Formerly: The Hole in the Wall (early family barbecue operation)
Marianna, Arkansas · Founded 1910 · Building: 1964
A family-run Marianna barbecue diner with roots in the 1910s, Arkansas's first James Beard Foundation award recipient, and a 2021 fire-rebuild story.
Jones Bar-B-Q Diner in Marianna carries forward a Jones family barbecue tradition that sources trace to at least the 1910s. The present diner opened on West Louisiana Street in 1964, and the James Beard Foundation recognized it as an America’s Classic in 2012—the first James Beard Foundation honor received by an Arkansas food destination. A February 2021 fire damaged the pit area, but owner and pitmaster Harold Jones reopened the diner that July.
The Jones family barbecue operation dates to at least the 1910s. A 2012 congressional record identifies Walter Jones as founder and first pitmaster, initially selling barbecue from a screened back porch.
Source: U.S. Senate Congressional Record, Sen. John Boozman, “Honoring the Jones Bar-B-Q Diner in Marianna, Arkansas,” May 8, 2012
The family later operated a small downtown Marianna barbecue outlet called the Hole in the Wall, where meat was sold through a window.
Source: U.S. Senate Congressional Record, Sen. John Boozman, “Honoring the Jones Bar-B-Q Diner in Marianna, Arkansas,” May 8, 2012; Encyclopedia of Arkansas, “Jones Bar-B-Q Diner”
The modern Jones Bar-B-Q Diner opened at its present West Louisiana Street location in Marianna.
Source: U.S. Senate Congressional Record, Sen. John Boozman, “Honoring the Jones Bar-B-Q Diner in Marianna, Arkansas,” May 8, 2012; Encyclopedia of Arkansas, “Jones Bar-B-Q Diner”
The James Beard Foundation named Jones Bar-B-Q Diner an America’s Classic. The Encyclopedia of Arkansas identifies it as Arkansas's first James Beard Award recipient.
Source: James Beard Foundation, “2012 America’s Classics Award Honorees Announced”; Encyclopedia of Arkansas, “Jones Bar-B-Q Diner”
Jones Bar-B-Q Diner entered the inaugural class of the Arkansas Food Hall of Fame.
Source: Encyclopedia of Arkansas, “Jones Bar-B-Q Diner”
A fire damaged the restaurant; the Encyclopedia of Arkansas reports that firefighters contained the flames to the pit area.
Source: Encyclopedia of Arkansas, “Jones Bar-B-Q Diner”
Jones Bar-B-Q Diner held a grand reopening after rebuilding from the February fire, with owner Harold Jones hosting the event.
Source: Encyclopedia of Arkansas, “Jones Bar-B-Q Diner”; The Venture Center, “Jones Bar-B-Q-Diner Hosts Grand Reopening Event After Devastating Fire,” July 20, 2021
KATV described Harold Jones as the fourth-generation owner and pitmaster of Jones Bar-B-Q Diner.
Source: KATV, “Faces of Arkansas honors 4th-generation pitmaster Harold Jones,” June 1, 2026
Every claim gets rated. A business's own website can never earn "documented."
A 2012 congressional record states that Jones Bar-B-Q had operated in some form since at least the 1910s and identifies Walter Jones as its founder and first pitmaster. That supports an early-20th-century family lineage, while leaving the exact opening year unresolved.
The restaurant is frequently described as the country's oldest Black-owned restaurant, but stronger sources use qualified language: a 2012 Senate record called it one of the oldest African-American-owned restaurants in America, and the Encyclopedia of Arkansas calls it perhaps the oldest in Arkansas and perhaps the South's oldest Black-family-owned continuously operating restaurant. No nationwide comparative record was located in this review.
The James Beard Foundation named Jones Bar-B-Q Diner an America’s Classic in 2012. The Encyclopedia of Arkansas states that, before that recognition, no person or place in Arkansas had received a James Beard Award.
A June 2026 KATV profile explicitly identifies Harold Jones as the fourth-generation owner of Jones Bar-B-Q Diner. A 2021 reopening announcement also identifies him as the owner who hosted the reopening.
The Encyclopedia of Arkansas records a February 28, 2021 fire and a July 14 grand reopening. A contemporaneous July 2021 reopening account describes community fundraising and Harold Jones's reopening event.
Jones Bar-B-Q Diner opened in exactly 1910 and has always operated from its present building.
The Jones family barbecue business operated in some form since at least the 1910s, but no exact start year has been established. Its early operations included a home-based pit and a downtown outlet called the Hole in the Wall; the present Jones Bar-B-Q Diner location opened in 1964.
Source: U.S. Senate Congressional Record, Sen. John Boozman, “Honoring the Jones Bar-B-Q Diner in Marianna, Arkansas,” May 8, 2012; Encyclopedia of Arkansas, “Jones Bar-B-Q Diner”
Jones Bar-B-Q Diner reopened in December 2021 after its fire.
The diner held its grand reopening on July 14, 2021, following the February 28, 2021 fire.
Source: Encyclopedia of Arkansas, “Jones Bar-B-Q Diner”; The Venture Center, “Jones Bar-B-Q-Diner Hosts Grand Reopening Event After Devastating Fire,” July 20, 2021
Harold Jones personally won a James Beard Award.
The James Beard Foundation honored Jones Bar-B-Q Diner as an America’s Classic in 2012. Harold Jones is the current fourth-generation owner and pitmaster, but the award was made to the restaurant.
Source: James Beard Foundation, “2012 America’s Classics Award Honorees Announced”; KATV, “Faces of Arkansas honors 4th-generation pitmaster Harold Jones,” June 1, 2026
Jones Bar-B-Q Diner is definitively America's oldest continuously operating Black-owned restaurant.
The claim is widely repeated, but the sources reviewed for this entry use qualified language and do not establish a nationwide comparative ranking. The title remains unresolved.
Source: U.S. Senate Congressional Record, Sen. John Boozman, “Honoring the Jones Bar-B-Q Diner in Marianna, Arkansas,” May 8, 2012; Encyclopedia of Arkansas, “Jones Bar-B-Q Diner”
The diner has survived through family stewardship, a narrow focus on pit barbecue, and a community that treated its 2021 fire as a threat to more than one small restaurant. Its history includes earlier home-based and downtown barbecue operations before the 1964 diner opened at the present site. After the fire, public fundraising and local support helped Harold Jones rebuild and reopen, preserving a working Arkansas Delta institution rather than merely a historic memory.
Jones Bar-B-Q Diner’s family barbecue lineage in Marianna dates to at least the 1910s. A 2012 congressional record identifies Walter Jones as the founder and first pitmaster, first selling barbecue from a screened back porch and later from a downtown outlet called the Hole in the Wall. The present diner opened at 219 W. Louisiana Street in 1964, received a James Beard Foundation America’s Classic award in 2012, and reopened in July 2021 after a February fire.
Jones Bar-B-Q Diner is widely described as the oldest continuously operating Black-owned restaurant in the United States, but that national title is not conclusively established. The strongest available sources say the Jones family operation has existed in some form since at least the 1910s and call it one of the oldest Black-owned restaurants in America or perhaps the oldest in Arkansas and the South. A full national comparison of historic Black-owned restaurant lineages has not been documented for this entry.
Jones Bar-B-Q Diner reopened on July 14, 2021. The diner had caught fire on February 28, 2021; the Encyclopedia of Arkansas reports that firefighters contained the fire to the pit area, and community fundraising helped owner Harold Jones rebuild and reopen.
219 W Louisiana St, Marianna, AR 72360
(870) 295-3807
None on file
The diner’s active Facebook page lists service from 7 a.m. until the barbecue sells out, with pork barbecue sandwiches as its sole offering; verify same-day availability before making a special trip.