Ron’s Ribs held down the retail space at 1627 South St. for 26 years before closing somewhat suddenly in 2010. Ron’s was there for some pretty lean times for South Street West, and unfortunately disappeared right as the corridor was really starting to gain momentum. But unlike many other businesses that have come and gone over the years, Ron’s Ribs now has a chance to rise up and open its doors once more.

In the 1980s

According to an email sent to the South Street West Business Association, a gentleman named Brandon Washington is currently working to reopen Ron’s. Brandon is the son of the late Ron Washington, who originally founded the business. Brandon is currently in the middle of a serious effort to raise the necessary funds to reopen the business, and bring back a South Street West legend. To that end, he’s selling a line of Ron’s Ribs t-shirts and sweatshirts through bonfirefunds.com.

Current view

According to Foobooz, Washington has the all of the Ron’s barbeque recipes but is looking for someone with more restaurant experience for a business partner. Additionally, in advance of the restaurant reopening, it appears as though he has some willingness to discuss licensing some of the recipes to other restaurants.

Hopefully, this fundraising campaign will be a rousing success and Washington will find a capable partner to help him bring Ron’s Ribs back to South Street West. We imagine that with the other businesses that have come onto the scene even since Ron’s closed, the number of potential new customers might even overwhelm the number of returning customers who have been craving Ron’s return for years.