How many people have you helped along the way? Mark White

Orange Beach, Alabama, and Moe’s Original BBQ

In 2006, after hurricanes Ivan and Katrina devastated the Gulf Coast, Mark White, having recently moved from Vail, Colorado, to Alabama, found a BBQ joint in Orange Beach that didn’t survive the storms. Mark, with the three original Moe’s BBQ partners, Mike Fernandez, Ben Gilbert, and Jeff Kennedy, purchased the equipment and leased the building where Porky’s BBQ had once been in Orange Beach. On April 25, 2009, Mark married his wife, Angie, whom he first met in Colorado.

“Orange Beach was the first Moe’s Original BBQ store outside our little fairytale in Colorado. The partners gave me a 25% stake, and we opened on a shoestring budget. We operated on a residential 4-burner electric coil burner and fried wings in a crawfish pot on the back porch. We had lots of friends who came in to help out.” He tells me they kept their house in Vail, and Angie still gets 30 days of skiing every year.

Mark says, “I’ve always worked to purchase the things I like to do. Skis, snowboards, kayaks, whatever. Orange Beach only had a couple of thousand permanent residents at the time, so they ate at Moe’s often. The food was good and people liked it, so I began looking around for the next thing. It made sense that people who were dedicated to the Moe’s concept and committed to me would make good co-owners and operators as we grew.”

Daphne Moe’s Original BBQ

“Angie saw this old house on Bayfront Park Road in Daphne with a for sale sign sticking out of the piles of Live Oak leaves on the ground. The first time I saw it, it had that vibe and feel of an old BBQ joint. A guy had started to build a restaurant but ran into trouble, so I bought and finished it, and we opened in 2009.”

Mark tells me the area is called Edgewater Heights, and back in the day was an old African American Black community waterfront place on a dirt road. The matriarch of the community, “Big Mama,” lived in the house that is now Moe’s and took care of the people in the neighborhood, watching their kids and hosting fish fries. Mark has been told that folks may have been able to purchase a little moonshine from the back. It’s even rumored that a room or two was available by the hour in a small place in the rear.

Obscure and not well-traveled, Mark is often asked why he opened a store at that location. “The food is consistent, the price is right, and we ran it like a saloon. Music has always been a part of my life, and we started having great Blues music. He referenced North Mississippi Hill Country Cottonfield Blues, where the Beatles, Rolling Stones, and Allman Brothers music originated. “We booked the bands that I wanted to see and hear, but I had to adjust a lot over the years to serve our demographic.”

When the BP Oil Spill happened in 2010, everything in Orange Beach stopped. “Life as we knew it was over. We were doing everything we could to keep it going. We worked as many side hustles as we could find, and fed many of the cleanup crews working the oil spill. That’s about the time when I found out about the Mobile River Delta.” He, Angie, and their 13-year-old son now live on Bay Minette Creek in Spanish Fort.

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Downtown Moe’s Original BBQ

Mark tells me that all the Moe’s stores have grown organically, especially his. Because he was knowledgeable about music, he was asked to serve on the Performing Arts Board at the Saenger Theater in Mobile. Moe’s also did some catering for the Saenger events. That’s where he met Tony Atchison in Mobile. Tony owned the building on Dauphin Street where Red or White is now located in Mobile. He had a vacancy and approached Mark about opening a Moe’s there.

“I loved it at first sight. I told Tony I was ready to sign a lease and write a check. He told me he had another restaurant that wanted the space, and he needed to check with them first. The other restaurant committed on the spot. Disappointed, Mark sent Tony a “nice” email telling him that he would have been the best tenant he ever had.

Tony, who knows everybody, introduced Mark to Wendall Quimby, who owned the property at Dauphin Street and Springhill Avenue, where Moe’s is now in downtown Mobile. It was on the parade route and had room for a restaurant and event space in the back. 

“I leased it on the spot,” he says. “We’ve hosted every kind of party imaginable. Reunions, business events, school events, receptions, birthday parties, bride’s maid parties, you name it. This store has been the top revenue store of all the Moe’s Original BBQ stores for several years, none of which would have been possible without an incredible team and great partners.”

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Foley and West Mobile Moe’s Original BBQ

Mark expanded his operations in West Mobile and Foley at about the same time. The West Mobile building had been a fast food franchise and had a drive-thru window. This proved to be huge when the pandemic happened. 

“Customers could order and drive through safely to pick up their order. At the other stores, it was a bit more complicated. We offered a program where a customer could choose to purchase a second meal to give to a first responder or essential worker. When we had 20 meals purchased, we would deliver them to a group. This caught on, and all the Moe’s locations adopted the program throughout the system. It kept us in business.”

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The New Daphne Store

“Stark Irvine had a vision back in the day to revitalize this area around Bayfront Park,” says Mark. “It was a dark street then, and when I opened the Daphne store, people told me it was a terrible idea. As lots came up for sale, I purchased several and just stockpiled them. Then the city of Daphne embraced the idea of a revitalization project for the area that included a boardwalk, an amphitheater, paving, and widening the streets to create a destination for outdoor entertainment.”

He tells me the recently completed street beautification project cost around $15 million.

“Originally, they planned to have parallel parking because they didn’t have enough land to accommodate perpendicular parking, which would allow for a lot more spaces, so I donated 10 more feet along the road to the city.” Part of the Daphne redevelopment plan was acquiring the Thomas Medical Center next to the Publix Shopping Center, which will be renovated into the City’s new recreation center.

The new Daphne Moe’s has been a long time in the planning phase. Mark tells me he has looked at the plans for three years and is excited to see the store finally come to fruition. 

“I’ve always retrofitted buildings, and this was my opportunity to incorporate the best of everything from our stores. Everything that worked well was part of the plan. We’ve designed several large event spaces and a drive-through window, with lots of covered outdoor seating on our open patio. The kitchen is large and efficient, with lots of sinks and additional refrigeration. We will have two smokers in case one goes down. Angie suggested we add a second-story bar and deck, so we did.”

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Reflecting on the Path to Success

When I spoke to Mark on the phone about an interview to discuss the new store, he was traveling home from his uncle’s funeral service in Oklahoma. He was reflective as he looked back at the obstacles he had encountered along the way.

“When it looked like the road was being pulled up from underneath me, it really wasn’t. It was the foundation being laid for success. Looking back 45 or 46 years later, I can see it now.”

He tells me about being a teenager and entering Bradford Health Services (Summer camp, he called it) to help get his life in order. “It was a good experience. I learned to trust and have faith, and how  to deal with the next bump in the road.”

He goes on, “My journey is all about the love of food. Cooking was as natural to me as throwing a baseball or making a tackle on the football field. When you run a restaurant, you wear a lot of hats. You are a dad, a big brother, a police officer, and a counselor. At any given time, we have 100 to 150 employees. I want to help them be better humans, better leaders, better everything.”

When Covid happened, he told me everyone he knew was freaking out.  For inspiration, he began listening to podcasts by Dr. Kevin Elko, a leading national sports psychologist. “I listened every single week. I’ve always felt I was a leader from my time in sports. People didn’t know what was happening or what to do about the pandemic. I was talking people off the ledge.” Mark began sending his friends and employees the “Monday Morning Cup of Inspiration” from Dr. Elko. 

“I was a little apprehensive about what people would think at first. I haven’t been a perfect person by any stretch. But I wasn’t receiving any words of encouragement from anyone, so I began sending a two to five-minute message each week, and sent it individually to friends at first, then employees. I figured, if I was hungry and thirsty, then other people were hungry and thirsty for some positivity, perspective, and encouragement, too.” 

Mark reflects that his role at Moe’s has changed over the years. “It’s less about cooking and more about leading and mentoring,” he says. “I’ve embarked on the leadership side of things these days. I love the outdoors and want to help young people. I still like to have fun, but I had no plan or vision when I started my journey. I look at life differently now. I want to have church service at the new store on Sundays, like they have at Flora-Bama for all the non-perfect people like me.” 

I love this story. Mark is as down-to-earth as you will find. He’s a straight shooter and doesn’t sugarcoat his past. He will be the first to tell you he was a handful growing up. But the makeup and perseverance in his character are a message for anyone trying to find their path.

Thank you, Mark. It was truly a pleasure to visit and hear your story. We can’t wait to celebrate the new Moe’s Original BBQ in Daphne with you!