Transplanted roots

Monday, March 8, 2004 | 11:17 a.m.

The family-run H & H Bar-B-Q & More restaurant had been synonymous with West Las Vegas since the 1960s when under its original name, Hicks Barbecue, it was a popular rib joint on Jackson Avenue.

For the last four years, H & H, in the Heritage Square Shopping Center at 910 N. Martin Luther King Blvd., was a gathering spot for black community leaders -- that is until Aug. 13 when it was gutted by an early-morning fire.

Now, the business will rise from the ashes. But not in West Las Vegas or even within the city limits.

A dozen miles -- and a world away -- from the impoverished predominately black community where it was born and flourished, the latest incarnation of the family business, Sweet Georgia Browns, plans to open March 19 at 2600 E. Flamingo Road across from the Clark County School District headquarters.

While the new business could be a boon to that part of Clark County, it's departure from familiar ground speaks volumes of the difficulties in revitalizing West Las Vegas.

"I have had people come up to me and say 'Why are you leaving West Las Vegas?' " said co-owner Cassandra Black, whose father, Elbert Hicks, founded the company at 507 Jackson Ave., and is one of her partners along with her husband Hank and two children, Elbert and Angel.

"Some people told me, 'Oh sure, you made your money here and now you are leaving.' But this is my dream -- a fine dining soul food restaurant unlike anything else in Las Vegas. I would think that people would be happy that we are trying to better ourselves. Isn't that what life is all about?"

The family says it is not as if they did not try to find a West Las Vegas venue after the facility they had rented was condemned because of the blaze that was ruled accidental by the Las Vegas Fire Department.

"We looked around for a location in West Las Vegas, but there was nothing to suit what we wanted," said Elbert Black, Cassandra's son, who with his grandfather resurrected the family business in the early 1990s at a street-corner stand at H Street and Owens Avenue.

"We would have considered a place in the new Nucleus Plaza. Why wouldn't we? It's being built right across from where I got started in this business. But we just couldn't wait for it to be built."

Developer John Edmond is attempting to build a $55 million retail center at the site as part of efforts to jump-start the economically stagnant area. He has, however, requested and received from the Las Vegas City Council extensions of time for the project that includes the donation of city land.

Edmond recently told the Sun he is trying to get enough leases to secure a loan so he can start construction, otherwise the city will take back the land and start looking for a new use for it.

Elbert Black said other places in West Las Vegas, such as a strip mall at Martin Luther King and Lake Mead boulevards, were too small and the old Nucleus Plaza is just too social service-dominated for an upscale restaurant.

"One day, however, we would like to again have a presence in West Las Vegas," Elbert Black said. "But it would be something like a small drive-through barbecue restaurant."

Las Vegas City Councilman Lawrence Weekly said while he is sad to lose such a landmark West Las Vegas business, the Black family had to make a decision it felt was best for its livelihood, and he does not fault them for that.

"H & H was a hub for our community -- a meeting place -- and when it burned it left a void," Weekly said. "We just didn't have anything to offer them right now. I hope I get invited to their grand opening. I'll be there."

"Also, just because H & H is a black-owned business does not mean it has to stay in the black community. In many cities, black-owned fine dining establishments rarely are in the heart of the black community."

Weekly, however, says the loss of any one business -- even a thriving one -- does not cripple redevelopment efforts. And he hopes that with the development of nearly 10 acres at the Enterprise Park at Lake Mead and Martin L. King Boulevard he can one day draw lost businesses like H & H back.

"I'm optimistic about redevelopment for West Las Vegas," Weekly said, noting that a groundbreaking is expected in early April for the 50,000-square-foot sound stage and recording studio to be built by CenterStaging Las Vegas LLC, at Martin Luther King near Mount Mariah Drive -- a major redevelopment project.

"I'm optimistic about West Las Vegas' future because infrastructure -- new streets and lighting -- are in place that was not there five years ago. People go to the area near the West Las Vegas Library and say 'wow' about how things have improved. West Las Vegas is on the rebound. Be patient."

The Black family, however, became somewhat impatient as insurance matters were settled and they yearned to get back to cooking and serving food.

While the business has continued to run its catering service out of donated kitchen space at the Seven Seas restaurant in West Las Vegas, the family said it was not the same as the hustle and bustle of running an eatery.

Extending their search area beyond West Las Vegas, the family checked out a closed club on West Sahara Avenue and a former Sizzler at Rainbow Boulevard and Spring Mountain Road before finding the current site, the former Cosmo's Manhattan restaurant.

Elbert Black noted that the location is centralized for the entire valley and has good access from U.S. 95 and main thoroughfares including Eastern Avenue and Flamingo.

"There is a misconception that our customers came from just West Las Vegas," he said. "If that was the case, we would have starved."

Cassandra said: "People from all over the valley came to H & H. We had many who came from Green Valley. There was this one man who drove in from Seven Hills every week to buy one or two slabs of ribs and take them home.

"At our new location, many of those customers won't have to drive so far. And people in West Las Vegas have cars. They can come here. We're not that far."

Cassandra said she had dined at the new site several years ago when it was Hugo's. But it looks far different today than it did then, she said.

The new restaurant has a spacious dining room surrounded by columns reminiscent of the architecture of the deep South, soft maroon and white decor, chandeliers and large floral displays. Plus there are three private dining rooms for meetings.

In short, it's not the Jackson Avenue rib joint where Grandpa Hicks paid $125 a month for rent.

While H & H employed 32 people, Sweet Georgia Browns will have 50 workers. While H & H had 4,000 square feet, the new location has 8,700 square feet. While H & H had three food preparers, four cooks and six waiters, the new restaurant will have a chef, eight to 10 cooks, four food preparers and 15 waiters.

And, unlike the old restaurant, Sweet Georgia Browns plans to have a bar and lounge operating hopefully in four to six months, pending approval of a county liquor license, the family said.

And for those who don't like barbecue, the menu also will feature steaks and shrimp and scallop dishes, they said.

The family says that while meals will be more expensive than those served at H & H, portions will be larger. For example, Elbert Black said, the four-ounce pork chop served at H & H will be eight ounces at Sweet Georgia Browns.

The family is tight-lipped about what it is paying for rent at the new location but confirmed it is triple what it was at H & H. They say they have signed a five-year lease with an option to buy.

"It is definitely something new -- a big step for us," Cassandra said, noting she is worried about whether the larger scale facility will be able to meet demand for quick service from a greater volume of customers.

And, she admits, fate has resulted in the upscale restaurant coming to fruition long before the family planned for it. "Our dream was to have this type of place, but not this soon," Cassandra said. "We didn't want our old place to burn. We had hoped it (the process toward obtaining a bigger place) would be gradual. Besides, we were under-insured at H & H. Oh boy were we under-insured.

"But now I have a second shot at my dream so I thought, let's do it right."

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