CLEVELAND — Wayne Whitmore still cooks the way his family has for three generations, in a no-frills kitchen on the city’s East Side.

He started working at Mt Pleasant Bar-B-Q when he was six years old. Now he’s 62, still flipping ribs, making macaroni and cheese and seasoning collard greens in a modest brick building at East 128th Street and Kinsman Road.

"I love to see a smile on people's face when they eat," he said.

The family business hasn’t changed much over the years. The surrounding block is a different story, though. The dry cleaner, barber shop, pool hall and salon are long gone. So are the ice cream shop, the pharmacy and the bars that once lined the street.

But Whitmore and his sister, Wendy Dennis, aren’t giving up. They’re reinvesting in their restaurant – with some help f

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