“Anyone traveling past the red brick building which once housed Pulleys Barbecue on old Illinois 13 in Marion will probably see activity once again stirring inside the structure. After the Marion BBQ icon closed some months back, the building has remained on the market and remained empty.
After owning Pulleys for 31 years, Chuck and Janice Shahadey decided to sell the restaurant in Marion, and soon ventured back into the family restaurant business as the owners of Chuck’s Barbecue in Herrin. As for the original Pulleys location, circumstances forced the owners of the restaurant to close after only 7 months.
On March 9, 2007 the new owners, Michelle and Kevin Borum purchased Pulleys restaurant, and plan to reopen soon, as KB Bar B Que. The couple’s Goreville restaurant location unfortunately succumbed to fire on Jan. 23, earlier this year. The vacant Marion building seems perhaps the perfect place to relocate the business.
Before the ribbon cutting and official opening of the new restaurant, we thought we would take a look back at Pulleys before it passes, because even with the building sitting empty for all of these months, if you once frequented the restaurant, you’ll recall the memories and the cups of coffee, friendships and times spent at a booth or table at Pulleys. The restaurant was a place to hang out while enjoying a meal or just chatting with a friend over a cup of coffee or piece of pie.
Many people have said it was the oldest restaurant in Marion. Until recently, when Pulleys closed, the restaurant had offered continuous service in the community since it opened in 1923. Shortly after Illinois 13 (now old 13) was constructed, a man named Jim Boles decided to open a barbecue stand near the Williamson County Fairground east of downtown Marion. Boles had a reputation for making some of the best barbecues in Southern Illinois.
Later, Boles moved his business across the road and continued to manage it until he sold the restaurant to Edgar Pulley. Pulley had recently quit working in the coal mines, and with the help of his wife and two sons Wendell (nicknamed “Hawk”), and Odell Pulley, Edgar Pulley continued the same tradition of good food. Customers could chose to eat in, or carry out their orders, either way, the restaurant soon had a steady list of satisfied, returning customers, serving the public 24 hours a day.
In 1934 Mrs. Pulley died and the three men continued to handle the restaurant on their own. When World War II started, they began working fewer hours because of the rationing of food. At that time there was no water, gas or sewers in this area and they had to carry water from the well, which was where Pulleys Tire store is now. After “Hawk” died, Odell didn’t spend as much time in the restaurant because, he said, “It brought back too many memories.”
Odell used to say that he and Hawk and a friend, helped dig a ditch when the city laid the water line. There was a small barbecue pit in the rear of the property where they would sometimes cook hams. Depending on the size, they could cook 18 or 20 hams at one time. Eventually they tiled the ditch to make a parking lot on the west side of the building. They also built a warehouse on part of the back lot where they kept supplies and a walk-in cooler. The city finally ran natural gas lines out to the area, prompting the owners to install a gas furnace and a five-ton air conditioner.
An early grill on the stove at the barbecue house was a metal sheet that had been used by gangster, Charlie Birger, as a shield in case of gun battles. When that grill had worn out, the Pulleys replaced it with a ready-made grill.
Odell mentioned at one time that as he looked back, the best run of business was during the Eisenhower administration. “The prices were at an even keel back then.” He recalled that one year at a Republican Day Rally, there were 80,000 people at the Fairgrounds. He stated that they had more business during the Rally than ever before. Another occasion is reported that there was a time in which Pulleys sold over 1,800 barbecues in a single day. One of their policies was to never turn anyone down because they had no money that is unless the person had been drinking and could have bought something instead to eat.
Chuck and Janice Shahadey of Herrin, bought Pulleys Barbecue when “Hawk” and Odell retired. Together they managed the location for longer than three decades before selling the business. They had heard about Pulleys from Chuck’s father who delivered Colonial Bread to the restaurant. Chuck’s family also owned the popular Herrin eatery, Chuck’s Barbecue, on North Park Ave. Having been exposed to the restaurant business most of his life, he and Janice began their own career as restaurateurs.
“We pride ourselves on our quality food,” Janice once said, “and have tried to keep up the tradition the Pulleys always had.” She mentioned that some of their old-timers came in shifts. After the morning crowd left they bid them goodbye until the lunch crowd was over, when they would return for their afternoon coffee break.
Several of the retired men told of coming to Pulleys with their dads; others told their sons about the place. The younger men always used to enjoy chatting with the old timers.
Pulleys BBQ probably had one of the first drive-in windows, or perhaps I should say drive up to the doors in the country. Instead of driving up to a window, customers drove up to the back door where they placed their order. Or if a person was in a hurry they could call in their order and then go to the back door and someone would bring your order out to you.
Although Pulleys was a family restaurant, rumors have been passed around throughout the years that it used to be a hangout for some rather notorious and shady characters. For instance it has been told that the Charlie Birger gang would come in after a robbery and throw some coins in the saw dust and then grind them into the floor with the heels of their shoes. Legend has it that Charlie Birger and his men would come into Pulleys and pitch empty wallets into a pot belly stove after a robbery.
Yes, the people who have eaten in Pulleys have had many memories to share. People from all walks of life have passed through the doors… housewives, teachers, servicemen and women, store-keepers, policemen firemen and many others too numerous to mention. If you asked any one of the patrons what they could recall most about one of Marion’s oldest restaurants, they would probably all have a different story to tell of how and when they remembered their memories. All with one thing in common, they were all looking for good food and good people to share it with.”
Sam’s Notes: As of this writing in October 2013, the business is still operated as KB BBQ.
(Extracted from an article written by Lila Colloton, published in Marion Living Magazine, April 2007)