Benny Vine, left, smokes sausage the way his grandfather did. Customers love it. This is one convenience store with a tradition that’s turned into a great niche.
Centerville, MS- In the heart of Mississippi Deer Country is Vine Bros, a store that’s been in the Vine family for over 100 years. In 2010, Benny Vine left Green Bay, WI and his career in environmental engineering to come back and keep the tradition going.
Centerville has a population of 1800, but that more than doubles during deer season. Hunters come here for outstanding hunting. When the hunt is over they come to Vine Bros to have the deer made into some of the best smoked sausage in the South. The Vine family started in the meat business in 1910. The business evolved and the tradition of selling fine smoked sausage turned into a great niche for this convenience store.
The cavernous smoker at Vine Bros is capable of smoking a ton of sausage. That’s all at one time and from November through January its filled to capacity. Smoking is done the old fashion way with green hickory, no liquid smoke here. It’s the real deal.
Vine Bros. is all about food. The Sunday buffet is a huge spread of down home soul food. I loved the fried chicken, fried pork chops, collard greens and corn bread. The store is a short drive north of Baton Rouge. It’s fun Sunday trek, but get there early. The restaurant fills up after church. I suggest arriving around 11 a.m.
A big thanks to Justin Thomas, FOS (Friend of Show) who said that I had to try this place. I’m glad I did. Justin is a Lafayette, LA native and knows good food when he finds it.
I profiled Vine Bros for NACS Magazine and you can read that in the August issue. We plan to shoot a Gas Station Gourmet video segment between November & January.
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