Golden Ribs opens its doors on Grand Ave.

Calvin Williams has a lot to smile about these days.

In the planning stages since March, his new barbecue restaurant is open and ready for customers.

“It’s the people’s place,” said Williams, co-owner and chef of Golden Ribs, 3809 Grand Ave. in Village West.

Since the restaurant’s mid-October opening, “the people” have been coming out to sample the ribs drenched in Williams’ zesty barbecue sauce.

“You crave for it,” said Jeff Poitier, a regular customer and Coconut Grove resident. Poitier said he likes the full rack of pork ribs ($22; $12.30 for half rack), which comes with two slices of white bread to soak up the extra sauce.

“It’s all about the sauce,” said Williams, adding that it took him 12 years to perfect the recipe that he keeps close to his chest.

“You’re not ever gonna know,” he said of the ingredients and recipe for the popular sauce.

In addition to Williams’ signature rib dishes, the restaurant also serves hamburgers, cheese steaks, chicken platters and sandwiches.

Located next door to Headliners Barbershop, Golden Ribs gets some of those customers as well as people passing by.

But it’s also Williams’ longtime barbecue experience and reputation in Village West that made him popular – even before he opened.

Williams, 59, began pedaling his trademark ribs in 1972 by driving through the West Grove in his Ford Bronco truck, which contained a grill in the back.

“I drove around to corners,” he said. “Whatever corner I went to, people came.”

In 2008, he began working at Coral Bagels, where his ribs were one of the house specialties. Now he is partnering with Coral Bagels owner Myriam Angulo to run their Grand Avenue restaurant.

Instead of cooking from the back of the truck, Williams is hard at work in the Golden Ribs kitchen grilling 10 to 12 cases of ribs a day – about 80 racks of meat.

“I’ve come a long way,” said Williams, a Georgia native and West Grove resident since 1952.

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