West Virginia favorite Dee Jay’s opens on Racetrack Road
Diners can expect fall-off-the-bone ribs and indulgent sides
Courtesy of Dee Jay’s
Courtesy of Dee Jay’s
Fans of Buford’s brunch will feel right at home on the weekends, as the menu is a mix of Buford’s favorites and new Dee Jay’s offerings
Courtesy of Dee Jay’s
Courtesy of Dee Jay’s
Spring is upon us, and that might have you dreaming of some delicious barbecue. Look no further than Washington County’s newest and tastiest barbeque spot: Dee Jay’s BBQ Ribs & Grille in The Street at The Meadows. Fans of the original Dee Jay’s in Weirton, W.Va, no longer have to drive across the border to find their tender, fall-off-the-bone signature ribs and other flavorful offerings. Founded in Weirton in 1980, Dee Jay’s original owners wanted to retire and sold the spot in 2021. The new owners have expanded into Washington along with Collier Township at the Great Southern Shopping Center. A fourth new location will open in Wexford in late April.
Owner/operator Jamie Irvine of Dee Jay’s Legendary BBQ Ribs group, which is also involved with Toscana Brick Oven in Canonsburg and Andora Restaurant in Sewickley, says the expansion was logical up and down Interstate 79. “That’s kind of our niche of where all the restaurants we’ve always had, kind of up and down 79 in Western PA,” Irvine says. The Washington location had been Buford’s restaurant with a lively weekend breakfast crowd, and the change to Dee Jay’s merges the best of both menus and brands. “That made a nice little transition for us to kind of swap over from Buford’s to Dee Jay’s,” says Irvine. “The Buford’s breakfast that everybody loves is still there. We still do that every Saturday and Sunday morning, and it’s thriving.” That weekend breakfast includes $2 flavored mimosas and Blood Marys. “We were getting to be super well known for the breakfast stuff during the weekend, but it wasn’t enough to sustain during the week,” says Irvine. “We figured that the Dee Jay’s brand would be able to bring in the dinner crowd, so we get the best of both worlds.”
While many restaurants struggled or never reopened after the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns, Dee Jay’s thrived. “With COVID, Dee Jay’s had very limited staff, but their sales were about the same with their drive-up carryout window,” Irvine explains. “It’s one of the things we looked at when we were getting ready to take over and going through the financial side of it that they were super successful during COVID.”
Though Washington is a new Dee Jay’s location, the fan-favorite ribs and sauce recipe has not changed. “We actually do all the rib cooking in the building with the same process and the same barbecue sauce that we distribute through our other restaurants fresh every morning,” Irvine adds. The menu includes other tasty fare from chicken to pasta to salmon, but ribs still bring in the customers, and Irvine notes they’re a great balance of flavor and fall-off-the-bone juiciness. “It’s a great product, and that’s where our roots are. We always had intentions of growing the brand into Pennsylvania because we found that a large percentage of the people who came to Weirton were coming from the Pittsburgh direction,” says Irvine. “So we’re like, well, why not put some in Pittsburgh and draw in more fans!”