Pine Bluff's Big Banjo Celebrates 50 Years
Thin-crust pizza, all-you-can-eat buffet and nostalgia galore
I took a bite of the Big Banjo pizza, and it hit me.
The first pizza I ever tasted as a kid came from a Big Banjo oven. Back in the 1970s, a pizza place didn't exist on every corner. Pizza was, in fact, considered foreign fare, especially in South Arkansas.
Big Banjo was founded in 1974 in Pine Bluff. On Wednesday the restaurant celebrated its 50th anniversary with door prizes, cupcakes from Lybrand’s Bakery — another long-held tradition in Pine Bluff — and Big Banjo's beloved thin-crust pizza.
Not every restaurant lasts half a century, but Big Banjo has survived.
From its start, Big Banjo meant more than just pizza.
Over the decades, people, including myself as a kid, celebrated many birthday parties at Big Banjo, usually bringing a birthday cake from Lybrand's to the party.
Big Banjo served as a home away from home for life's big events — first dates, Friday night football wins and losses, engagements, weddings and anniversaries.
Two brothers — Dickie and Russell Lee Ratliff — started Big Banjo in 1974. The pair was in their twenties when they decided to launch their restaurant at the intersection of 28th Street and Highway 79 in Pine Bluff.
That original Big Banjo — with arcade games and merry-go-rounds for children — was the site of Wednesday's big bash. The brothers eventually incorporated their family into the business, and that's still the case today.
Over the years, Big Banjo grew to include more restaurants including one on the Pine Bluff’s East Side, a Big Top with dancing animals at the 28th and Hazel Street intersection and another one on Dollarway Road built in the shape of a banjo. The business later included restaurants in Stuttgart, Dumas and Malvern. The Dumas Big Banjo is now independently operated, and the original restaurant is the only one still in operation connected to the Ratliff family.
When Dickie Ratliff died in late 2019, his daughter, Brandy Ratliff Weatherly, decided to keep the Big Banjo tradition going.
“I couldn't let my dad's legacy die,” Weatherly said. “He loved it and his employees.”
Weatherly said her father used to tell her that operating the restaurant was something she should do. No way, she said.
“He did think I would sell,” Weatherly said.
But at her dad's funeral, she saw how Big Banjo and real estate he owned had impacted so many people's lives through the decades. Big Banjo was more than just a business. It was a personal and cultural treasure.
“He had given people jobs and places to live, Weatherly said. “I couldn't let people down or the city or the county. I decided to give it a go.”
Big Banjo conjures up a lot of nostalgia — even the logo and decor haven't changed in 50 years.
The all-you-can-eat buffet is still in existence and so is the salad bar. The decor is low-key but a critical part of Big Banjo's history. The walls are lined with classic movie posters that people remember from childhood.
When the restaurant was remodeled a few years ago, people asked where the framed posters were. They were reassured the posters would return, and they did.
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In a fast-changing society, Big Banjo is an old-school throwback to a simpler time before technology consumed everyone.
On Wednesday night, people weren't staring at their phones but instead they chatted with each other about Big Banjo and Pine Bluff memories.
The loyalty runs deep. When people who grew up on Big Banjo return to South Arkansas for holidays, they visit the restaurant.
Amy Parker, the restaurant's business manager, said when she lived in Alabama, she would eat at Big Banjo every time she came home. Then she ended up working there.
“We have succeeded in keeping our prices low and making people feel like it's home to them,” Parker said. “We probably have the cheapest lunch in town.”
By the end of the all-day party, Big Banjo had sold more than 1,000 pizzas, and hundreds of people had enjoyed the buffet, Weatherly said.
Big Banjo isn't over yet. Weatherly's son is 11.
“Hopefully, he will carry on the Big Banjo tradition,” she said.