Before 603-Bar-B-Q even opened its doors at noon, a line of over two dozen people snaked from the front door into the parking lot.
It was the second Friday in September, and the line surprised no one. At noon on the dot, owner Ben Normandeau unlocked the door and hung a large flag reading “BBQ” outside. People began streaming in as more cars arrived to feed the line.
“You can’t find barbecue like this anywhere,” said longtime customer Diana Duncklee. “You just can’t. The quality. And it’s always presented picture-perfect, and it’s as good as the picture looks.”
The Hillsborough resident discovered 603 Bar-B-Q shortly after it opened two years ago and quickly became a regular, stopping by whenever she found herself in Concord with a little time to spare. But her special spot for barbecue has become the favorite of many others both nearby and afar.
“I always bring home a full rack of ribs, whether it takes me three days to eat it,” said Duncklee. “Me and my husband, we eat it for a few days. It’s a good-sized hunk of meat.”
A little off the beaten path, the eatery, located next to Litherman’s Limited Brewing Company in the Concord Business Center on Hall Street, has amassed quite the following. Normandeau, a Concord native, finds himself in awe of the popularity his food has garnered.
“It’s just been crazier and crazier, and we make more food,” he said. “We make as much food as we can. We pack it in these fridges and then throw as much as we can on those smokers, and it just sells. People line up, which is amazing.”
He graduated from Concord High School in 2017 and pursued a career as an electrician before pivoting to barbecue after he began smoking meat during the pandemic and sharing photos on Instagram.
“I just kind of wanted a place to post all my food so it wasn’t lost in my camera roll with electrical pictures and stuff like that,” he said. “And then people just started following it, and people started to like the food, and it all snowballed.”
He worked for a while at a barbecue joint in Texas and decided to model his food after the state’s style of cuisine. At first, 603 Bar-B-Q began as a food truck, eventually morphing into the brick-and-mortar location attached to Litherman’s.
People flock from around New England to line up for pulled pork, ribs, mac and cheese, baked potatoes, sausage, cornbread and more. Normandeau even hung up a map where people can stick pins from their home states.
“When people are coming from that far to try it, I think they just want to be the first ones to get here so they don’t miss out on anything at the end of the day, because we do run out of food because we cook it fresh, and we don’t want to serve day-old food or anything like that,” Normandeau said.
Donna and Lamont Anderson drove to Concord from Bath, Maine. They heard about Normandeau’s barbecue from one of Lamont’s coworkers the week prior and knew they needed to try it. Lamont hails from Texas but has lived in Maine for 34 years and wanted a taste of home.
“There’s barbecue, but good barbecue is hard to find. Seems like we got the right place,” Donna Anderson said.
Steve Andrews and Haley Bryant arrived at 11 a.m. that day, making them the earliest in line.
“It’s the best,” Bryant said. “The quality is so much better, blows everyone else out of the water. I like Smokeshow, and we like KC’s in Manchester, but everything’s better here.”
Bryant discovered 603 Bar-B-Q around a year ago and introduced Andrews to it earlier this year. They’ve started timing their arrival to avoid getting stuck at the back of a long line.
Faith Devoe and Allan Foye take the same approach. They identify as “regulars” and used to come every week before people started queuing up so early. Now, they venture from Derry around once a month to get the barbecue they love.
“The last time we came up was on a Sunday and it was 12:20 and the line was down there,” Devoe said, pointing to around the block.
The line became a daily phenomenon at the start of the summer after the barbecue spot celebrated its two-year anniversary, according to Normandeau.
“It’s a blessing. It’s crazy. I really don’t have the words for it, to be honest,” he said. “I can’t say enough about our customers and our staff, and nothing would be happening without all of them.”
Duncklee, who has seen 603-Bar-B-Q transform since it first opened its doors, feels a sense of pride as a long-term customer in what the team has accomplished.
“I love these kids in here,” she said. “They’re hard workers, and they’ve really got it going on. It’s worth the wait. Not too many places are worth the wait.”
As business continues to grow, so do Normandeau’s dreams for what 603-Bar-B-Q can become. He’s looking to branch into the wholesale market by bottling sauces and mass-producing sausages.
“I think we just want one amazing restaurant,” he said. “We would obviously like a bigger space where we can have a bar and some outdoor space for live music and cornhole and outdoor seating or whatnot.”
Normandeau believes the care that he and his team invest in their food is what sets their cuisine apart and has attracted so much buzz in recent months.
“Somebody’s here for 16 hours a day, cutting wood, putting it on the smoker. Rain, shine, snow, sleet, freezing,” he said. “We have no coverage out there. Smokers are out in the middle of the parking lot. It’s not glamorous by any means, but we get it done. And I think that’s what people respect about it, and that’s what keeps people coming back.”
More information:
603-Bar-B-Q is open Thursdays through Saturdays from 12 – 6 p.m. or until sold out, and on Sundays from 12-5 p.m. or until sold out. The eatery is located at 126 Hall Street, Unit A in Concord. Visit www.bbqnh.com to learn more.
