight has become one of the best barbecue places in the country.
“We’re like the barbecue embassy,” Blair said. “People come from all over the world and eat here”.
Of all the businesses mentioned for this award, Hard Eight was the only one to be a restaurant, and it‘s not just because it has great barbecue.
One of the reasons Hard Eight won the award was of how active the company and Blair, the Treasurer on the Chamber, are in our community. However, what pushed them over the top is how Hard Eight has done much more than help just this community, but people throughout the nation.
“In the end, I believe it was the outstanding acts of relief delivering food and supplies that David, Blair and Hard Eight exhibited within 48 hours after the Oklahoma tornadoes hit this Spring. This tipped the scale for this year’s award to go to Coppell’s Hard Eight BBQ” Coppell Chamber President Kristi Valentine said.
Only a few hours after the news of the tornado, Blair and his crew filled two trucks full of supplies and drove to assist in relief efforts. Hard Eight was one of the first businesses in the nation to respond with supplies for the survivors of the disaster. In Coppell, the restaurant has contributed to many different groups including the American Cancer Society, CISD programs, Coppell Baseball Assoc. and Big Brothers and Big Sisters of Fort Worth.
As much as they are honored by the award, Blair and his staff believe all that is yesterday, and don’t want to dwell too much on it. The plan now is to keep their heads down, remain humble, and keep looking forward to tomorrow.
