Evie Mae's Barbecue bringing a bit of Texas to the beach

After vacationing on the Emerald Coast for the last six years, the Robbins family is bringing a bit of Texas barbecue to the beach. 

Arnis and Mallory Robbins, who co-own Evie Mae’s Pit Barbecue in Wolfforth, Texas, will open their second Evie Mae’s Pit Barbecue in mid-April in Miramar Beach in the YOLO building across from Seascape Resort. 

"Any time we were in town we discussed it would be nice to serve barbecue in a beach community,” Arnis said. 

And now they are making it a reality. 

After being introduced to the owner of YOLO, who still owns the building, the Robbinses signed a lease in October and have been busy renovating the building ever since. 

“It’s a wonderful restaurant building ... it’s an incredible venue,” Arnis said, noting it was originally built as Tibb’s Restaurant. 

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Since about December, the Robbinses have been working to get the place renovated. 

“It’s been a trip, with a 1,000-mile commute, being out here and trying to get a remodel done,” he said. 

“We’ve been really fortunate to get connected with some great people in the area,” Arnis said. 

Robbins said he has talked with another GM (General Manager) in the area who refers to Destin as a small town. 

“Everybody knows everybody ... it’s a cool community vibe,” he said. 

He said he never experienced the off season. 

“It’s a completely different place ... and I love it,” he said about the off season. 

“There are a lot of similarities between here and Wolfforth, Texas, that we call home. Combine it with the tourists here and we love it. We love the beach,” Arnis said. 

Backstory on Evie Mae's

The Robbinses started serving up barbecue in 2015 out of a trailer and then moved into a brick-and-mortar location in 2016. 

“We just found a crazy passion for cooking barbecue and serving customers and the community,” Arnis said. 

“It’s really really hard work, but we haven’t lost the drive,” he said. 

“We just kept pursuing and growing as fast as we could and then the pandemic hit and then the economy hit and kind of knocked us back a notch,” Arnis said. 

But Evie Mae’s is moving forward and thriving in Texas and will soon be doing the same on the Emerald Coast. 

As for the name of the restaurant: It’s named after their now 11-year-old daughter, Evelyn Mae. She was 1 when they started the business. They also have a 7-year-old son, Jack. 

“We just fell in love with the beach. If we can come here and do what we love and be close to the beach,” that would be great, Arnis said. 

So, what's on the menu?

“We are a very traditional Texas craft barbecue joint,” Arnis said. 

“The center of the plate is all very beef-centric, brisket, brisket forward,” he said. 

They also do pulled pork, half chickens and turkey breast. 

They also offer a beef plate ribs, which he called “dino ribs.” It’s ribs on 9-inch bone served up with a hung of pot roast on top. 

They also do pork ribs. 

In addition to great barbecue, “Everything in our kitchen is gluten-free,” said Arnis, who has celiac disease. 

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Arnis was diagnosed in 2010 and had to go on a “strictly gluten-free diet.” 

“We started buying more expensive groceries and cooking more at home,” he said, which is how they got into the barbecue business. 

And at the restaurant, “We really focused on how can we make something special gluten-free and not just make something that’s already free,” Arnis said. 

“We offere 12 or 13 different desserts that are 100 percent gluten-free that we make in house,” he said. 

“We’ve got a great pie lineup,” Arnis said. In that lineup is a fresh strawberry pie. 

“So, we’ve got a flakey pie crust with three cups of strawberries piled up ... served up with fresh whipped cream,” he said. 

Other desserts include a Key lime pie, coconut cream pie, Texas sheet-cake, banana pudding, strawberry cobbler, peach cobbler, pecan pie, chocolate pecan pie cheesecake, and peanut butter chocolate pie. 

All of the sides are gluten-free as well. 

“On any given day we’re offering seven or eight different sides,” Arnis said. 

Some of the sides will include pinto beans, smoked beans, baked potato casserole, potato salad, cole slaw, collard greens, green beans, french fries and green chile cheese grits. 

“I’m originally from New Mexico, so we try and squeeze in green chile anywhere we can justify it. So green chile cheese grits ... they’re delicious,” Arnis said. 

They also do a green chile cheese sausage and a German sausage. 

Barbecue is communal

Evie Mae’s will be cooking all of its barbecue on the backside the property on their own smokers and grills. 

“We cook all our barbecue on 100 percent oak wood,” Arnis said. 

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However, he says, “barbecue is communal, and barbecue is a hangout ... it’s a place to gather and we are hopeful we can develop that space where it is inviting.” 

“Obviously we have to be mindful of health code and people's personal safety, but we want people to feel invited out to see us work .. to see the fire and the smell and feel it,” he said. 

It's not fast food, but it is fast to the table

Evie Mae’s can seat about 140 inside and has an outside covered deck that can seat another 50 or 60. 

“This property is unbelievable,” Arnis said. 

And the food served is not “fast food.” 

People will come to the counter and order their food where it will be served on an aluminum tray with butcher paper. 

“They’ll pile your food on it ... and then your last stop will be a meat cutter,” where it will be weighed out. 

“We have built our model to be very efficient, very quick,” he said, noting they can do two transactions a minute. 

“You will get fed here quicker than you will if you're waiting on the table and then you're going to wait for your food and then you have to wait for your ticket. Here, it is all up front ... once you get your food, you are free to go,” he explained. 

Hours of operation

Right now, they are looking at opening at 11 a.m. and serving lunch and dinner. 

But Arnis said the schedule is kind of “to be determined.” 

In Texas their model is to open at 11 a.m. and close when they sell out of barbecue. 

“Barbecue takes a long time to cook. So, we can't just go throw another on that day,” he said, noting it may take some time to figure out how much to prepare to always have fresh food. 

“I don’t know how late ... but I don’t envision it being a late night. We really want to cater to families,” he said.