Alabama’s barbecue history goes all the way back to 1891, when the original Golden Rule Bar-B-Q opened east of Birmingham in Irondale.

Later, other iconic barbecue restaurants opened around the state — including Big Bob Gibson Bar B-Q, which began in Decatur in 1925, and Brenda’s Bar-B-Q Pit, which started in Montgomery in 1942 – and have stood the test of time.

But while those have lasted generations, many old Alabama joints that we thought would be here forever are no longer around, either because of a devasting fire or a downturn in the economy or simply because their owners finally decided to hang up their aprons.

We know there are dozens of others, but here are seven of those old Alabama barbecue restaurants that we miss the most.

The Brick Pit in Mobile

Best known for its pecan-smoked ribs — which longtime pit boss Jerry Edwards cooked “low and slow” for up to 12 hours — The Brick Pit was a beacon to barbecue lovers on Mobile’s Old Shell Road for more than 20 years. Outside, the old white house with the bright red trim has framed by Spanish moss, and inside, the walls and ceiling were covered with graffiti from customers who signed their names and left personal notes commemorating their visits. Founder Bill Armbrecht – whose friends started calling him “Brick” in high school – acknowledged in early 2017 that he was struggled to keep his business afloat and finally closed for good later that same year.

A brief history of The Brick Pit

Gibson’s Bar-B-Q in Huntsville

An extension of the legendary “Big Bob” Gibson barbecue family tree, Gibson’s Bar-B-Q started in Huntsville in 1956, when Gibson’s daughter, Velma, and her husband, Paul Hampton, branched out to open a place of their own. In addition to pulled pork, smoked chicken, smoked turkey and ribs, Gibson’s also serves barbecue stuffed potatoes, barbecue salads and Brunswick stew. More recently, Paula Mabry and her cousin Art Sanford — great-grandchildren of “Big Bob” – continued the Gibson’s Bar-B-Q tradition for nearly 20 years until an electrical fire in April 2022 gutted the kitchen and caused smoke and water damage throughout the restaurant. The Memorial Parkway landmark never reopened and was demolished earlier this year.

The history behind Huntsville’s Gibson’s Bar-B-Q

Goal Post Bar-B-Q in Anniston

Along Anniston’s Quintard Avenue, the neon placekicker always put the pigskin through the uprights outside Goal Post Bar-B-Q, a landmark in the Model City for a half-century. The barbecue and smoked hams were dead-on, too. S.A. Pruett opened the Goal Post in the early 1960s, and, according to The Anniston Star, he hired an Anniston sign company to design his iconic sign, which pointed the way to his restaurant. Over the years, a few Alabama football legends dined at the Goal Post, too, including Paul “Bear” Bryant and Joe Namath. The Goal Post closed in 2013 and the building was later demolished, but the neon sign was salvaged and now occupies a prominent spot outside another longtime Anniston barbecue institution, Betty’s Bar-B-Q.

Johnny Ray’s in Birmingham

Johnny Ray opened the original location of his eponymous barbecue restaurant in Birmingham’s Roebuck area in the early 1950s, and at various times, Johnny Ray’s operated multiple locations in the Birmingham metro area, including Homewood, Hueytown, Pelham and Vestavia Hills. Johnny Ray’s was equally beloved for its banana, chocolate, lemon and coconut cream pies – from recipes by Ray’s wife, Honey Ray – as it was its ribs and pulled pork. The last Johnny Rays’s, located in The Shops of the Colonnade off U.S. 280, closed in May 2022.

Ollie’s Bar-B-Q in Birmingham

While some places boasted of serving “Birmingham’s Best” barbecue or the “Best Barbecue in Alabama,” at Ollie’s Bar-B-Q in Birmingham, they skipped over all that and proudly claimed to serve the “World’s Best” barbecue. It said so on their sign outside the restaurant. Renowned for its slow-cooked Boston butts and vinegary barbecue sauce, Ollie’s began in 1926, and after moving to University Boulevard near the I-65 interchange in 1968, the restaurant served the Birmingham barbecue community for another 30 years at that location. As famous as Ollie’s was for its barbecue, though, the restaurant also made national headlines for another reason when co-owners Ollie McClung Sr. and Ollie McClung Jr. challenged the constitutionality of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which prohibited restaurants (and other businesses) from discriminating against customers based on their race, color, religion, sex or national origin. The case made it to the U.S. Supreme Court, but Ollie’s ultimately lost in a landmark decision. After Ollie’s closed the Southside location in 1998, the McClung family opened an Ollie’s in Hoover, but it closed within a couple of years. While the restaurants are no longer around, Ollie’s World’s Best Bar-B-Q Sauce is available by the bottle in grocery stores and specialty markets.

Price’s Barbecue House in Auburn

Jeff Price, who worked at Chuck’s Bar-B-Que in neighboring Opelika, convinced his parents, Lorene and Jesse Price, to open Price’s Barbecue House in 1978, back when the younger Price was a student at Auburn University. A fixture on South College Street near the AU campus – where a pig in an Auburn football jersey stood guard out front — Price’s was best known for its finely chopped, mustard-slaw-topped chipped pork sandwiches, a Lee County delicacy that is believed to have originated in nearby Columbus, Ga. Jeff Price later took over the business from his parents and continued to keep the fires burning at Price’s until he sold the site to developers and closed the restaurant in 2016.

Remembering Price’s Barbecue House

Twix ‘n’ Tween Restaurant in Centreville

Those of us who used to burn up the highway between Tuscaloosa and Montgomery couldn’t pass through Centreville without stopping at Twix ‘n’ Tween Restaurant for a barbecue sandwich – or just “a barbecue,” as we called it – with a side of fries, a cold bottle of Coke and maybe a wedge of icebox pie for dessert. The Twix ‘n’ Tween opened in 1952, and the name was chosen in a contest because the restaurant was between the adjoining Bibb County towns of Brent and Centreville, according to a story by the late, great Montgomery Advertiser reporter Alvin Benn. The Twix ‘n’ Tween had a glorious, 60-something-year run until it closed sometime in the mid-2010s. A Mexican restaurant occupies the space now, but the old Twix ‘n’ Tween sign still sits atop the building, a rusting reminder of the glory days.