Red Hot & Blue (restaurant)

This article is about the barbecue restaurant. For other uses, see Red, Hot and Blue (disambiguation).
Red Hot and Blue
Restaurant
Industry Restaurant, Full service and fast casual dining
Genre Memphis barbecue
Successor John Walker, Randy McCann
Founded 1989
Founder 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 John Walker and Randy McCann
Website redhotandblue.com

Red Hot & Blue is a Memphis style barbecue restaurant franchise founded by political strategist Lee Atwater and former House of Representatives member Don Sundquist of Memphis, Tennessee, among others.

History

Red Hot and Blue was founded in 1989 by Atwater, Sundquist, Bob Friedman, Joel Wood, and Wendell Moore, with its 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's logo. The name is taken from the title of DJ Dewey Phillips' radio show which 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's 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 and is still served at George Mason University basketball games at the Patriot Center.

See also

References

  1. ↑ Hayes, Jack. "Red Hot & Blue readies BBQ blitz". Nation's Restaurant News. FindArticles.com. 25 February 1991.
  2. ↑ Clabaugh, Jeff. "Red Hot & Blue gets top BBQ award". Washington Business Journal. Bizjournals.com. 29 June 2006.
  3. ↑ Webber, Maura. "BBQ Wars: the Fat Jack attack". Philadelphia Business Journal. Bizjournals.com 28 March 1997.

External links