Love and kindness are free so why not offer them to everyone you meet? This is the principle at the core of everything Lamar and Niki Cole do. Stepping through the front door and into the warm red interior of their small soul food and BBQ restaurant invokes the same warmth as a grandmother’s hug.
First opening their doors 10 years ago to a line of hungry customers stretching down the street, Lamar and Niki have been partners through three previous businesses for 35 years. The high school sweethearts promised each other before opening Lamar & Niki’s Pit BBQ & Soul Food that they would always put each other and their family first.
“We said that when we opened this restaurant, we’d make sure to spend time with each other,” Lamar says. “We always pray about anything before we do it, and I knew [the help we received] were signs from God.”
Every day of the week, master chef Lamar makes a different selection of entrees and sides for customers to choose from. Using the full range of southern comfort and soul food, patrons can try anything from smothered pork steaks on Monday to pigs’ feet on Friday.
The fresh ingredients that make the menu at Lamar & Niki’s are picked out at local grocers every morning by Lamar, who comes in early to prep the food. Fried fish, smoked ribs and yams are just a few of the recipes Lamar has developed with help from the cooks in his family.
“My mom was a chef, and I learned a lot from my grandma’s and aunt’s recipes; I just added a little more [love] to it,” Lamar says. “I’ll see people [making faces] when they eat my food, and at the end of the day, when it slows down, I’ll go eat. Then I’ll tell Niki, ‘I see why these people were going MMM.’”
Lamar and Niki’s fully embodies the title “Family Business” with the entire staff being made up of members of the Cole family or friends that they consider family.
“My momma retired three times,” Niki laughs. “And she works here because she loves being around people.”
For the past ten years, the four walls of Lamar and Niki’s assure that when a stranger walks in, they leave a member of the family. “We have a lady that comes in every Tuesday and Saturday,” Niki explains. “Recently, her husband died, and we just love her. So, when Thanksgiving came, we asked her what [she was doing] and she came with us for Thanksgiving, and we had a blast.”
Serving the Bryan/College Station area means more than just making delicious food for Lamar and Niki. They count each day as a blessing and always look to give back to those in need whether it’s by offering a hot plate of food to the homeless or taking a young man down on his luck under their roof.
“His name was Samson, and at first, he didn’t want to take anything,” Lamar says with tears in his eyes. “We got him a room at the Twin City Mission and paid for [part of it], and we also let him stay at our house.”
“He’s a good kid,” Niki adds. “Now, he calls us mom and dad!”
The charity Lamar and Niki show to those in need even extends to the little responsibilities of day-to-day business. When customers forget their wallet, the Cole’s will always tell them to just come back and pay later. One customer drove 42 minutes to Franklin before realizing he forgot to pay and turned around immediately to correct his mistake. When Lamar told him he could have just paid the next time he came in, the customer told him that he had to because the Cole’s might have needed that money that week.
“There was one [homeless man] that even though we fed him, he had a gold dollar,” Lamar says. “We told him we didn’t need it, but he said, ‘No. I really was hungry but I can’t leave here without giving you something.’
“It was all he had,” Lamar adds. “We told him to keep it so when we got up to clean the table he had left it [there]. I still have it so if he ever comes back, I’m gonna say, ‘Here.’ [and give it back to him].”
The Cole’s commitment to kindness and charity has even inspired some of their customers. During the COVID-19 pandemic, some would even leave money to pay for anyone’s meal who came into the restaurant.
“During COVID people would say ‘Lamar this is $200, I’m gonna come eat.’ and they never came back to eat,” Lamar and Niki explain. “We had a customer that when they went out of town they would say, ‘Pay for five people’s lunches.’ Someone would come in and eat and we would take $20 [of the money left] and buy their lunch until we spent the whole $100.
Lamar & Niki’s also offers catering services for customers who need to feed lots of hungry mouths. One of their favorite regular catering customers is the Texas A&M University Women’s Basketball team.
We’re catering for the girls this Thursday,” Niki says. “We love it. We’ve been catering for them for years, even when [coach] Blair and Kelly were there.”
Those girls come up here through the weekdays, or they’ll call us,” Lamar laughs. “‘Mr. Lamar, can you put me some chicken up?’ [The team] loves our chicken.”
The perfect combination of delicious food and warm hospitality turns customers into regular patrons. With open hearts and warm smiles, the Cole’s serve up piping hot plates and hope for their blessings to continue and make everyone who steps through their doors day better.
“Everything we do, we do it in love,” Niki says softly. “Our customers aren’t just customers. They’re family. Color, race and creed don’t matter. We’re all family.”
“God first, family and then
business,” Lamar adds. “Because the business will go away, but your family will still be here. Hopefully one of my great-grandkids will want to continue the legacy and carry it on.”
Lamar & Niki’s Pit BBQ & Soul Food is open Tuesday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., except for the last Saturday of every month. The Cole’s serve BBQ on Fridays and Saturdays. For more information on menu items and catering services, call (979) 775-9059, or visit their restaurant at 2516 Texas Ave, Bryan.
