CHESTER, PA: The sweet smell of barbecue wafted through the air at 619 Welsh St. Thursday afternoon as some of the patrons of the newly opened Charlie B’s Texas Bar-B-Que Jazz and Blues Cafe learned of the man behind the name and the experience that guided his son to open the business.
For years, Carl Everett saved what he could paycheck to paycheck with the hopes of opening a barbecue restaurant with jazz and blues when he retired. For the past decade and a half, he taught himself how to cook Texas-style, which he described as low and slow.
About eight years ago, his armed security job at Boeing was outsourced and he began to put his retirement plan into action.
“I had a barbecue grill and I used that to make ends meet,” he explained, standing in his 250-seat restaurant last week.
Yet, his entrepreneurial spirit was cultivated at a young age.
His dad, Charlie Everett, had a business and the Everett children helped out.
“Growing up we had a saying — my dad was the boss,” Everett explained. “We had a thing, a code, ‘Here come Charlie B,’ meaning, ‘Here come the boss.’ We had to get our act together.
“I can think of no better way to honor him than to name my business after him,” he said.
Those he met along the way attested to his perseverance.
For the last year, Everett met with Glenn McAllister of the Widener Small Business Development Center twice a week to put his business together.
“Everything we asked him to do, he did,” McAllister said, attesting that the food is delicious. “A lot of people get discouraged ... but Carl kept plugging at it, working hard and here we are.”
Everett talked about the process.
“He would sit me down and it was like going back to college,” he said of his twice-weekly meetings. “I would bring (my plan) back and he would mark it up with a red ink pen.”
Often, Everett said he had moments of doubt.
“I was like, ‘What have I gotten myself into?’” he said. “But, thank God placed into my spirit, ‘You’ve got to do it.’ The things that I do today are for tomorrow.”
Besides providing live jazz and blues cooked up with beef brisket, ribs, chicken, waffles and grits, part of his vision is to harken his city back to its hustling economic height.
For years, Carl Everett saved what he could paycheck to paycheck with the hopes of opening a barbecue restaurant with jazz and blues when he retired. For the past decade and a half, he taught himself how to cook Texas-style, which he described as low and slow.
About eight years ago, his armed security job at Boeing was outsourced and he began to put his retirement plan into action.
“I had a barbecue grill and I used that to make ends meet,” he explained, standing in his 250-seat restaurant last week.
Yet, his entrepreneurial spirit was cultivated at a young age.
His dad, Charlie Everett, had a business and the Everett children helped out.
“Growing up we had a saying — my dad was the boss,” Everett explained. “We had a thing, a code, ‘Here come Charlie B,’ meaning, ‘Here come the boss.’ We had to get our act together.
“I can think of no better way to honor him than to name my business after him,” he said.
Those he met along the way attested to his perseverance.
For the last year, Everett met with Glenn McAllister of the Widener Small Business Development Center twice a week to put his business together.
“Everything we asked him to do, he did,” McAllister said, attesting that the food is delicious. “A lot of people get discouraged ... but Carl kept plugging at it, working hard and here we are.”
Everett talked about the process.
“He would sit me down and it was like going back to college,” he said of his twice-weekly meetings. “I would bring (my plan) back and he would mark it up with a red ink pen.”
Often, Everett said he had moments of doubt.
“I was like, ‘What have I gotten myself into?’” he said. “But, thank God placed into my spirit, ‘You’ve got to do it.’ The things that I do today are for tomorrow.”
Besides providing live jazz and blues cooked up with beef brisket, ribs, chicken, waffles and grits, part of his vision is to harken his city back to its hustling economic height.
