| Type | Restaurant |
|---|---|
| Industry | Restaurant, Full service and fast casual dining |
| Genre | Memphis barbecue |
| Successor | John Walker, Randy McCann |
| Founded | 1989 |
| Founder(s) | Lee Atwater, Don Sundquist, Bob Friedman, Joel Wood, Wendell Moore |
| Headquarters | Winston-Salem, North Carolina, U.S. |
| Number of locations | 33 at 2009-02-06 |
| Key people | Michael Bleser |
| Products | Hickory smoked pulled pork, St. Louis-Style "dry" rubbed ribs, potato salad |
| Services | Full service and fast casual dining |
| Owner(s) | John Walker and Randy McCann |
| Website | redhotandblue.com |
Red Hot & Blue is a Memphis style barbecue restaurant franchise founded by the late Lee Atwater and former House of Representatives member Don Sundquist of Memphis, Tennessee, among others.
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Red Hot and Blue founded in 1989 by Atwater, Sundquist, Bob Friedman, Joel Wood, and Wendell Moore, with the first location in Arlington, VA, near Washington, DC. Friedman described the concept of the restaurant as "pigs, pork, and blues" as reflected in the company logo. The name is taken from the title of DJ Dewey Phillips radio show that aired on WHBQ-AM in Memphis in the 1950s.[1]
The restaurant was voted Best Barbecue by Leading Consumer Magazine in 2006.[2]
In 1997, the owners of Red Hot and Blue sued Let's Do Barbecue, the parent company of Fat Jack's restaurant of Berlin, New Jersey alleging unfair trade practices. According to court documents, Let's Do Barbecue president and CEO Glenn Gross "gained much of his insight into the barbecue business" while an employee of the Cherry Hill, New Jersey Red Hot and Blue. These accusations were found to be untrue during a lengthy court battle with the company.[3]
Red Hot and Blue was served at Washington Nationals games from 2006 through 2008 [1] and is still served at George Mason University basketball games at the Patriot Center.