Pensacola's iconic Blue Dot has captured local hearts, minds and appetites almost 80 years

Simplicity, passion and dedication.

That’s what it’s taken for Byron Long and his iconic Blue Dot Barbeque to remain a staple in the hearts and minds of the Pensacola community for three generations.

Located at 310 N. DeVilliers St., Blue Dot’s reputation as one of the Panhandle’s most popular burgers even transcends state lines. Long recounted multiple instances of being recognized outside of Florida as "the Blue Dot man."

Blue Dot was founded by Long’s great uncle and aunt, Blue and Dot Robinson, in 1946 and has been a community-staple for nearly 80 years.

“Being the third generation, it’s one of those kinds of things where I’m one of the pillars of this community right now because everything else is gone … so far it’s just me,” Long said. “(We’re) just blessed to be able to do something for the community and keep (Blue Dot) going for as long as it has been.”

Local resident Paula Bradley has been going to Blue Dot since Long’s great uncle was spearheading the business and feels that Long and his predecessors have done a good job of maintaining both the original feel and recipe throughout the years.

“My grandparents, father and mother would carry my siblings and I to come down here and get a hamburger,” Bradley said. “I’m just proud of the fact that they’ve withstood a lot of the challenges that Black business have gone through and they’re still popular.”

For many years Long was the one interacting with customers, taking orders while building bonds with them. Even though he’s not in the front of the store as often, he still feels the love from his recurring clientele.

With his daughter, Alexis Long, taking over the front counter role recently, customers often ask to see him and make sure he’s holding up well.

He’s worked at Blue Dot since 1983 and feels that the local support has been a big factor in keeping him going despite the challenges of running a restaurant.

“I love my clientele that come in,” he said. “Somebody saying, ‘Hey I brought him in to see your burgers,’ that’s what keeps me going.”

Aside from its signature burgers, Blue Dot also offers rib slabs and rib sandwiches. Chips and drinks are available as well.

Long says that he gets pressure all the time from customers who’d like additional choices on Blue Dot’s menu and burgers.

In the 1940s, Blue Dot maintained a full menu that was scaled down to just burgers after Dot’s passing.

Long confirmed that the burger choices will be staying the same for the foreseeable future.

“I don’t believe I’m going to do anything different in my lifetime,” he said. “It’s been passed down the same way and that’s how we’re planning on keeping it.”

Just a year ago Blue Dot began offering cheese on their burgers, which is an something many locals didn’t think would happen.

“(I) get folks wanting to add mushrooms,” Long said. “Just a year ago I put cheese on it, it was just a simple burger.”

Chris Watson has been going to Blue Dot his entire life and says he’s grateful for the cheese addition, as he and his loved ones have been asking for it for years and have been adding their own cheese at home.

“I’m surprised he’s doing it now because we’re used to it being a regular burger, just tasting the flavor and the sauce he’s putting on it,” Watson said.

Watson, a fellow local Black business owner, also says he’s grateful that Blue Dot has been able to stick around, as other well-known Black businesses have closed over the years.

“It’s good to see he’s still here, especially with all the gentrification going on. It didn’t look like this five years ago,” he said. “Still getting all kinds of people coming in to get a burger, I love it.”

Although disappointed that his shop is one of the last remnants from the golden era of "The Blocks" – when it was home to Gussie's Record Shop, the original WBOP radio station, Smith's Bakery and other local institutions – Long appreciates that the community has cared enough about his family’s signature burger to still show up in droves to this day.

“You stick it out, or try to anyway, and say I’m still here for the long haul even though everything around you is evolving to different things,” he said.

Long was taught the ropes of the business by his father, Thomas Long Jr., after spending time in the military and going into the reserves, but he had been around the food industry for his entire life.

“My dad taught me how to cook at an early age,” he said. “I was still in my early 20s working at places like Taco Bell until I one day said let me go to the military for a few.”

He and his commanding officer eventually came to an agreement that being with his father at Blue Dot was where Long needed to be.

He feels that the formula for success has been the perseverance and dedication of each head of the business as well as the community’s constant support over the years.

“It was one of those things that my dad just instilled in me, on the business side, that you got to keep it simple,” Long said. “That was (Blue’s) motto; keep it simple, keep it fresh and keep it true to your heart it’ll work out for you.”

Blue Dot is open from 11:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. from Monday to Friday, 12:30-3 p.m. on Saturday, and closed on Sunday.

This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Blue Dot iconic burger Pensacola staple restaurant