Hank's History
In
1988 Hanks' Smokehouse Southern Grillery was only a dream to Henry "Hank"
Clay Clark. Opening a tiny walk up barbecue shack on a small side street
North of downtown Harrisonburg in 1988, Clark learned the barbecue trade.
Every morning around 6:00 am Clark would throw a match on a pile of charcoal
and hickory. He would sell only three items - pork BBQ, sliced beef BBQ
and BBQ chicken halves, and concentrated on doing these three perfectly.
As word grew, so did his business.
In 1990, Hank moved his location into town and expanded his menu. Hank's BBQ now offered seating for lunch and dinner and added items like rattlesnake, alligator and turtle stews to the menu as well as smoked trout and cajun foods such as shrimp ettouffee. His reputation for unique quality foods steadily grew. Soon, requests for barbecued catered events grew.
By 1993, Hank decided to concentrate on catering and moved his kitchen to Linville just north of Harrisonburg - a location where significant food education, hiring and growth occurred. In 1996, his catering business had grown to such extent that he needed a partner. Stacy Rose, past employee and friend, moved from Charlotte, NC to join forces in their pursuit of growing the best catering company in Rockingham County.
After having enlarged the kitchen every year and doubling sales every year, by 1999 the two had outgrown their facility were looking to move again. So they recruited another partner and long time friend John Strong. By the end of 1999, Clay Clark, Stacy Rose and John Strong owned two facets with two locations-Hank's Catering in Linville, VA and Hank's Marketplace in the Dayton Farmer's Market in Dayton, VA. So after continued growth and successful ventures the three decided it was high time to open a full-fledged restaurant. Thus in 2002, Hank's Smokehouse Southern Grillery evolved. Clay, Stacy and John designed a facility that operates Hank's Catering, Hank's Marketplace and Hank's Smokehouse.
Now we have grown to become the premier caterer in the Shenandoah Valley and a local favorite and tourist attraction for unique smoked foods. However, with this growth we have not outgrown what has gotten us here-personal service and quality foods.
In fact you can still come by every morning around 6:00 am and find a
match being lit to a pile of charcoal and hickory signifying the beginning
of a day of barbecuing. WE LOVE IT!