Olaf Growald
Patrick “Jube” Joubert has been perfecting his barbecue technique for 30 years as a hobby, starting before he attended seminary and began his career as a pastor. Joubert combined his love of both in opening Jube’s Smokehouse in Southeast Fort Worth’s Stop Six neighborhood more than two years ago.
Turns out COVID-19, which hit in March, has been a challenge for Jube, only in testing his ability to meet higher demand. Business has tripled, Joubert says.
“The amount of orders has gone through the roof,” Joubert, 50, said one morning before opening his tiny 750-square-foot shop at 1900 S. Edgewood Terrace. “Some days we sold out in 2 1/2 hours. We doubled up everything on the weekend.”
Why the surge? “I wish I knew,” Joubert says. “Maybe because we were already a grab-and-go kinda place. I guess they like the food.” When the price of brisket doubled in the spring, Joubert says he did not raise prices.
“I couldn’t be happier. It’s therapy for me,” Joubert says. “It’s an opportunity to meet people, and I love people.”
Born in tiny Plaisance, Louisiana, Joubert was reared in Houston, then attended seminaries before becoming pastor of Corinth Baptist Church in Waxahachie, then Fellowship Church in Crawford. Joubert is popular on the national evangelical circuit. He figured he was doing 270 sermons a year before he took a break. “I physically ran out of gas."
When his second church dissolved, Joubert changed direction and started cooking at home for family and friends on weekends. In 2017, Joubert met the owner of the vacated building on Edgewood. “Everything I needed was in the building except for smokers,” say Joubert, now a tenant.
Jube’s has four employees and cooks five days a week, open 11 a.m. until sellout. “For a little place, I think we cook a lot."
That includes up to 20 slabs of ribs and 15 briskets a day, sausage and sides. Joubert is most proud of his community outreach through a backpack giveaway, scholarships, and 10% discount to school district workers.
“The food is not the only purpose,” says Joubert, who plans to hit the sermon circuit again next year. “The food will get you here, but...this is a ministry to me as much as preaching and pastoring is a ministry to me.”
