Business of the Week: The Oink Joint Brings Family-Built Barbecue to Peachtree City

The beef brisket at The Oink Joint nearly falls apart under its own weight.

Smoked low and slow over hickory, the brisket is tender enough to cut with a fork and flavorful enough to stand on its own. Paired with a creamy three-cheese mac and cheese topped with crushed Cheez-Its, it made an unforgettable first impression at Peachtree City’s newest barbecue destination.

Located beside Flying Biscuit Café, The Oink Joint opened its Peachtree City restaurant in late April. While the restaurant may be new to town, owners Matt and Kelsey Crawford have spent the past decade building a barbecue business that now includes locations in Peachtree City, Newnan, Zebulon, and LaGrange.

This April marked 10 years since the Crawfords opened their first restaurant in Newnan. In the decade since, they’ve survived a pandemic, rebuilt after a fire, raised two children, and expanded to four locations.

What many customers assume is a chain restaurant is actually a family-owned operation run by a husband-and-wife team who started their first restaurant while still in their twenties.

“We were very young. Got our start early,” Kelsey Crawford said.

The couple’s journey into barbecue was anything but planned.

Matt Crawford was working at the original location of The Oink Joint in Zebulon while pursuing air traffic control training. Kelsey Crawford earned a degree in biological sciences and expected to continue into graduate school and healthcare. The Coweta County couple instead found an opportunity in downtown Newnan.

After spotting an available building, the pair approached the original owners of The Oink Joint about opening a second location. Matt was 25. Kelsey was 23.

“We had zero clue what we were doing,” Matt Crawford said. “I thought I knew what I was doing because I’d been running one. Then you open and you’re like, ‘Oh my gosh, there’s so many different levels to it.’”

The Newnan location opened in April 2016. A year later, the couple welcomed their first child.

They were still learning the restaurant business when COVID-19 arrived. Fortunately, they had just launched online ordering and delivery options. While many restaurants struggled, The Oink Joint saw demand surge through takeout and curbside pickup.

That growth helped position the Crawfords for their next step: purchasing the original Zebulon location in 2021.

Then disaster struck.

Just months after buying the restaurant, a fire destroyed the building.

“The day after Mother’s Day of 2022,” Kelsey Crawford said.

The restaurant was rebuilt and reopened the following year. During the same period, the couple expanded into LaGrange before eventually bringing The Oink Joint to Peachtree City this spring.

Looking back, Matt Crawford sometimes laughs at everything that has happened in a relatively short period of time.

“We talk about what we’ve done in the 10 years,” he said. “Feels like what a normal people, four businesses, two kids, you know, we built a house, had one of the businesses burned down.”

The Peachtree City restaurant came after several years of looking for the right location.

The Crawfords believed the community was missing a locally owned barbecue option and appreciated the city’s support for small businesses.

“Trying to pick the right pocket was really important,” Kelsey Crawford said. “What’s the best little neighborhood pocket area we can pick here that fits, you know, being a local business, being accessible to customers, being able to offer good service?”

The location at 2870 Highway 54 checked several boxes. Situated beside Flying Biscuit Café and accessible from Peachtree City’s extensive golf cart path system, it offered the visibility and convenience the Crawfords were seeking while remaining connected to the surrounding neighborhoods.

The restaurant itself deserves mention. Wood siding, corrugated metal accents, and bright white subway tile behind the register give the space a modern barbecue feel. Patio seating adds another option for diners, particularly during Georgia’s milder months.

For longtime Peachtree City residents who remember Christo’s in the space, The Oink Joint feels noticeably different. The Crawfords have transformed the interior into something distinctly their own while maintaining the casual atmosphere that makes barbecue restaurants gathering places as much as dining destinations.

The menu offers traditional barbecue staples including pulled pork, brisket, ribs, Brunswick stew, and multiple house-made sauces. It also features barbecue tacos, loaded nachos, stuffed potatoes, sandwiches, and other creations designed to appeal to diners who may not think of themselves as barbecue fans.

One standout is the loaded brisket nachos. House-made queso, barbecue sauce, dry rub, and smoked meat transform what could be a simple appetizer into a meal of its own.

Behind the food is a business that now employs roughly 70 people across four locations, many of them students and part-time workers.

For the Crawfords, the business remains deeply personal.

“Starting it as a husband and wife, doing it together has been challenging, but very rewarding,” Kelsey Crawford said. “And now that the kids are doing it as a family together, is kind of neat.”

That family focus extends to how they approach pricing and customer service.

“In a world where obviously everybody’s feeling the economic impact and stuff like that, we’re still trying to provide great quality product,” Matt Crawford said. “We take pride in a family of four coming out here on Friday night to eat with us.”

Asked whether additional locations might be in the future, the Crawfords said they are focused on the restaurants they already operate.

“We’re kind of be-where-your-feet-are people,” Kelsey Crawford said.

For now, that means serving customers in Peachtree City, Newnan, Zebulon, and LaGrange while continuing to grow the business they began a decade ago.

The Oink Joint’s Peachtree City location is at 2870 Highway 54, Peachtree City, while its downtown Newnan location is at 9 East Washington Street. More information can be found at www.theoinkjointbbq.com.