By David Howell

There’s a new restaurant in Crenshaw and owners Dino and Stacy Mills are serious about serving good food.

They opened the Smoke Box Barbecue Number 2 last month and serve customers from 11 a.m. until 3 p.m. Tuesday and Wednesday for lunch. On Thursday, Friday and Saturday, they are open from 11 a.m. until.

As the name indicates, barbecue is their speciality but don’t let that fool you.

They also serve hamburgers, ribeye steaks and a whole lot of other items. But the menu includes ample items from Dino’s custom-built smoker.

“The barbecue is smoked, the beans are smoked, the ribs are smoked,” Stacy explains. And when the special is fried chicken, an option for smoked chicken is also readily available.
“Dino does every bit of the barbecue and he is very, very particular,” his wife, Stacy explains.
When it comes to the burgers, they use fresh meat and make the patties.
“We do not use frozen patties,” she explained.

They have two specialty hamburgers, the “Dino?Burger” which is a double patty, double cheese and jalapenos. The other specialty burger, the “Crenshaw Burger” has a patty, cheese and barbecue meat and sauce.

“We serve tons of hamburgers,” Stacy reports.

Stacy also has a speciality, she uses her grandmother’s recipes for baking.

“I do cakes, cupcakes, cobblers, just about anything they want,” she explains.
In fact their reputation has already earned the restaurant a loyal following.

“We’ve got lots of customers that come every day. We also have people that come every weekend to hear our bands.

Each Saturday night the music gets underway around 8:30 p.m.

“We have Billy Adams coming to play this Saturday,” Dino reported.
On Friday night’s the restaurant has pool tournaments.

Both Stacy and Dino stress they keep a family environment for the eatery.

“Even though we have bands, pool tables and tournaments, it’s a family atmosphere,” Stacy explains.

“They come and eat and they love to hear the music,” she added. “Our busiest night is Friday night.”

They attribute the loyal support to serving that good food.

In fact, as one family member offered advice on selecting a restaurant: Never buy food from skinny folks.

“Dino and I are good examples,” Stacy joked.

(Editor’s Note: If you have a question about the new restaurant, call 382-5206.)