MONTVERDE, Fla. – Willie’s Bar-B-Que has only been a part of Montverde for six years, but it has become a fixture in the small community.
Willie Fulmore and his daughter, Tomeka Fulmore-Smith, have spent their lives working with food. Willie Fulmore opened his barbecue restaurant nearly 30 years ago, first setting up shop in Winter Garden.
“When I was stationed in Leesburg and there was a gentleman on Pine Street (with a business) by the name of Jim’s Barbecue Place and every weekend, everybody at the facility would go there and I would go there,” Willie Fulmore said. “So I said, ‘You know, that would be a neat little business,’ because he was open two days a week. I said, ‘Can’t get any better than that. A guy can work two days a week and he can make a living.’”
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At that time, he and his daughter worked as food safety inspectors for the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Willie Fulmore worked with factories dealing in processed foods while his daughter worked with commodities and fresh produce.
He opened his restaurant, having people help him run it.
“I would get promoted on the job and then I would lease it out to a group of people and then they wouldn’t do so well and I’d have to come back and get it boosted up again,” he said.
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That pattern persisted until he and Tomeka Fulmore-Smith both retired allowing them to run the business together.
The pair sold their property in Winter Garden to Matthew’s Hope and moved the business to Montverde about six years ago.
“I love Montverde. I call Montverde ‘Mayberry,’” Willie Fulmore said. “It’s a quiet, cool little place. I like Montverde. It fits me.”
“They’ve been very welcoming. The community is absolutely amazing,” Tomeka Fulmore-Smith added. “It’s such a beautiful, beautiful community.”
Willie Fulmore brings a lot of expertise to his craft. He grew up in South Carolina, where his family regularly barbecued. He also made friend’s with the owner of Jim’s Barbecue Place.
“I went and I worked free the whole summer for the guy, you know, as a friend,” he said. “So he kind of showed me a lot of tips and I what I learned from my dad and the other guys — I put it all together.”
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Those tips have paid off. The father-daughter duo said they have had people coming from miles for their food.
There have been quite a few people who love taking road trips, and they would literally travel just to try barbecue,” Tomeka Fulmore-Smith said. “We’ve had people come up (from South Florida). They drove up for the day — ‘Yeah, we’re from Miami. We heard about you, we read your reviews.’”
Willie Fulmore believes the restaurant only being open two days a week adds to the hype.
“People always want what they can’t get enough of,” he said.
Though he likes to brag about only working two days a week, Willie Fulmore is a busy guy. He is also a minister and works with the homeless.
“I preach at the men’s homeless shelter. I’ve been doing that for the last 12, 15 years and I’m really involved with that,” he said.
On the latest episode of Florida Foodie, the pair share their entire menu with Candace Campos and Lisa Bell. Willie Fulmore also shares what sets his barbecue apart and why it takes some special skill.
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