Everett & Jones barbecue to open first North Bay location in Rohnert Park

A mainstay of superlative barbecue in the East Bay since 1973, Everett & Jones Barbecue is expanding to the North Bay with a new restaurant at Graton Resort & Casino in Rohnert Park.

Opening in July, the new location will feature the restaurant’s popular smoked pork ribs, savory beef brisket, smoked chicken and homemade sausage links. Classic accompaniments will include macaroni and cheese, barbecued beans, green beans and potato salad.

Dorothy Everett, who in 1973 founded Everett & Jones Barbecue in Oakland, was the sole breadwinner for her eight daughters and one son when she conceived the idea for the restaurant. She’d been working at the popular Flint’s Barbecue in east Oakland before she decided to go out on her own. With just $700 borrowed from a friend, Everett launched the business in a once-condemned building, and spread the word by supplying free food samples to nearby bars and businesses.

Over the decades that followed, Everett & Jones helped define modern Oakland barbecue culture, following in the footsteps of local barbecue pioneers like Jenkin’s Original Bar-B-Que and Flint’s.

With a passionate following, the restaurant expanded to six locations throughout the Bay Area. Today, three locations remain in the East Bay, including two in Oakland and one in Berkeley.

“Expanding to the North Bay is an incredible honor,” said Shamar Cotton, Everett’s grandson, who will manage the new North Bay location. He was working on the new restaurant with his mother, Mary Everett, until her death in September 2021.

“Opening a restaurant at Graton Casino was a dream of my mother’s,” he said. “She won’t be around to see it, but I’m here to keep her legacy — and my entire family’s legacy — alive.”

Everett & Jones isn’t just about barbecue. Over the last nearly 50 years, family members, like Everett’s daughter, Dorothy King, have been spirited shepherds of the community. King, who oversaw the Jack London Square location until her death in March 2021, was a fervent social justice activist and advocate for those in need. Each day, she would provide free meals to those without, and regularly hired formerly incarcerated and homeless employees to work at the restaurant.

Drawn to King’s community work, many high-profile politicians and celebrities have dined at the location, including former President Bill Clinton, Vice President Kamala Harris, Patti LaBelle, Stephen Curry and Snoop Dogg.

Mary Everett, who owned and managed the Berkeley location until her death, was also committed to giving back. Since 1990, her annual toy drive distributed over 10,000 toys to children in need throughout Oakland and the Bay Area.

“Everett & Jones will be a great addition to our family of restaurants,” said Mario Maesano, vice president of marketing at Graton Resort & Casino. “(They’ve) long been recognized as one of the top barbecue restaurants in the Bay Area. We are thrilled to welcome them to Graton.”

You can reach Staff Writer Sarah Doyle at 707-521-5478 or sarah.doyle@pressdemocrat.com.