Martin’s Bar-B-Que Joint to open on October 21, Hugh Baby’s to follow in the spring
Nashville-based pitmaster Pat Martin will open the doors to a new Martin’s Bar-B-Que Joint location in Nolensville, Tennessee. Located at 7223 Nolensville Road, Suite C, the store is steps away from the restaurateur’s first-ever restaurant, which opened in 2006 and inspired a dedicated local and national following. Martin’s original location has since closed, moving into its most recent home at 7238 Nolensville Road, which will close its interior to serve as a catering kitchen and drive-thru for the brand before becoming a Hugh Baby’s BBQ & Burger Shop in the spring of 2021.
The new 2,400 square-foot Martin’s Bar-B-Que will offer dine-in, carry-out, pick up curbside, and delivery. The restaurant will be open daily from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. at a limited capacity—the team is committed to ensuring the safety of its employees and guests through enhanced cleaning and social distancing measures.
“This is a coming home for me. The Nolensville community has supported me from the very beginning, and fourteen years later I’m honored more than ever to be a part of the neighborhood,” says Martin. “Leaving my first location so many years ago was tough, but I learned long ago that you can’t be too emotional about a physical space. I’m grateful to have the opportunity to return to my roots by opening up shop next door to my original store, as well as to introduce Hugh Baby’s to the community.”
Nationally recognized for his efforts in preserving the rare and traditional cooking style of West Tennessee whole-hog, Martin is one of the only pitmasters in the country practicing this particular style of barbecue. Martin has built a legacy in his commitment and determination to keep the art and tradition alive. It was this mission for preservation that led him to open restaurants in locations across the Southeast, even developing a pitmaster apprenticeship in each of his restaurants to cultivate and train promising young pitmasters in the trade. Known for low-and-slow cooked barbecue and genuine Southern hospitality, the brand has grown its presence in Tennessee to include six joints around the state, as well as expanded with locations in James Island, SC, Louisville, KY, and Birmingham, AL. At Martin’s, a fresh hog goes on the pit each day, resulting in barbecue that is just as fresh as it is delicious.
In 2017, the pitmaster opened Hugh-Baby’s BBQ & Burger Shop in Nashville, a concept that recalls the heyday of fast-food dining by offering excellent service, no-fuss Southern hospitality, quality ingredients, and a back-to-basics menu of burgers made from beef ground in-house, slow-smoked barbecue, the Corinth, MS, infamous “slug burger,” a depression-era favorite, and hand-spun milkshakes. Hugh-Baby’s throws back to a time when things were as simple as they could be and even the smallest things were well-made with deliberate attention and care.
More information can be found at www.martinsbbqjoint.com and www.hughbabys.com.