 | This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations .(April 2018) |
| Montgomery Inn | |
|---|---|
 The first Montgomery Inn in Montgomery, Ohio | |
| Restaurant information | |
| Established | November 1, 1951 |
| Previous owner(s) | Ted Gregory |
Montgomery Inn is a barbecue restaurant chain based in the Cincinnati suburb of Montgomery, Ohio, United States. It is best known for its specialty, loin back ribs, and the barbecue sauce used in preparation and serving.
The family-owned company began on November 1, 1951, when founder Ted Gregory took over McCabe's Inn in Montgomery, Ohio, then a country town on the edge of metro Cincinnati that was just beginning to grow rapidly. At first, the restaurant, renamed Montgomery Inn, was better known as a place to drink than eat, as the restaurant side of the operation was leased out, and the food served there was less than stellar. Gregory's wife Matula would cook his meals at home and send them to her husband at the inn, usually with some extra to feed any of his friends that stopped by. One day she prepared barbecued ribs with a homemade sauce, and the dish caught on with friends.
Soon after, the Gregorys and their four children took over the restaurant and began serving ribs full-time. A local journalist dubbed Gregory "The Ribs King," a nickname that stayed with Gregory for the rest of his life. The former stagecoach stop on Montgomery Road attracted some famous customers, including entertainer Bob Hope (a longtime fan and the Inn's best-known booster), and five U.S. Presidents: Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. Other famous diners include several Cincinnati Reds baseball legends, Sparky Anderson, Joe Nuxhall, Pete Rose, Ken Griffey Jr., and Johnny Bench, along with former Reds owner Marge Schott, who was a prominent patron; actors Tom Selleck and Elizabeth Taylor; singers Elton John and Britney Spears; astronauts Neil Armstrong and John Glenn; tennis player Andre Agassi; baseball players Mark McGwire and John Franco (among many other Major League players who make the Inn a regular stop during their season); National Hockey League coach Scotty Bowman; and comedian Bill Cosby. The company claims that singer Rosemary Clooney, a native of the Cincinnati area, served Montgomery Inn ribs at her wedding.
In 1989, a second location, Montgomery Inn at the Boathouse, was added in downtown Cincinnati on the banks of the Ohio River. The company added a banquet facility in the Sawyer Point area in 1998, but announced that the facility would be razed in 2006 or 2007, and the riverfront property would become a new condominium development.
Montgomery Inn's third restaurant, Montgomery Inn East, opened on the east side of Cincinnati. In February 1997, fire completely destroyed the restaurant. The fire started in a malfunctioning sign atop the roof which repairmen had been working on earlier that day. Everyone was evacuated from the restaurant, and no one was injured. However, the restaurant and its sports memorabilia were a total loss. Barry Larkin's Cincinnati Reds uniform, Oscar Robertson's signed basketball, photos of Arnold Palmer at the U.S. Open, and Cal Ripken's autographed baseball bat were among the many items lost.
In 2001, the company's fourth restaurant opened in Fort Mitchell, Kentucky, in a facility that once housed a location of Burbank's Real Bar-B-Q. Burbank's, named for longtime WLW Radio personality Gary Burbank, was at one time the primary local competitor to the Montgomery Inn, and itself numbered several locations in southwestern Ohio and northern Kentucky. But by 2006, Burbank's had closed all but its original location in suburban Sharonville, Ohio.
Montgomery Inn began to sell its barbecue sauce in bottles in 1990, and the ribs themselves soon after. Both are regularly available at supermarkets within a 300-mile radius of Cincinnati, and elsewhere via mail order since 1994.
Ted Gregory died on December 2, 2001. His family continues to operate the company, and Gregory's profile, with a cigar and his "Ribs King" crown, remains a part of the company logo.
In 2009, Montgomery Inn opened a new restaurant just north of Columbus, along the Scioto River in Dublin, Ohio. [1]
In January 2017, the restaurant in Dublin closed. [2] Closure of the Fort Mitchell location was announced on July 1, 2018.
Tonya Hundemer has been the General Manager of the Boathouse location since 2018.
Norwood is the third most populous city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and an enclave of the larger city of Cincinnati. The population was 19,043 at the 2020 census. Originally settled as an early suburb of Cincinnati in the wooded countryside north of the city, the area is characterized by older homes and tree-lined streets.
Great American Ball Park is a baseball stadium in Cincinnati, Ohio. It serves as the ballpark of Major League Baseball's Cincinnati Reds, and opened on March 31, 2003, replacing Cinergy Field, the Reds' former ballpark from 1970 to 2002. Great American Insurance bought the naming rights to the new stadium at US$75 million for 30 years.
Cincinnati chili is a Mediterranean-spiced meat sauce used as a topping for spaghetti or hot dogs ("coneys"); both dishes were developed by immigrant restaurateurs in the 1920s. In 2013, Smithsonian named one local chili parlor one of the "20 Most Iconic Food Destinations in America". Its name evokes comparison to chili con carne, but the two are dissimilar in consistency, flavor, and serving method; Cincinnati chili more closely resembles Greek pasta sauces and spiced-meat hot dog topping sauces seen in other parts of the United States.
Skyline Chili is a chain of Cincinnati-style chili restaurants based in Cincinnati, Ohio. Founded in 1949 by Greek immigrant Nicholas Lambrinides, Skyline Chili is named for the view of Cincinnati's skyline that Lambrinides could see from the first restaurant, opened in the section of town now known as Price Hill. It is also the "official chili" of many local professional sports teams and venues, including the Cincinnati Bengals, Cincinnati Reds, Cincinnati Cyclones, Columbus Blue Jackets and the Kings Island theme park, and also sponsors the Crosstown Shootout, an annual men's college basketball rivalry game between the city's two NCAA Division I teams, Cincinnati and Xavier.
LaRosa's Pizzeria is a chain of pizzerias serving neighborhoods throughout Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana. It was founded in 1954 by Donald "Buddy" LaRosa, along with partners Richard "Muzzie" Minella, Mike Soldano and Frank "Head" Serraino. Originally called Papa Gino's, LaRosa later bought out his partners, and changed the name to LaRosa's.
St. Louis–style barbecue refers to spare ribs associated with the St. Louis area. These are usually grilled rather than slow-cooked over indirect heat with smoke which is typically associated with the term "barbecue" in the United States. Often overshadowed by its more famous cousin, Kansas City–style barbecue, St. Louis–style barbecue struggles to distinguish itself from other city based styles of barbecue. Although St. Louis–style barbecue takes inspiration from other styles of barbecue it still retains its own distinct style.
Romacorp Inc., which does business as Tony Roma's, is an American casual dining chain restaurant specializing in baby back ribs. The first location was established by the founder, Tony Roma, in 1972 in North Miami, Florida. Clint Murchison Jr. purchased a majority stake in the restaurant in 1976, and he and Roma established the jointly owned Roma Corporation. The first international location opened in 1979 in Tokyo, followed by an international expansion with both company-owned stores and franchises. As of 2020, there are over 115 locations on six continents.
Frisch's Big Boy is a regional Big Boy restaurant chain with headquarters in Cincinnati, Ohio. For many years a Big Boy franchisee, in 2001, Frisch's became the exclusive owner of the Big Boy trademark in Indiana, Kentucky, and most of Ohio and Tennessee, and is no longer affiliated with Big Boy Restaurant Group. In July 2022, there were 84 restaurants in Indiana, Kentucky, and Ohio. This includes 11 Big Boy stores in Cincinnati, 6 in Dayton, Ohio, and 3 in Louisville, Kentucky. Frisch's is the oldest, longest surviving regional Big Boy operator, excluding Bob's Big Boy in California, which was the original Big Boy restaurant and franchisor.
Kansas City–style barbecue is a slowly smoked meat barbecue originating in Kansas City, Missouri in the early 20th century. It has a thick, sweet sauce derived from brown sugar, molasses, and tomatoes. Henry Perry is credited as its originator, as two of the oldest Kansas City–style barbecue restaurants still in operation trace their roots back to Perry's pit.
Gold Star Chili is a restaurant chain based in Cincinnati, Ohio, that sells Cincinnati chili. The original restaurant was established in the Cincinnati neighborhood of Mt. Washington in 1965 by four Daoud brothers, immigrants from Jordan. Gold Star Chili was the "Official Chili" of the Cincinnati Bengals until April 19, 2023.
This is relating to the culture of Cincinnati, Ohio.
Gary Burbank is an American radio personality. He was heard daily on WLW in Cincinnati, Ohio, from June 15, 1981, until December 21, 2007, and nationally as the voice of his fictional character, Earl Pitts, in nationally syndicated commentaries until 2021.
Barbecue is a tradition often considered a quintessential part of American culture, especially the Southern United States.
Cincinnati is a city in and the county seat of Hamilton County, Ohio, United States. Settled in 1788, the city is located at the northern side of the confluence of the Licking and Ohio rivers, the latter of which marks the state line with Kentucky. The city is the economic and cultural hub of the Cincinnati metropolitan area. With an estimated population of 2,265,051, it is Ohio's largest metropolitan area and the nation's 30th-largest, and with a city proper population of 309,317, Cincinnati is the third-most populous city in Ohio after Columbus and Cleveland, and 65th in the United States.
Dreamland Bar-B-Que is a barbecue restaurant chain based in Alabama. It was founded by "Big Daddy" John Bishop in the Jerusalem Heights neighborhood of Tuscaloosa, Alabama, in 1958, but has since franchised, opening Alabama restaurants in Birmingham, Montgomery, Huntsville, Mobile, and Northport. It has also opened two restaurants in the Atlanta, Georgia metropolitan area, in Roswell and Duluth. In May 2016, Dreamland Bar-B-Que opened up its first Florida location at the Centre of Tallahassee in Tallahassee, Florida. The company is known for its ribs and barbecue sauce.
A barbecue restaurant is a restaurant that specializes in barbecue-style cuisine and dishes. Barbecue restaurants may open relatively early compared to other restaurants, in part to optimize sales while barbecued foods being slow-cooked by the process of smoking are being tended to by restaurant personnel on premises. In some instances, this can enable the sales of barbecued meats that began being smoked the night before the next business day. Per these logistics, a significant portion of their sales may occur during lunchtime. Additionally, high lunch turnover at barbecue restaurants may occur per the foods being cooked and sold in large batches. Popular food items may sell out earlier compared to others, which may encourage customers to arrive earlier. In January 2015, the U.S. National Restaurant Association forecast "barbecue, Italian food and fried chicken" to be "top perennial menu favorites in 2015".
Wash's Restaurant, later called Wash & Sons' Seafood Restaurant, Wash's Inn, and Wash's Catering, was an African-American family-owned and operated soul food restaurant that was in business for over 70 years, first in Atlantic City and then in Pleasantville, New Jersey. Established by Clifton and Alma Washington at 35 N. Kentucky Avenue, Atlantic City, in 1937, the original 20-seat location attained celebrity status for hosting the performers and patrons of the nightclubs in the Kentucky Avenue black entertainment district. The restaurant was known for its sausage sandwiches and soul food, and also served breakfast to customers leaving the 6 a.m. show at Club Harlem.
Barbecue spaghetti is a dish from Memphis, Tennessee, that combines spaghetti with a sauce made from shredded smoked pork or pulled pork, vegetables, and barbecue sauce. It is served as a side dish in some Memphis barbecue restaurants. Southern Living called the dish iconic and "perhaps the city's most unusual creation". HuffPost called it "a Memphis staple".
Lem's Bar-B-Q is a barbecue restaurant in the Chatham community of Chicago, Illinois in the United States. The restaurant is known for its rib tips, which Eater has described as Chicago's "most famous rib tips."