Fayetteville food truck plans a permanent spot at former Speedway on Reilly Road

Taylor Shook, Fayetteville Observer
·2 min read

A Fayetteville couple who once sold barbecue and desserts in the front yard of their Devonwood West neighborhood home purchased a building Thursday to turn into their dream restaurant.

Leigh Anne Manuel, 40, and her husband Ervin, 47, have been the cooks behind the popular food truck Big Erv BBQ & 910 Sweets The Neighborhood Pit Stop since 2021.

Now, they plan to turn a former Speedway convenience store at North Reilly and Fillyaw roads into a restaurant and food truck commissary, Manuel said last week.

Ervin and Leigh Anne Manuel, owners of Big Erv BBQ and 910 Sweets, are planning on opening a restaurant at 670 N. Reilly Road.
Ervin and Leigh Anne Manuel, owners of Big Erv BBQ and 910 Sweets, are planning on opening a restaurant at 670 N. Reilly Road.

Slated to open within a year, Manuel said the restaurant will have indoor and outdoor seating areas where patrons can enjoy the brisket, mac ‘n’ cheese and banana pudding that the food truck is known for, as well as daily specials, beer and wine.

The former corner store building will be transformed into a 665-square-foot commercial kitchen that Big Erv’s can share with food trucks that might occasionally serve food at the .6-acre property.

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“We’re ecstatic,” Manuel said. "We’re gonna light that corner up.”

At less than two miles from their Riegelwood Street home, the new restaurant will serve the same customers who have stood by the couple since their humble beginnings, she said.

Leigh Anne and Ervin Manuel, owners of Big Erv BBQ and 910 Sweets, are planning on opening a restaurant at 670 N. Reilly Road.
Leigh Anne and Ervin Manuel, owners of Big Erv BBQ and 910 Sweets, are planning on opening a restaurant at 670 N. Reilly Road.

Manuel, who is a full-time nurse at Womack Army Medical Center, and her husband, a former property maintenance manager, won’t leave fans hungry during the new restaurant renovations.

The couple will continue to operate the food truck through the project and after opening the restaurant, Manuel said.

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With the keys to their new digs in hand, the husband-and-wife duo are excited for what’s to come.

“We are ready to see what the future can hold,” Manuel said.

Food, dining and culture reporter Taylor Shook can be reached at tshook@gannett.com, on Twitter, or Facebook. Want weekly food news delivered to your inbox? Sign up for the Fayetteville Foodies newsletter. 

This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: Big Erv BBQ & 910 Sweets food truck to open Fayetteville restaurant