Inman’s Bar-B-Q extinguishing smoker after 60 years in Marble Falls
Inman’s Ranch House Bar-B-Q is closing its doors for good at 707 Sixth St. in Marble Falls. Staff photo by Nathan Bush
Inman’s Ranch House Bar-B-Q in Marble Falls will serve its last meals on July 8 after dishing out turkey sausage and other mouthwatering favorites for nearly 60 years.
The decision to close came nearly a year and a half after the death of Billy Inman, who joined his father, Francis, in 1988 as co-owner of the iconic eatery, 707 Sixth St.
“I did it for 29 years for my husband, and now it’s time,” said Sherry Inman, Billy’s widow and the current owner. “The next 29 years are going to be for me.”
Operating Inman’s has been difficult in the months following her husband’s death, Sherry said.
“It’s been hard at times,” she said. “I love my customers. I have great customers. It’s just everything else.”
In recent months, it was too much to handle.
“You do what you have to do until you say, ‘Enough is enough,’” Sherry said. “I’m at my limit. I’m done with the stress.”
Inman’s had humble beginnings in 1964.
“My father-in-law’s brother, Lester Inman, came up with a recipe for turkey sausage in Llano,” Sherry said. “He was selling it off of a catering wagon in front of a gas station.”
With the sausage’s success, Lester phoned brother Francis with a proposition.
“My father-in-law was a sharecropper in San Saba,” Sherry said. “(Lester) asked him if he wanted to run a barbecue place in Marble Falls. He said, ‘Sure. Anything beats sharecropping.”
The brothers opened the restaurant on March 24, 1964, and ran it together for 24 years until Lester’s death in 1988.
“That’s when my husband bought out (Lester’s) part,” Sherry said.
Sherry will miss hearing tales about the beloved restaurant’s early days.
“I still get stories all the time,” she said. “Customers will come in and say, ‘Francis used to give me candy when I was a little kid.’ I’ve loved hearing those stories.”
She will also miss Inman’s longtime patrons.
“People come in and say that their parents or grandparents came here for years,” she said.
Sherry plans to spend more time with her family as she enters a new chapter in her life.
“I’m going to take care of my grandkids, have fun, and find myself again,” she said.
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Have fun, Sherry, and enjoy life and your family! You and your family worked so hard for many MANY years. Thank you for the excellent bar-b-que and for sharing your smile and stories with so many of us!!!