Stop by this local restaurant and you’re likely to run into celebrities like Blair Underwood, Hill Harper, or Erykah Badu. You may even witness an impromptu performance by a group like Take 6. Mayor Laura Miller, State Senator Royce West and Jesse Jackson have also been known to grab a bite to eat here.
But this is not some high priced establishment in an exclusive part of town. It’s Two Podners Barbeque and Seafood Restaurant, located in the heart of South Dallas.
Fred Conwright and his “podner” James Runnels, who was not available for comments, started Ponderosa Barbeque in 1981 on Pennsylvania Ave. After 10 years, the Ponderosa Steakhouse chain sued them and they were forced to change the name of their restaurant. With the help of Lee Ballard from The Naming Center, they chose one that reflected their friendship- Two Podners.
Since then, the restaurant has changed locations several times. At one point there were five Two Podners locations open in the Dallas area. The business has been reduced to the Cullum store and another one on Loop 12 in Oak Cliff.
“We were just best friends who were seizing the opportunity,” Conwright said of the restaurant’s success and longevity. “Never did we imagine that it would excel to where it is today.”
Most noted for its barbecue, he said Two Podners’ is different because it is green hickory smoked to give it its’ tenderness and a smoked flavor.
“We all say we have the best,” Conwright said of all the barbecue places in Dallas. “But mine is the best, typical Texas tradition. It’s the real Texas flavor.”
Aside from the barbecue, he said everybody loves different Two Podners dishes. The banana pudding, peach cobbler, “World Famous Lemonade,” “World’s Best Fruit Punch,” the greens and the yams are just a few favorites.
“Our cornbread is a signature recipe because it never dries out,” he said. “You can have it the next day and it’s just as buttery and just as moist as it was before.”
He said Two Podners prides itself on product quality, customer service, taste and affordable pricing.
“In the food business, everybody is trying to satisfy their taste and you can quench that taste here,” Conwright said. “If our fish doesn’t get you, our vegetables will, the dessert, the drink. We have something that will satisfy that taste bud for an affordable price.”
In addition to their Texas flavor, Two Podners also boasts a relaxed and family friendly atmosphere. The seats are still the same mustard yellow and ketchup red from when it used to be a Burger King. (Conway said they kept the decor because it matches the Two Podners color scheme.)
Along side a silver rendering of the Last Supper, pictures of high profile clients, some autographed, like Clarice Tinsley, John McCaa, Johnnie Taylor, Run DMC and Chip Moody, also hang.
The distinct sound of someone chopping meat on a wooden block mixes with the sound of spinning ceiling fans and TVs blaring the local news. Real ivy plants adorn the dining area and blue shirt clad employees wait behind the silver buffet table to serve customers.
The clientele includes first timers as well as regulars just stopping by to pick up a bite to eat.
William Fisher said he has been coming to the restaurant since it first opened.
“I was here the first day it opened, even when they were over on Gaston, I used to eat there,” he said. “I don’t have a favorite. I just eat whatever you put on the dish.
Everything is good so far.”
Gwen Manor said the distance from her home in Pleasant Grove to Two Podners doesn’t keep her from the stuffed baked potato with everything.
“This is basically the only place where I eat a baked potato. I like it, so I make the drive.”
In addition to barbecue and seafood, Two Podners usually offers daily entree options like smothered chicken fried steak, chicken tetrazzini and burritos.
“Our objective is to get you in here more than one time a week,” said Conwright, discussing the company’s attempts cater to its customers. “We try to make everything on a borderline. If you want to add more sugar, add some. If not, fine. Even our vegetables, we try to season them where there’s a borderline.”
There are about 22 employees at the R. B. Cullum location across the street from Fair Park and the Loop 12 store, not far from A. Maceo Smith High School, has eight.
Conwright said catering events account for about 35% of their business and that Two Podners.
The “two ponders” have also expanded their business to DFW Airport. Conwright said they are part owners of the first convenience store to ever be opened in an airport.
Partnered with a company named Parodies out of Atlanta, they now own three stores located in terminals C and D.
“We bring the restaurant experience and Parodies brings the airport experience,” he said.
“We beat out the Southland Corporation for this contract and Southland owns 7-11. They presented an idea for a corner store (with full sized items) and we presented our store with items for travelers, that’s how we beat them out.”
In addition to being in the restaurant business for almost 25 years, Conwright has also been the pastor of Greater Mt. Hebron Baptist Church in Oak Cliff for three and a half years. Between the responsibilities of the church and the business, he says he often works 16 hour or more days.
“That’s a tough chore. I’m either at church or at work. Or I’m work or at church,” he said. “Pastoring is probably what I will retire doing. My heart is in pastoring.”