When Alabama-based Golden Rule BBQ won a Guinness World Record for selling pork barbecue sandwiches in August, it fueled a 134-year-old fire that a Birmingham restaurateur is reinvigorating alongside family, friends, and long-time employees.
“Things had slowed down for Golden Rule. To take that legacy and continue it and grow it to where it is today, to bring it back, it has just been such an honor,” he told The Low & Slow Barbecue Show. “We love being part of the community.”
There’s more fuel coming for Golden Rule BBQ. A “meat show” smokehouse for spectators opens soon. Bakery expansion aims to meet demand for cakes, pies, and other desserts.
And with exponential sales growth over the past year, Golden Rule BBQ is doing more than shutting down Alabama highways with world record attempts. The longest-running barbecue business in the state (and maybe the nation) is building a blaze that will sustain.
BBQ Beginning: One More for the Road
Golden Rule BBQ stakes a fair (and apparently documented by UT-Chattanooga) claim as the oldest barbecue joint in the nation. Starting in 1891, barbecue and beer served there made it a popular stop for travelers leaving Birmingham toward Atlanta (with lots of “dry” counties along the way).
Since then, the “original BBQ sandwich” has been a staple in the Irondale, AL, area – even growing statewide to 29 franchise locations in 2013, grossing $49 million in its peak year. However, business challenges led to closures.
When Brian Kemp bought the brand in 2022, Golden Rule’s BBQ site map was just a few dots. Among them, the flagship location built in the early 1970s near I-20, the new path from BHM to ATL. “Mr. Sammy” Derzis has been working the pit there for 50 years.
On Aug. 9, a Guinness World Record attempt filled that restaurant with 600-700 people for eight hours. A temporary drive-thru line stretched a line of cars over three miles. Eight police officers provided traffic control.
The effort was the latest in a grassroots social media strategy that has invited a modern Golden Rule audience to enjoy the same vinegar-based sauce served in 1891.
“We’ve been working hard to get relevant once again, especially online and with social media,” said Golden Rule BBQ Marketing Director Daniel Harp, the “social media guy” who brings to life “The Big Pig Challenge,” “Yum or Dumb” and other videos on Instagram. “Golden Rule has been here for so long, but we’re almost back to the starting line again,” Daniel said. “It’s almost like building a new foundation on top of another foundation.”
World Record BBQ Investment
BBQ Fest on the Neuse has its own tradition. “The World’s Largest Whole Hog Cook-off” brings thousands of people to downtown Kinston, NC, in the heart of Eastern Carolina barbecue country.
To celebrate its 44th year in May, the festival set a new Guinness World Record for most pork barbecue sandwiches sold in eight hours: 4,775 sandwiches. The event raised over $37,000 for area organizations.
Golden Rule’s marketing mind saw the news on social media and recognized an opportunity. A year ago, Golden Rule sold 2,700 sandwiches on its 133rd birthday. Daniel thought he could double that with a 95-cent sandwich and Guinness publicity, which comes at a cost.
Between licensing, promotion, on-site, etc., the cost for Guinness World Record attempts starts around $15,000. That doesn’t guarantee success, but taking the three-month-old record away from North Carolina wasn’t a problem.
“We sold 6,215. That is the official record,” Daniel said. “We had to stop at 6 p.m. because we broke the fire code.”
Too many people inside a building with an active pit fire, he explained. Once order was restored, service continued, even if it wasn’t included in the official count.
“We sold 10,200 through the whole day and honored the 95-cent sandwich,” he said. “People were here from North Carolina, Wisconsin, Tennessee – all over the country to experience this.”
When Golden Rule ran out of food, about 150 people were still waiting in the hours-long line. They all received “Golden Tickets” for “whatever we have to do to make this up.” About 10 tickets still come through each week. Most requests are modest.
Record Return on Investment
“I haven’t had time to sit down and talk about the world record – we’ve been so busy since,” Daniel said in a phone call last week.
Foot traffic has quadrupled at Golden Rule since last year. Financially, the business is up 150%. The world record doesn’t get all the credit, Daniel said, but admits it made an impact.
“Business has been booming. Catering is booming. It has sling-shotted us into the modern famous world of barbecue,” he said. “People are coming into Golden Rule who haven’t been here in years.”
How does that translate into food? Here’s what it looks like for a week:
- 250 pounds pork butts
- 150 pounds of briskets
- 1,500 wings per week
- 50 gallons cole slaw
- 50 gallons baked beans
Of course there’s sweet tea, too – about 10,000 gallons of it, exclusively from Alabama-based Y’all Sweet Tea.
Firing up the Golden Rule BBQ Future
A new on-site smokehouse coming this month offers more cooking capacity and another attraction. Large windows will allow visitors to see the meat work inside the converted shipping container.
“As far as I know, nobody has a smokehouse where customers can walk up and experience a little bit of the prep work and see what goes into seasoning a brisket,” Daniel says. “It will add more transparency to our customers. It will double – maybe triple – how much meat that can be smoked.”
That output supports the Irondale flagship, catering orders, and Golden Rule’s second location at Birmingham’s Veterans Administration hospital.
“We’re getting ready to expand our bakery so we can offer more dessert options,” Daniel said. “We can’t keep up with the amount of cakes, pies and desserts we are selling daily.”
Owner Brian and his sister Tiffany, Golden Rule’s Director of Operations, along with Daniel and other team members recently launched the Golden Rule BBQ Foundation. The non-profit is developing to serve the surrounding Irondale community.
Another Golden Rule BBQ franchise expansion is possible, but not yet.
“We don’t want to open multiple franchises and have it fail. People want to be a part of it,” Daniel said. “Right now, we’re enjoying the flagship location and making it the best it can be … and thinking about Thanksgiving and Christmas craziness. We’re trying to beat our record of turkeys sold last year.”
The Golden Rule BBQ record: 9,000 pounds of turkey sold from the week before Thanksgiving through Christmas Eve.
This blog originally appeared in The Smoke Sheet newsletter on Substack.
stand inside a shipping container being converted into a smokehouse “meat show” for
the public. The new smokehouse opens this month.
Want more?
- Podcast Episodes
- Barbecue Blogs
- BBQ News & Recipes
Subscribe to The Lowdown BBQ Newsletter!