Daddy D’s barbecue comes to Woodland

WOODLAND — Before Donnie Vercher could open his hole-in-the-wall barbecue restaurant, he had to explain what exactly a hole-in-the-wall was.

“Back home, they’re always attached to something,” said Vercher, 54, of Battle Ground. “I had to explain that when I wanted to open Daddy D’s. For me, it’s all about customer service and food. I really care about the product. We don’t serve anything if it’s not ready. We make everything on-site from scratch.”

Vercher’s cooking requires “a lot of love and patience.” His career path has followed the same recipe, taking him from the woods of Louisiana to a Vancouver street corner to a burgeoning barbecue empire centered on the back of a gas station.

Today, Vercher will open his first standalone restaurant. The location, 1243 N. Goerig St., Woodland, will be open from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, although it wouldn’t be a shock if Vercher ended up closing early most days. The original Daddy D’s Southern Style BBQ, which is in the back of a Shell gas station at 7204 N.E. Fourth Plain Blvd., Vancouver, is open until it sells out every day.

The standalone restaurant comes after Vercher was approached about bringing Daddy D’s to the Moda Center last year for about 100 events, including Trail Blazers and Winterhawks games and major concerts.

“We were there for a Kevin Hart concert recently and sold out before the show started,” Vercher said. “They were mad, but there’s nothing we could do.”

The restaurant has been a dream of Vercher’s for years, but he couldn’t find the right hole-in-the-wall until he checked out the former site of Premium Smoked Meats. Vercher, his family and Mel Cearley, from whom he bought the building, have worked the last six-plus months to renovate the space for the restaurant, which is expected to have about 20 seats inside and more outdoors. One feature they didn’t remove is the very appropriate “Smoked Meat” sign already hanging on the back of the building.

“This was a family effort,” he said. “It wouldn’t have been possible with the support from my wife and kids.”

Family business

Vercher keeps his family close, working with his wife and a few of their kids. He and his wife, Louise Vercher, had nine kids by the time they were 30. They now have 22 grandchildren, and everyone gets together the last Sunday of the month for dinner at their Battle Ground home. Louise tends to handle the cooking those nights along with one of their daughters, Karolyn Harper, Donnie said.

Vercher will work at the Woodland location with his son-in-law, Devontae Harper. One of his sons, Isaiah Vercher, 28, and Karolyn Harper will work at the Vancouver location.

“We’re all used to being around each other,” Isaiah Vercher said. “We’re usually about to hug each other or choke each other.”

He also works the Moda Center events with a crew of about six, most of whom aren’t in the family. Isaiah Vercher started working for his father after graduating from Hudson’s Bay High School in 2008. After two or three years, his father finally let him work the pit. Isaiah Vercher said his father has been looking to open a restaurant for about five years.

“This is a proud moment,” Isaiah Vercher said. “It’s inspirational. He never took shortcuts. We all see where hard work and dedication will get you.”

Donnie Vercher’s path to his own restaurant started in the woods of Mossville, La., outside Lake Charles, where he developed a love of barbecue while watching his father and Uncle Bully cook after church and for family gatherings.

Even while working as a bridge builder, Vercher spent his Saturdays and Sundays selling barbecue on the corner of Northeast 72nd Drive and Northeast Fourth Plain Boulevard. He broke his back at his construction job a little more than 10 years ago, putting him in a full-body cast for six months. He decided to take his 401(k) retirement money and opened Daddy D’s Southern Style BBQ in the back of the Shell station. In June, he celebrated its 10th anniversary.

“I had to figure out how to take care of my family,” he said. “I had been barbecuing 25 years, but I had to learn as I went. I started out making $45 a day.”

Vercher said the money isn’t important now. Along with his barbecue locations, he also builds custom cars, and Vercher said he knows how to save money. He purchased the new Woodland location for $250,000. What he cares about is bringing the food he grew up with to the area.

Along with the brisket, ribs, pulled pork and chicken Daddy D’s customers know from the Shell location, Vercher said the new location will eventually offer catfish, fried okra, baked beans with rib tips and hot water corn bread. He’s also going to start rolling out a new side dish every Friday for the first few weeks, offering up items like red beans and rice, macaroni and cheese and hush puppies.

Vercher is excited to bring his food to Woodland, a growing city, and one he feels like is a bit of an underdog, just like himself and Daddy D’s. John “JJ” Burke, executive director of the Woodland Chamber of Commerce, expects the place will be packed, especially when it opens, as people will want to try something new to the city.

Setting up a spot in Woodland is also making Vercher question where to hold his annual free Thanksgiving meal, which he has done the last seven years at his Vancouver location. Last year, he and his family cooked 45 turkeys and 50 hams for 1,000 guests. He said he is still going to do it this year, but wondered if he should try to do it at the Woodland restaurant, the Vancouver Shell station or maybe both. The issue with holding it in Woodland, he said, would be transporting hungry people.

“I’m just trying to do what’s right,” he said.

Vercher is sure it will all come together. After starting his days at 3:30 a.m. for the last decade, he’s finally getting his own restaurant, and much like his barbecue, Vercher knows it sometimes takes some love and patience for good things to happen.

“I’m holding it down,” he said. “It all started from this little hole-in-the-wall.”