In the event you get pleasure from outfitting your yard and patio with wholesome crops; should you worth Alabama-made artwork and crafts; and should you desire (and who doesn’t?) recent fruits and veggies from close by farms, then Ingram’s Farmers Market & Garden Center might be your go-to, one-stop store for all the above.
However loads of individuals who neither need nor want produce, crops or pottery frequently file by Ingram’s entrance doorways. They stroll proper previous the piles of peaches and baskets of begonias and make a beeline for the again counter, eyes homed in on the chalkboard menu. They’re right here for the meals, and doubtless most of them, the barbecue.
In Millbrook, this multitasking market was a produce stand up to now. However when Mike and JoAnne Ingram purchased it in 2018, they gave it a facelift and tremendously expanded its choices. Mike had offered a enterprise and entered the company world. However after a decade of that work, he missed the interplay he’d had with clients when he was a enterprise proprietor. “I needed to get again into making these private connections,” he says. “And that’s what we’re doing right here. I like speaking to folks, and Millbrook has been so supportive. It’s nice. I like that they love our meals.”
However the barbecue, burgers, camp stew and lengthy checklist of dessert delights which have actually put Ingram’s on the map didn’t come alongside till 2019, a 12 months after opening, as JoAnne explains. “Once I met Mike once we have been college students at Troy, he was already stepping into barbecue, cooking for his fraternity’s fundraisers,” she says. Then, all through his different profession, when the couple lived in Union Springs, he continued volunteering his grill abilities. “Doing barbecue to assist teams increase cash grew to become a passion for me,” Mike says.
Despite the fact that he had been smoking ‘cue and cooking up huge batches of camp stew for many years, JoAnne needed to discuss him into including the kitchen and opening the restaurant at Ingram’s. “I actually needed to encourage him to do it,” she says. Immediately, they’re each glad, together with their loyal clients, that he listened. “The restaurant a part of it has been a whirlwind success,” JoAnne says. In 2020, that they had to purchase one other grill and smoker to maintain up with demand for the barbecue.
It’s not arduous to grasp why. Virtually all the things on the menu is comprised of scratch in-house, together with the divinity, key lime pie, pink velvet cake and hummingbird cake make by baker Daybreak Davis. The perimeters, just like the light-and-fluffy potato salad (nearly like whipped potatoes), with simply the correct crunch from small-diced pickles, are recipes from JoAnne’s household. And the primary sights — the barbecue and camp stew — are made by Mike with the identical substances and strategies he’s been utilizing for years.
His pork butts (which, when accomplished, are chopped, not pulled) are bathed in a skinny, seasoned liquid he calls “JuJu sauce” earlier than being wrapped in foil and cooked for a few hours over native oak and hickory smoke. They’re then uncovered and cooked a couple of hours extra. “It’s a bit unorthodox to cowl it for a time, however folks just like the outcome,” Mike says. Turkey breasts are smoked for six hours, and St. Louis-style ribs get smoked a bit of greater than 4 hours. Beef brisket, with a superior smoke ring, and favorites like Conecuh sausage are on the menu, too. Mike’s barbecue sauce is a vinegar-heavy concoction created by his dad.
Along with its savory specialties, Ingram’s additionally has a wide range of ice cream. (Jennifer Kornegay / Alabama Dwelling)
The smoked turkey breast at Ingram’s is moist and flavorful. (Jennifer Kornegay / Alabama Dwelling)
JoAnne and Mike Ingram, far proper, reward the Ingram’s staff for all the time giving every shopper and diner a heat welcome. (Jennifer Kornegay / Alabama Dwelling)
Barbecue nachos, served with hen, beef or pork, are among the best sellers. (Jennifer Kornegay / Alabama Dwelling)
Each ounce of meat is meltingly tender and flavorful, even sans sauce. The barbecue nachos — tortilla chips smothered in a creamy, spicy sauce, topped along with your selection of barbecue beef, hen or pork, studded with pickled jalapenos after which sprinkled with shredded cheese — are extraordinarily widespread. So is the Huge Mike Burger, a three-quarter-pound beast of a beef patty that’s smoked for an hour earlier than it’s slid between a bun.
The camp stew is so wanted, Mike makes it in 80-quart batches. Ingram’s sells 120 to 140 quarts every week. And for people who’re on the transfer, the barbecue, camp stew and sides can be found in massive portions to go.
Regardless of not being a certainty within the unique plan, meals is now a necessary piece of Ingram’s enterprise. Produce and crops are seasonal, however folks come year-round for an important meal served by pleasant people. “We cook dinner right here like we’re cooking for our family,” JoAnne says. “And we frequently hear, ‘I’ve not had something right here that’s not good.’ That’s an enormous praise.”
The nice and cozy welcome attracts rave opinions and repeat clients, too. “We’ve bought a number of regulars, and that’s created an actual group spirit right here,” says JoAnne. The couple give their workers credit score for the hospitality, praising their fixed good perspective. “We now have nice staff,” Mike says. “All of us greet each buyer that comes by the door, and other people like that non-public consideration. I feel that has constructed our enterprise as a lot as anything.” That and Mike’s cautious consideration of the small print. “I see nearly each piece of meat that is available in and goes out of right here,” he says.
Thus far, the love they put into the enterprise is being returned. In accordance with JoAnne, it’s an actual pick-up on the longer days. “We get drained, however not a day goes by with out a minimum of one individual telling us they respect us being right here,” she says. “That places the pep again in your step.”
This story initially appeared in Alabama Living magazine.
Ingram’s Farmers Market and Backyard Middle
3740 Magnolia Drive
Millbrook, Alabama 36054
334-517-4682
Hours: 10 a.m. to six p.m. Monday-Friday; 9 a.m. to five p.m. Saturday; open 1 p.m. to five p.m. Sundays till Mom’s Day
Go to the enterprise on Facebook.
