GR8 Creations is the name of Rece Barnes’ privately owned business where he sells food to people from his personal grill. He sets up right outside The Chug, a bar in the Village, and at other various locations such as basketball games, street parties and even directly out of his home.
Barnes said the name GR8 Creations was inspired by an interaction he had with his friends.
“I always tell my family and friends I don’t cook, I create,” Barnes said. “One day I was cooking out and created a biscuit burger for some of my friends. They ate it and said it’s really good, I said, ‘no, it’s great.’”
From then on, Barnes stuck with the name GR8 Creations. Barnes said he loves to cook and has since he was young.
“I’ve been cooking since I was about 12 years old,” Barnes said. “I used to always watch my mom in the kitchen.”
Barnes said he loves cooking because he enjoys feeding others in large quantities.
“I just always love cooking, I don’t know how to cook small meals,” Barnes said. “If I cook, it would be to feed a whole family, but I just always like feeding others.”
Barnes said, when he began his business, he only sold grilled corn. Today, he has expanded to eight different options on his menu, including barbecue chicken, pork chop sandwiches and grilled potatoes.
Barnes said he plans to expand his menu even further this summer and add vegetables as an alternative option for vegans and vegetarians.
Barnes said anyone can come by The Chug on a weekend night and find him grilling food and serving people.
“Every Friday and Saturday night, I’ll be there from about nine at night until around three in the morning when The Chug closes,” Barnes said.
Sarah Starr, Muncie resident and former Horizon Convention Center employee, said she loves GR8 Creations and has been eating from Barnes’ grill for about three years.
“I’ve never experienced any other type of burger that way — it’s one of a kind,” Starr said. “I’m used to the normal bun, burger mixture, with ketchup and mayonnaise and things like that.”
Starr said her favorite items to eat from Barnes’ menu are the grilled corn and the biscuit burger because they have unique tastes.
“The mixture of cheese with the biscuit and burger just makes for a very unique flavor,” Starr said. “I like both the burger and the corn, but I’ll take a piece of corn any day because he puts that [cheese] sauce on it and it’s amazing.”
Starr said she has never eaten from Barnes’ grill in front of The Chug, but normally catches him at different local events.
“I’m not someone that’s usually in the Ball State area,” Starr said. “I normally attend when he’s either set up at his house or if he goes to basketball games and street parties.”
Starr said she has enjoyed watching Barnes’ business grow and she thinks more people are able to enjoy his food when he travels to different locations.
“I’m very proud of [his business],” she said. “I’m glad to see that he’s branching out to other locations and able to offer his food to more people around the Muncie area.”
Contact Jamie Strouts with comments at jdstrouts@bsu.edu.
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