Dorchester Times: Big T's, City Slickers Get Our Citizens Of The Year Award

Friday, October 7, 2016

Big T's, City Slickers Get Our Citizens Of The Year Award

There are nearly three months remaining in 2016.

It doesn't matter.

We've gone ahead and named the operators of both Big T's BBQ Pit Stop and City Slickers Bar and Grill as recipients of our "Citizens of the Year."

Operating a small business -- especially in the food and beverage category -- is a high-risk venture. It takes blood, sweat and tears.

Both of entities have managed to thrive in Dorchester, drawing not only local residents but also customers from far and wide.

Despite being in the same small community, these two restaurants and bars are actually complementing one another, feeding off one another's successes they draw more and more people with every passing weekend.

Several well-known food critics, including some in Lincoln, have called both City Slickers and Big T's the "best dining options in a 30-mile radius."

We believe them.

That is why we're awarding the Times' "Citizens of the Year Award" based on two sets of criteria:

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INTERIOR RENOVATION/BUSINESS OVERHAUL - MAIN STREET: First, City Slickers Bar and Grill (known as Joe's Place for decades) totally transformed its space.

Following a setback a year ago after a grease fire, the bar underwent a complete revamp, turning into a true restaurant and entertainment center.

In March of this year, City Slickers unveiled the outdoor portion of their renovation, revealing three new and attractive windows on the north section of the establishment.

The new-and-improved City Slickers' features a new kitchen with a wide food selection and daily specials; much larger dining area, with many tables separate from the bar area for a pleasant dining experience; deluxe salad bar; a mega TV; KENO; a pool area; and a dance floor with a band/DJ area.

It's not only a dining experience, it's a fun, lively place to meet up with friends and family.

***

NEW BUSINESS - MAIN STREET: Big T's BBQ Pit Stop is Dorchester's newest business, and it has caught on like wildfire.

The new eatery is located in the same building that most recently housed Ben's Iron Grill II.

Big T's BBQ was approved in July for a liquor licence and for KENO operation by the Dorchester Village Board.

But it's the area-famous BBQ, as well as the awesome breakfast menus and lunch specials, that have caused the dramatic spike in traffic on Main Street from just a few months ago.

According to an updated Oct. 2 study by the Times, weekend traffic on Dorchester's three-block business district has surged almost 600% on Friday and Saturday nights compared to just six years ago. And it's up over 1000% on Sunday evenings.

Big T's BBQ Pit Stop, whose owner is Tim Vejraska, has also added nice touches on the east side building's classic brick exterior. There's a reason we've seen cars parked around the block on Fridays and Saturdays.

***

Congratulations to both of these businesses for their growing success in Dorchester and Saline County.

1 comment:

AnonymousSeptember 8, 2017 at 8:54 AM
We discovered Big T's when they first opened and have gone back when ever we can to enjoy some of the best ribs "next to the best" comparing them to KC and Memphis areas. Tim always greets you with a hand shake and pat on the back.
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Dorchester: A Good Little Family Town

Dorchester, Nebraska (est. population 630) is located in northern Saline county. Close in proximity to Interstate 80, Dorchester is only 25 minutes from the state capital of Lincoln (est. population 250,000) and about 55 minutes from Omaha (metro population 725,000).

Dorchester's median resident age is 37 years. In 2005, Dorchester had a median family income of approximately $35,600. The median house value was about $63,000. About 95 percent of Dorchester residents commute to work via Interstate and highways.

The village has a quality public school, which received a $4.1 million expansion and modernization in 2008; it offers a small classrooms and individualized attention. Total enrollment of grades K-12 is around 230-250 students.

Ancestries of the Dorchester area are primarily German (42.4%), Czech (24.9%), Irish (12.5%), English (5.4%), and Dutch (4.9%).

Dorchester Historical Facts

* On July 4, 1871, the railroad reached Dorchester.
* Incorporated in 1881, Dorchester's population grew from 200 to 500 by 1882.
* In 1882, Dorchester had 90 buildings, 35 of which were businesses or public facilities. Brick buildings lined both sides of Washington Avenue for two blocks.
* Dorchester's longest-running newspaper was The Dorchester Star, which was published until the late 1940s.
* By 1889, Dorchester's population is said to have reached 800, while the town housed an opera house, a two-story brick schoolhouse with a bell tower, and four churches.
* By the 1910s, Dorchester had electricity, a water tower and a fire department.
* Dorchester's main arteries, Highways 6 and 33, were graveled in the 1940s.
* Dorchester's first irrigation well was drilled on Chris Weber's farm and rural electrification was finished following WWII.

A Village with History

Dorchester is one of the "alphabet towns" on the Burlington & Missouri River Railroad line built west from Lincoln. The town site was selected for its pleasant location in the northern part of Saline County, about eight miles west of Crete. This situation is an attractive one, being on the level prairie land, midway between the West Blue River and Turkey Creek. The first named stream is three miles north, and the latter about the same distance south from the town. Dorchester was platted in 1870 and incorporated in 1881. The name "Dorchester" came from either for a suburb of Boston by that name or a town in England. No one is sure. Two of the very first settlers were James Seely and Edward McIntyre, who both made Dorchester their permanent home.

Dorchester: In The Beginning

Here is a look at Dorchester around 1890, less than a decade after its official incorporation, as documented by Andreas' History of the State of Nebraska:
* POPULATION: "About 300, and is made up of a substantial and progressive class of citizens, who are moral and industrious. ... The town grew but very little until the year 1879, for the reason that Pleasant Hill, on Turkey Creek, a short distance south, was the county seat and naturally drew a trade for quite a large scope of country."
* BUSINESS: "The business and professional interests of the town are represented by three general merchandise stores, two drug, one grocery, one furniture, two hardware, and two millinery stores, one bank, two restaurants, two hotels, three livery stables, a post office, one newspaper office, two elevators, two lumber yards, two coal yards, two blacksmith shops, two lawyers and four physicians."
* SCHOOL: "The schoolhouse is a good one. The schoolhouse was built in 1872, since which time the public schools have been continually kept up. The present schoolhouse is 24' x 40' in size, two stories high. The school is graded and consists of three departments. The house is found too small, and arrangements will soon be made to increase its size."
* CHURCHES: "There are three substantial churches."
* HOMES: "The residence portion of the village is made up of neat houses of different styles of architecture, but none of them very large."
* NEWSPAPER: "The Dorchester Star, which was established August 21, 1881, by H. C. Bittenbender, who edited it until January 19, 1882, when he sold it to Ryerson & Bullock, the present proprietors. The Star is a bright weekly paper, five-column quarto, in size, and is Republican in politics."