Moonlite BBQ Inn INC

Food and Beverage ServicesUnited States11-50 Employees

(February, 1963) Catherine and Pappy Bosley bought the Moonlite for $50,000 from Sonnie and Sadie Bertram and J.C. & Betty Stinson.  The Bosley's used the 5,000 dollar profit from selling their house to make the down payment, moved in with Catherine's mother and entered the restaurant business with no experience, and little formal education.  Then, the Moonlite was a fourteen year old barbecue joint with 30 seats including stools at the counter.  He was 48 and she 42, they had five children.  Pappy drove a cab for Veterans Cab Company, and worked at Fleischman's Distillery.  Catherine was a foreman at Glenmore Distillery.  It was Pappy's layoff from Fleischman's that caused them to reexamine their opportunities.  Their five children grew up working next door to the Moonlite at the Big Dipper (a local hamburger joint), 

Over the last forty-five plus years, Moonlite Bar-B-Q has grown into a very special business. In this time of large chains and merged companies Moonlite has grown as a family business. Hugh and Catherine, along with four children and several grandchildren work together to keep things going and growing at a slow, steady rate that now requires a staff of over 120 dedicated members working various facets of the business. These areas now include a 350 seat restaurant, a U.S.D.A. inspected processing plant, an extensive catering department (capable of serving 15 to 15,000 with unparalleled quality and professionalism), a wholesale division serving the region with Barbecue and related products through distributors in a four state area, as well as a busy carryout department. All this from a thirty seat, roadside restaurant in 1963.

Catherine kept her job at Glenmore until retiring just in case they didn't make it in the restaurant business…They had no experience but worked hard.  Late in her life before she passed away, she finally claimed that Moonlite just might make it, but I should keep my options open just in case - Pat Bosley grandson.

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