Todd Byrd (left), co-owner of McBee’s Bar-B-Que in New Braunfels, and Cody Zipp are hard at work renovating the former Ruby’s Café in Marion so that it will be ready to house McBee’s newest restaurant, which is scheduled to open in early November. Photo by David DeKunder

Nostalgia and delicious barbecue and pork ribs are what people can look forward to when the owners of McBee’s Bar-B-Que open their newest restaurant in downtown Marion later this fall.

Todd and Londie Byrd, owners of McBee’s Bar-B-Que in New Braunfels, are gutting and renovating the former Ruby’s Café, transforming the building to its original early 1900s decor, which will provide a backdrop for the family-style meals of barbecue, pork ribs, sausage, chicken and steaks that McBee’s is known for.

The Byrds are busy trying to get the building and restaurant ready for what they hope will be an early November grand opening.

By opening a barbecue joint in Marion, Londie Byrd said she and her husband want to provide a unique small-town experience for their customers.

“We like the fact that we will be in a building that was built in 1910,” said Londie Byrd. “We will be putting in oak floors and we want to put in an antler chandelier, ceiling fans and rustic light fixtures. We are painting the walls so that they will have a rustic feel to them.”

The place McBee’s will occupy is known as the John Huebinger building, named after the man who opened the Huebinger Grocery and Meat Market in 1910. Huebinger operated the store and meat market until his death in 1921 when his son, John II, took ownership of it. The Huebinger building has had different uses throughout its history, including a hatchery, washateria and various restaurants.

The Byrds have lived in Marion for the past eight years and have two children who go to Marion schools, a son, Tracy, who attends Marion High School, where he is involved in the FFA and plays on the varsity football team, and a daughter who is in the second grade.

“We love the community and we love being out here,” Londie Byrd said. “We wanted to move our business out here and provide the community with some old-fashioned smoke pit barbecue, and what better place to serve old-fashioned pit barbecue than in a building built in 1910.”

The Byrds will still own and operate the McBee’s in New Braunfels, which they purchased from Robert and Lucy McBee, Londie’s uncle and aunt, in 1995. Robert and Lucy McBee opened the original’s McBee’s Bar-B-Que in Pleasanton in 1983.

The Byrds are hard at work putting in the basic necessities for the building — plumbing, electricity and air conditioning — while adding features that will cater to families and large groups. There will be a main dining room, a party room in the back with a flat screen TV and a deck under the pecan tree in the back that will be used for outside dining. Customers will be able to come up to the main counter and order their food, in a cafeteria like style, which will be cooked in the kitchen in the back.

For those customers who want their food on the go, a drive thru with a loop will be located on the left side of the building.

“We will have the smoke pit for the barbecue in the back,” Londie Byrd said.

Besides barbecue and brisket served with homemade sauce, McBee’s will serve a variety of plates from boneless chicken, chicken tenders, turkey, sausage to chop beef. Each Friday, the all you can eat pork rib plate will be offered and custom steaks will be cooked on the pit in the back. The steaks will come with a side of salad, baked potato and bread.

Other sides that will be offered will be macaroni, cole slaw, potato salad, pinto beans, corn and green beans. For dessert, people will have a choice of cake, pecan pie and peach cobbler.

McBee’s will be open from 10:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday-Thursday and 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Friday and Saturday. The restaurant will be closed on Sundays.

Bill Seiler, president of the Greater Marion Area Chamber of Commerce, said McBee’s will be a nice addition to downtown Marion because it will attract more people to the community, which in turn will give the town’s other businesses more exposure.

“This will give extra opportunities to all of our community members,” Seiler said. “People will have more and more reasons to stop and shop in Marion.”

Londie Byrd said people have stopped by their building to see what is going on and have even offered to lend a helping hand.

“I have had so many people come by and volunteer to help,” she said. “So many people have come by and said, ‘We can’t help if you don’t call us.’”