When you eat at Big Moon’s BBQ and Southern Cuisine, you’re tasting history.

Kevin Mooney, owner of the restaurant at 116 W. Marcy Ave., in Montesano, uses his grandmother’s recipes to bring his roots to Grays Harbor County. Mooney, from Nashville, cooks his barbecue in a sort of hybrid style between Middle Tennessee and Texas barbecue. He and his staff slow-smoke brisket, pork ribs, pulled pork and chicken. They make from scratch their cole slaw, macaroni and cheese, and their beans.

The barbecue smell that wafts from the kitchen sets the mood for what his customers are about to embark on — a feast of culinary delights.

Mooney, an Army veteran, shared a bit of how he came to love cooking.

“Originally I’m from Tennessee, and that’s where most of my recipes (came from). My recipes come from my grandmother,” he said. “She taught me a lot about cooking. That’s where I developed my love for cooking, watching my grandmother.”

Mooney shared how nothing was pre-made in his grandmother’s household. It should explain why at his restaurant, which opened in early November, everything is homemade. It’s the way he learned.

“She made everything from scratch,” Mooney said. “I didn’t even know that there was such a thing as pre-made biscuits, (like) those Pillsbury biscuits you can pop open. I had no idea that those were a thing because my grandmother always made them from scratch. That was the only way I knew how biscuits existed, through my grandmother.”

Mooney explained how the days at Big Moon’s BBQ are long. “Big Moon,” as Mooney is called, showed off the briskets that were resting in the kitchen. They looked ready to eat to the untrained eye.

“As pretty as that looks, it’s still not done,” Mooney said, before explaining the days start at 4 a.m. “We wait until they’re at 200 (degrees,) and then they’re like butter.”

And don’t expect the meat on Mooney’s ribs to fall off the bone.

“I love the way I make them,” said Mooney, who was “raised” on ribs. “You ever have ribs where you pick up the bone and (the meat) just falls off? I don’t like that. They should be able to have a little bite to them, and then you have a clean bone after you eat it. That’s what you want. You’ve overcooked them if the meat falls off the bone like that. Some people like them like that, but that’s not the Big Moon’s way. We have a little bite to ours. Our ribs are my favorite.”

Mooney said it’s hard to run a barbecue restaurant every day. He said the meat is expensive and it takes such a long time to cook. But Mooney is organized, and he thanks his decades in the Army for that. He said he learned everything about how to run a business when he worked as a chaplain’s assistant.

“I learned all about operations, I learned about the finance, budgeting, all the things you need to do to run a chapel, that’s what I did,” Mooney said. “I didn’t realize that for 20 years I was learning to run a business. All of the money that comes to the chapel, all of the purchases we had to make, the staff I had to supervise. All of that, even though it was not food, it was ministry, that all prepared me for this moment that we’re in right now. Everything I do here is basically what I learned there, as far as behind the scenes.”

In order for Mooney to succeed in the restaurant business, he needed help. He said Jerry Howard has been his right-hand man in the last one-and-a-half years they’ve worked together.

“He has been one of the most loyal people I have ever met in just a short time we’ve known each other,” Mooney said.

Mooney thanked his wife, Mackrina, who has been a “big” supporter of him. He also wanted to thank his other family members for helping him during his short time working in the food industry.

Mooney also thanked Deona Lewis and Peerman Brandon — two former Army buddies who have helped him with media exposure, and through counsel and encouragement.

Mooney beamed about how he’s worked his way up from more modest restauranteur beginnings. He used a stick burner outdoor smoker before he got his shot, which was smoking meats at Wynooche Meats and Deli, in Montesano. Mooney was clear to thank Rose Gallington, owner of the deli, for her help during those early days.

“That’s all life is about, sometimes we just need that opportunity to show our stuff,” Mooney said. “Sometimes people in life give you that opportunity. And Rose Gallington is one of those people who gave me that opportunity to show what I could do. I think it’s probably safe to say I don’t know if I would have even kept going. I had so many people and there was no property to buy. Nobody was selling. There was no place to lease. Monte was locked up with restaurants, and so that opportunity, Ms. Rose opened that window for me.”

While Mooney champions the quality of the food that comes out of his kitchen, don’t just take his word for it. A few customers on Thursday shouted rave reviews as they left Big Moon’s.

Sam Baderdeen, of Montesano, said his meal was excellent and he would be back for more. Baderdeen had the pulled pork sandwich with coleslaw.

“I can’t say anything other than it’s excellent,” Baderdeen said. “Those boys do a great job.”

Big Moon’s is open from Thursday through Sunday, noon to 6 p.m. It’s cash only, and there are no phone orders.

Contact Reporter Matthew N. Wells at matthew.wells@thedailyworld.com for future story ideas.

Matthew N. Wells / The Daily World Kevin Mooney, owner of Big Moon’s BBQ and Southern Cuisine, learned from his grandmother how to cook. Like at his restaurant at 116 W. Marcy Ave., in Montesano, she made everything from scratch. That takes time, but it’s time Mooney is glad to spend. He called his restaurant “a labor of love.”

Matthew N. Wells / The Daily World Big Moon’s BBQ and Southern Cuisine — 116 W. Marcy Ave., in Montesano — promises southern barbecue to the Harbor. Inside is a friendly staff led by Kevin Mooney, who owns the restaurant. The food served comes from Mooney’s roots as a young kid who learned by watching his grandmother. He’s proud to share a taste of his familial roots with anyone who steps inside.