We’ve made several visits to Baker’s Ribs in Weatherford, a family-owned restaurant that serves delicious BBQ and offers free Bibles to anyone. Owners DeAnna Crear and her husband/partner Brian Crear, moved to Weatherford in 2000 to operate the restaurant.
The couple met in 1994 at the original Baker’s Ribs in the Deep Ellum area of Dallas, where Brian was the manager. DeAnna’s company, Mercer Events & Promotions, worked with the restaurant and she began catering for them on weekends. The nephew of the founder of Baker’s Ribs, Brian is a self-taught chef and award-winning pit master with 30 years of experience in the restaurant industry.
“Brian and I connected through friendship,” DeAnna says, “then fell in love and married in June 1996. I started working full-time for Baker’s Ribs in Weatherford in January 2000, around the same time we moved to Weatherford. We bought my uncle’s in 2003 and Oink Oink We have added Inc dba Baker’s Ribs as partners.
Baker’s Ribs thrives in Weatherford
Since taking over Baker’s Ribs in Weatherford, the dynamic couple have seen their business grow while staying involved in the local community. Their talents complement each other at Baker’s Ribs, where Brian serves as general manager, pit master and director of catering, while DeAnna handles marketing and community outreach. Their smoked BBQ, home-style sides and original fried pies (made fresh daily) have won numerous local, regional and statewide awards.
My hubby and I first became fans of the restaurant during the pandemic when we indulged our wanderlust by taking road trips to interesting small towns within easy driving distance of our home in Dallas. Weatherford, a city with many good restaurants and friendly people, soon became a favorite destination. We were especially excited to find Baker’s Ribs, a welcoming place featuring great BBQ (including my husband’s favorite smoked ribs plus delicious scratch-made sides). After meeting the owners, who not only gave out Bibles but also displayed a prayer request box in the foyer, we knew we had found our place.
Baker’s Ribs Menu
Baker’s Ribs in Weatherford offers excellent sliced or chopped beef, ham, turkey, chicken, pulled pork and sausages. We tried almost all the meats on the menu and they were all good. My favorite is Brian’s new seasoned brisket while my husband still loves the hickory smoked, juicy and tender ribs. All sides are made from scratch and southern-style comfort foods, like herb dill potato salad and their famous fried pies, are many from old family recipes.
DeAnna says, “Brian has smoked Creekstone Certified Black Angus Beef Brisket without seasoning over raw hickory wood for over 25 years. I encouraged him to make a spice mix that would bear the name ‘Brian’s Kick’n Brisket’. He did so and we are now serving. His spice mix is a mystery. It contains salt, pepper, garlic and more. The seasoned brisket is loaded onto the rotisserie pit for 22 hours and the wood is still raw hickory wood. The natural fat of the rotisserie pit helps to moisten the briskets and develop a very tasty crust or bark. “
Made from scratch recipes
“All our side dishes are made from scratch daily and so are our fried pies. We offer five different tap beers, cal drinks and margaritas, as well as homemade sweet tea and sodas. Our most popular sellers are brisket, ribs and herb dill potato salad. Our most popular fried pie is the apricot, but the cream cheese cherry is my favorite and is quickly becoming a favorite with our customers as well,” says DeAnna.
“We started giving out Bibles in 2008,” says DeAnna. “We were averaging 60+ a month before Covid-19 hit us. From 2020 to now we are giving away an average of 20 Bibles per month. We hold corporate prayer events around holidays and elections,” says Deanna.
Brian and DeAnna Crear have two daughters, Heather and Hannah. As a community volunteer, DeAnna serves at the Children’s Advocacy Center, Center of Hope, and Meals on Wheels. She is also an ambassador for the City of Weatherford and 5 Star East Parker County Chamber of Commerce.
Prosper Your Neighbor
Like Brian, Deanna was an over-achiever and became an entrepreneur at a young age, opening Mercer Events & Promotions in Dallas in 1980. Now 61, she was honored as an Extraordinary Women in Parker County in 2022 and is the reigning Ms. Achievement. –North America 2023. Her platform is “Prosper Your Neighbor, Prosper Yourself.”
That platform could be the business model for Baker’s Ribs in Weatherford, as they’ve won numerous awards for their great food, service and hospitality. Awards include Top 50 in Texas, Business of the Year (repeat winners), People’s Choice Award and Global Award 2021-New World Report North America Business Elite.
Baker’s Ribs and the Original Fried Pie Shop is located at 1921 S Main Street in Weatherford, phone 817-599-4229. Open daily 10am-8pm. All major credit cards are accepted. Bibles (and prayers) are still free.
