coming to crossroads
Story by Shaila Creekmore Photo by Dero Sanford

Demo Gambill is back in the kitchen after more than two years out of the restaurant business, but these days he’s standing over a whole different type of grill.

Known in Jonesboro for his barbecue, Demo sold his restaurant, Demo’s Barbecue & Smokehouse, three years ago to enjoy some time traveling with his wife, develop nine acres of land on the South Fork River and to focus on other projects. But as those ventures began to settle, Demo realized he missed his friends – his long-time customers from the restaurant business.

“I’ve had people that have done business with me for 16 years,” said Demo. “I have the world’s greatest customers and they became my friends. I had plenty to do, but I missed my customers. I just wanted to get back out and see my friends.”

In May, Demo opened his new restaurant, Crossroads Grill on Johnson Avenue. Prior to Crossroads, Demo owned a convenience store for nearly seven years and Demo’s Barbecue for nine years. This new restaurant features a traditional breakfast and lunch with burgers, chicken and Philly sandwiches, chili, salads and other lunch favorites.

But fans of Demo will find one thing missing from his menu – his famous barbecue. Demo is currently three years into a five-year non-compete clause as the former owner of Demo’s. While the contract does not prevent him from operating other restaurants, it does prohibit him from selling barbecue within a 50-mile radius of Jonesboro.

“With the no-compete, I had to come up with a menu. These are items I kind of had some interest in cooking,” said Demo. He began thinking about places he enjoyed eating and decided to base his new restaurant on the former Hollywood Grill, a well-liked Jonesboro restaurant that closed several years ago.

“I used to eat at Hollywood Grill and I was very disappointed when they closed as were a lot of other people. I loved their chicken sandwiches, but everybody loved their onion rings. When I decided to get back into the restaurant business, I wanted to do the Hollywood Grill concept.”

Demo brought in the condiments bar where customers can add their own toppings and dressings to their sandwich with things like lettuce, pickles, onion, ranch and honey mustard dressings and relish and sautéed onions for hot dogs. But key to the model were the onion rings.

“We went looking for their onion rings,” said Demo. “We contacted the company and had the onion rings sent in to try and they were not the same. We found out that since Hollywood Grill closed, the supplier had been bought by a larger supplier, but after some searching and trying, we are pretty sure we found what Hollywood Grill carried.”

The rings are not served on the half-foot and foot stands as they were at Hollywood Grill, but Crossroads Grill does provide ranch, honey mustard and ketchup as they were originally served.

Crossroads Grill has four burgers: an old fashion single, old fashion double, ¼ lb. burger and ½ lb. burger. The old fashion burgers are made with a thin patty of beef and all the burgers are served on a toasted bun. Two other Crossroads favorites are the Philly beef and cheese sandwich and the grilled bologna sandwich.

Also on the lunch menu are chicken strips, hotdog, corndog, grilled chicken and chicken strip sandwiches and salads and veggie salad. You can order chili by the bowl or add it to their chilidog with cheese or Frito pie with cheese. Other sides include chips and crinkle fries.

For breakfast, Demo has your biscuits and gravy to start off the morning beginning at 6 a.m. along with eggs, hash browns, toast, bacon, sausage and pancakes so big they call them hubcap pancakes.

“We’ve got good gravy. I think it’s the best of anywhere in town,” he said. “We’ve got thick bacon and sausage that’s not too spicy.”

For those wanting a little of everything, the breakfast special is a favorite and includes a biscuit and gravy, hash browns, eggs and choice of bacon or sausage. Breakfast sandwiches are also available and perfect for those on the go.

“Our breakfast is all cooked fresh and made to order. Our breakfast sandwiches are made and hand assembled for each order and nothing sits under heat lamps waiting to be ordered,” said Demo.

Crossroads Grill, 648 W. Johnson Ave., is located just north of downtown at the intersection of Johnson and Culberhouse. Breakfast is served from 6 a.m. through 10:30 a.m., with extended hours on Saturday for late-sleepers. Lunch is served 10:30 a.m.-2:30 p.m. Monday through Saturday. For more information, call 935-9500.