Willie Ray’s Q Shack starts new chapter with more seating for barbecue restaurant

CEDAR RAPIDS — Willie Ray's Q Shack may have to find a new name, given its new location.

The barbecue staple, a former drive-thru location opened in 2019 with an emphasis on the “shack” at its tiny 250-square-feet on 288 Blairs Ferry Rd. NE, has settled into its new home just across the parking lot at 266 Blairs Ferry Rd. NE.

The new spot, with seating for 30, started opening in July 2023. It’s still in a “testing” phase, but things are looking promising with the response so far.

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Owner Willie Ray Fairley, who is known for his philanthropy around the country as much as his smoked ribs, said the drive-thru shack soon will return in a sort of hybrid between sit-down and takeout, spread across the parking lot of the small shopping strip.

“I think it’s a new beginning,” Fairley said. “I was probably asked five to six times a day when we were going to open it, so we just made it happen.”

Fairley started using the space, located next to Batteries Plus, when he needed more cooler storage to feed the masses after the derecho hit Cedar Rapids in 2020. Before long, the owners of the space asked if he wanted to take over the lease, which Fairley said was previously home to a Milio’s Sandwiches shop.

One day last year, after countless missions to serve folks affected by natural disasters around the Midwest and South, he found the momentum to open up the shop in town. A grand opening is anticipated in the near future.

The barbecue style

With a proprietary blend of seasonings cooked at a deliberate pace over hickory wood, Fairley imports a style inherited from his father in his native Mississippi. His father, Willie Fairley Sr., is known as a barbecue master in their community.

Fairley describes the Mississippi style as a root of most other barbecue styles around the south — the granddaddy of barbecue, so to speak.

“It’s like a vacation down South, where you find one of those little hole-in-the-wall spots,” he said. “It’s the kind of flavor you get when you go to those places.”

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Sauced by the common Sweet Baby Ray’s available to consumers at grocery stores, his secret is in the smoke. Ribs are cooked for four hours, but it’s not the length of time that makes the difference — it’s how you use it.

Avoiding excess heat and ensuring a proper cooking process is all done by visual inspection for someone with an eye for barbecue.

“The key is babysitting it,” Fairley said. “You don’t leave a baby unattended, and you don’t leave the ribs unattended.”

Fairley’s future

Before he became known for distributing thousands of meals across multiple states to those surviving the aftermath of a derecho, tornadoes and hurricanes, one of Fairley’s goals in life was to have a building with his name on it.

Now, with that well secured, his goal is to own one. While giving away food may seem antithetical to building wealth for many, he sees things differently.

As others articulate how valuable their time is, Fairley proclaims the opposite. The child of two Methodist pastors, there are parallels between Fairley’s mindset on investments and the traditional Christian concepts of tithing.

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“My time is free. I’m blessed to be here and to be able to do this, because the work we do for someone else is needed,” he said. “When you do things for others, eventually it will come back. You can look at it like, do you want it now, or do you want it later? It’s self investment.”

In the distant future, he plans to expand the hours of his daytime restaurant, add breakfast and specialized jellies like the ones his parents make back home.

But his generosity, instilled at a young age through his parents’ continual community work, will remain a core — and rare — pillar of business.

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Comments: Features reporter Elijah Decious can be reached at (319) 398-8340 or elijah.decious@thegazette.com.