31 Dec 2024 Five-Oh-Ones to Watch 2025: Bart Likes
By Mark Oliver
When tragedy struck Bart Likes’ family, he found solace in cooking.
“My mom passed away from domestic violence in 2013,” he said. “She was a big cook. Cooking some of her old recipes felt therapeutic to me, and it was one of the only things that helped me get through that difficult loss.”
At the time, Likes was furloughed from his conductor and engineer position with Union Pacific Railroad and needed work. While serving as a duck hunting guide, he began cooking for outdoor professionals at a private hunting lodge, where his family recipes combined with his unique blend of Memphis- and Texas-style barbecue to capture the hunting scene by storm.
It was a turning point for Likes, who found purpose in his passion. While traveling as a private chef and caterer, he realized he could use a plate of food as a means to bring people together. As the old saying goes, one thing leads to another, and he opened Ol’Bart Southern Eats a year later.
Likes lives in Greenbrier with his wife, Kaley, and four children, Novalee, Abbott, Griffin and Jetson. Over the years, his operation has grown substantially.
What began as a food truck in Greenbrier quickly expanded into brick-and-mortar restaurants in Conway and North Little Rock’s Argenta Arts District, as well as an expanded private chef and catering side of the business.
“Our plan is to home in on our North Little Rock location while growing our catering and private chef opportunities,” Likes said. “We have a couple of locations in mind to add restaurants of all types of food, not just barbecue.”
“Seeing the demand that I had for my food allowed me to feel something for the first time since my mom’s passing,” Likes said. “We were selling out for months at a time.
“That support and that trust from the community was everything we needed to keep going.”
Today, he continues to serve the crowds of 501 faithful, while cooking and catering for corporate parties, film festivals, VIP events and more.
“The restaurant game is not for the faint of heart, but I didn’t get into this business to get rich,” Likes said. “It’s the customers who keep me going. Reading reviews about how our food reminds them of home makes us feel honored, and being nominated for various awards makes all our hard work worth it.”
While business is booming for him and his family, the young entrepreneur takes pride in paying his staff well and giving back to the many communities that have supported his journey.
“For us, community is all about trying to help as many people as we possibly can,” Likes said. “Being able to feed our health care workers and teachers as a way of saying, ‘Thank you’ or writing a check to help a youth sports team goes a long way.”
Of all the organizations he lends a hand to, there’s one in particular that allows him to bring his journey full circle.
“One of my proudest accomplishments is being able to donate meals to victims of domestic abuse in shelters,” Likes said. “That’s the whole reason I started cooking. Being able to give back through a plate of food is a big deal for me.”
- Five-Oh-Ones to Watch 2025: Bart Likes - December 31, 2024
- First Presbyterian Church in Conway has become a Harvest of Humanitarianism - October 30, 2024
- Kids of the Month: Ashyr and Abbott Crow - September 30, 2024
