James Overton was nearly 40 years old when he became the first African American in the Quad Cities to open a restaurant. The son of farmers, Jim was born in Missouri and ended up in Illinois after serving in the Army during World War II. The Rib King developed a reputation for his barbecue while cooking at family gatherings and church events. During that time he developed the recipe for his signature vinegar-based, semi-sweet sauce.
Opened in 1967 Jim’s Rib Haven opened as a carryout restaurant in Rock Island. Its barbecue and especially the ribs and sauce quickly caught on and allowed him to expand his restaurant to its current location in Rock Island as well as East Moline and Omaha.
The Rock Island location was so beloved that they even packed their ribs and sauce in dry ice and shipped them to California, Arizona, Hawaii and even France. One customer said of the Rock Island location “Jim’s Rib Haven is a restaurant for those who want to eat the best BBQ they ever eaten in the Q-C. The meat is tender, you can help yourself to as much sauce as you want. The place is simple with no frills.”
His daughter found a small building one block west of North High School for its Omaha location. The building at 3801 Ames Ave had been a revolving door of restaurants since it was constructed in 1983. As they opened there was some doubt as to whether they could succeed. While the Omaha location hasn’t been without its issues, the restaurant still stands nearly 35 years later.
The kitchen takes up nearly the entire inside of the Omaha location with just enough room to seat six to eight. As a result, it does most of its business via the drive-thru, carryout and catering. The restaurant known for its ribs also has chicken, sausage links, sandwiches, saucy baked beans, potato salad, cole slaw, french fries and peach cobbler.
The meat is chopped, sliced and seasoned with a dry rub in-house before it is slowly cooked with smoke from hickory wood which infuses the meat with a smokey goodness. The medium sauce is sweet and tangy with just enough bite.
Jim received numerous awards during the course of his life and was featured on the Food Network’s Best of 2002. After he passed away in 2013, his son took over the Rock Island location while his nephew runs the East Moline location which is now named Damions’ Rib Haven. Jim’s daughter has operated the Omaha location since it opened in 1988.
In 2020 Jim’s was named one of Omaha’s top 10 best barbecue restaurants. The judges from the Nebraska Barbecue Council said that “Jim’s Rib Haven serves ribs, and they are – hands down – the best ribs in Omaha. Actually, we’d put them up against any barbecue joint in Kansas City. Baby back ribs, spare ribs, beef ribs, rib tips. Jim’s Rib Haven has them all, and they are all incredible. The juicy rib meat slides off the bone when you bite into it. Natural smoke flavor is pretty heavy but doesn’t overpower the premium meat.”
A longtime fixture in North Omaha, the restaurant has fostered a sense of community since the beginning. It’s not unheard for Jim’s to help feed families in need.
“We do it the old-fashioned way. The (hickory) wood, and standing over that pit and cooking for four or five hours. A lot of people don’t do that. A lot of people do the gas stove. We don’t do that” said its owner in an interview with the Omaha World-Herald in 2012. While the Omaha barbecue scene has improved greatly since that time, Jim’s has legions of loyal customers that lined up at the drive thru after it reopened in February following a fire the prior spring.
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