Ruth Q’s is Now Open for Business

Ruth Q’s is a new barbeque joint that opened in mid-July on Main Street in Martin and is owned by Joe Mara, with Rhonda Koon helping him along the way. Ruth’s Q is named after Joe’s mother, Ruth, who fought a battle with cancer.

The business originally started in their house in 2022 before moving to a food truck in 2023. The idea of transitioning to a full restaurant came at the best time, according to Mara. The generator on their trailer was having difficulties, but neither of them expected what would happen.

“All of a sudden I hear a “boom”, and there’s smoke coming out. It blew up,” Mara said.

After the generator blew, the couple knew that the generator blowing up was a sign to open a restaurant instead of spending a lot of money to get the correct generator.

Mara does not have a background in culinary, but enjoyed cooking, nevertheless. Mara is from Chicago, and while growing up, pulled pork was very hard to find there, so he learned how, while visiting family and friends in Sharon.

Years later, when Mara moved to Weakley County, he decided that he wanted to start cooking barbecue, so he did a lot of research and found a smoker to aid him. Mara said that he was scrolling on Facebook and saw that there were cook offs happening for the Soybean Festival, and he and Koon decided to enter it on a whim. 

“They started announcing, and they got to third place with ribs, and they called our name. First time we’re doing this, and we get a trophy,” Mara said.

The pair also ended up winning first place in the shoulder category. Mara said that after this, they did more competitions and gained more trophies. In 2019, Mara’s mother passed away and he took a decline with his alcohol addiction, which led him away from cooking as much. A few years later, Mara decided to check into detox and get his life back on track, and he ended up retiring shortly after.

 After working on his sobriety, Mara was diagnosed with leukemia. 

“After that I thought, ‘I’m not gonna go back to that way. I’m not gonna drink,’” Mara said.

Now, Mara takes medication daily and is in semi-remission. 

A ribbon cutting was held Friday, August 10 celebrating the grand opening of the business which was well attended by the community.

Ruth Q’s is open Tuesday through Friday from 6:30-10AM (breakfast), closed from 10-11, and open 11-7:30PM. 

Ruth’s Q offers a variety of breakfast, entrees, and sides. The full menu can be found on Ruth Q’s Facebook.