Passing through the Shelby County town of Bagdad, you come upon a two-story, century-old brick building. The large, light green letters above the front door say “B&N Food Market.” The owner, whose duties include but are not limited to head cook, baker, and grill master, goes by the name of “Buckshot.” His granddad named him that as a baby, and it stuck.
“I was born up in Frankfort. My granddad, he came up there to see me, I guess. And when he looked at me, he said, well, he ain't no bigger than a buckshot. And that's been since 1984, so I just go by buckshot.”
Now 41 and wearing a red apron, Buckshot says he worked as a young boy for his granddad. Garnett Newton started the B&N Food Market in 1970.
“Back in the day, it was, you know, aisles full of stuff, groceries, all kinds of stuff. And they had a butcher block back there. He would cut up sides of beef and make the hamburger out of it and grind.”
Buckshot still has the 80-year-old meat grinder in the market kitchen and cooks the “Newt Burger” the way his grandfather did.
“We still do it the same way he taught us, and got to put the salt and pepper to it. Yeah, I try to tell them back there all the time, if I see them seasoning. Some people, you know, they think they know how. I don't care how you know how to cook, but do you know how Newt knows how to cook? I'm real particular, because if you do it the same way that a legend does it, yeah, I mean, why not?”
Some grocery items still line one wall inside, but tables, seats, and a kitchen fill most of the market, which is often packed with customers looking for homemade comfort food. One of the biggest sellers is Buckshot’s barbecue, which cooks overnight in a smoke shed behind the main building. Half a dozen smokers are full of juicy meat. Buckshot went to Texas to learn from some barbecue masters.
“Let's see three racks of ribs are out there, or pork shoulders out there. Nine briskets are out there, two bone and pork loins are out there. I think six or eight turkey breasts are out there. Had to get it all prepared this morning.”
Nearby, there’s also a small brick building called the cake house with an industrial oven. Buckshot says what happens here is special.
“A lot of magic. This is where all the cakes are made, the cobblers, the cookies, the brownies, and right now, I’m putting eight “Coon Hunter Cakes” in here.”
The recipe for Coon Hunter Cake comes from Buckshot’s grandmother.
“I call it world famous, because people from all over the world eat it.”
B&N Food Market opens for breakfast, and by lunch hour, it’s not unusual to see a line of customers almost out the door. Many of the regulars have eaten here for years. Patsy Hart and her husband claim they’ve enjoyed meals here for 25 years.
“Yeah, when we first started coming, it was his grandfather who owned it. He made the, still the best hamburgers you ever ate, and he'd have other things, but that's what we got.”
The couple also enjoys the pork chops and sides.
“When you could cut a pork chop almost two inches thick and it's tender enough to cut with a fork, there's no discussion. And his cabbage, cooked cabbage and turnip greens or mixed greens? I could just eat double of those.”
On a weekday before Christmas, the 300-square-foot kitchen was crowded with Buckshot and several food preparers who also bring the meals out to customers. Burgers sizzled on a grill, white icing smothered cakes, and sides like pinto beans sat ready to fill plates. Kathy Robinson from North Carolina waited at the counter for a take-out meal with a roast beef sandwich.
“I plan my trips around being here on Thursday for the roast special. I have friends that live in Baghdad, and I always make sure I'm here on a Thursday to get the Thursday special.”
The atmosphere is casual and friendly. Devona Rankin is working at the check-out counter.
“People say, I don't know any other people that are coming in here anymore. I said, well, I don't know them when they come in, but I know them when they go out, because Little Miss talks a lot, has an inquiring mind. I love it. I love the atmosphere. I love the busyness. I love the craziness.”
For Buckshot, it’s all about honoring his family’s legacy and serving up mouthwatering eats.
“It's very important to me, because I take a lot of pride in this place, and my grandparents were, you know, top of the line people. I know my granddad was proud of me because he told me before he died, but he wouldn't know what to think of me now, because we took it, this place, it's gone to another level.”
The lines of customers are proof of that.
