McCray's Backyard BBQ

The McCray family has an 80+ year tradition of cooking ribs that they have perfected as a family. You can smell the ribs cooking miles away outside. McCray's Backyard BBQ only uses the best wood and finest ingredients. "You have to be an artist to master the grill," says owner Derrick McCray.

The restaurant name came from his father, Herman McCray, Assistant Pastor at Greater Bethel Primitive Baptist Church in Riviera Beach, FL. The name "Backyard BBQ" was originally meant for one of the many signature sauces offered by the restaurant.

Herman McCray began cooking with his uncle as a teenager in the 1950's at Harvey's Barbecue on 7th and Tamarind in West Palm Beach, FL. He later started cooking ribs at home and eventually opened McCray's Barbecue in Riviera Beach on Old Dixie Highway in 1977. His wife, Lillian McCray, was a school teacher, whose salary supported the family when the business first opened.

Derrick McCray watched his father work. "I was a little boy and watched the people buy ribs out of our house and I learned the business by being around it all of my life," said Derrick.

It has been said that the family that prays together stays together. The McCray family stuck together and today has two barbecue businesses in Palm Beach County.