Heard’s BBQ & Soul Food, a source of community pride in the small Alabama town of Maplesville and an off-the-beaten path gem for barbecue fans across the state, is closing after seven years.

Owner Roman Heard announced the closing Wednesday night in a lengthy and passionate post on the Heard’s BBQ & Soul Food Facebook page.

A second location of Heard’s, which opened in January in the neighboring Chilton County town of Clanton, remains open.

“Long post here, but I have a lot to say,” Heard shared on Facebook. “First off, this is a appreciation post, not anything else, so I don’t want this to come across any other way.

“In business it’s not always great days, and this is not one. After 7 years in Maplesville, we have decided to close the Maplesville location.

“This is not something we wanted to do, but the numbers say it’s time. We have realized that 80% of our customers were not from Maplesville. We had so much out-of-town business, including workers in town during the week and visitors from all over on Saturdays.

“To the customers here that supported us, we are so thankful and y’all are what makes this a hard decision. We have had so many people reach out to us knowing how hard this could be and encouraging us.

“For 7 years, we have been able to bring revenue to our city and shine more light on our community and for that I’m proud.

“To be able to be recognized as one of the best BBQ places in Alabama right at home has been such a blessing from God.”

Heard’s BBQ & Soul Food opened in 2017 on Alabama Highway 22 in Maplesville, about a mile from the house where Heard grew up.

Within a year of opening, the restaurant began racking up accolades, winning awards from the Alabama Pork Producers for the ribs and pulled pork, from the Alabama Cattleman’s Association for the burgers, and from the Alabama Catfish Producers for the catfish.

“A lot of those awards, we didn’t even put ourselves in those competitions,” Heard said in an AL.com story earlier this year. “It was some of our customers that would see it on Facebook and tell the people to come try us.”

Now, Heard says he will pour all his energy into his new location in Clanton.

“To me, that little red building (in Maplesville) was perfect,” he wrote on Facebook. “Then I had to realize that God had opened a door and was closing another one. I had turned down other opportunities to go other places because I was so comfortable.

“God reminded me that I trusted him before and look what happened. The Heards BBQ LLC Clanton location is the result of faith over everything”

This story will be updated.