Nashville restaurateur Pat Martin is the founder of Martin’s Bar-B-Que Joint and Hugh-Baby’s BBQ & Burger Shop. A leader in American barbecue, Martin is one of the few pitmasters still carrying the torch of West Tennessee-style whole hog BBQ. Martin is regularly featured in the press, including The Today Show, Food Network, Bon Appetit, Esquire, Condé Nast Traveler, Travel Channel, Men’s Journal, Eater, National Geographic, among many others.
Martin’s Bar-B-Que Joint is rooted in Martin’s lifelong love for the art of grilling, barbecue, smoking, and open-flame cooking. The entire menu at Martin’s Bar-B-Que Joint is scratch-made, every single day—from sides to sauces, and everything in between. What began as a 950-square foot shack in Nolensville, Tenn., is today a beloved culinary destination with deep Nashville roots, a 500+ person team, and 10 locations sprinkled across Nashville, Birmingham (Ala.), Louisville (Ky.), and Charleston (S.C.). In October 2021, Martin celebrated a milestone with the 15th anniversary of Martin’s Bar-B-Que Joint.
Building upon the success of Martin’s Bar-B-Que Joint, Martin opened Hugh-Baby’s BBQ & Burger Shop in 2017 as a tribute to the small-town BBQ and burger spots that dotted the mid-South of his youth. Dedicated to simple, delicious food and warm Southern hospitality, Hugh-Baby’s menu covers all the classics, with burgers, Memphis-style pulled pork, hot dogs, fries and hand-spun shakes at its heart. There are three Hugh-Baby’s locations in Nashville.
March of 2022 brings the publication of Pat Martin’s Life of Fire: Mastering the Arts of Pit-Cooked Barbecue, The Grill, and The Smokehouse (Clarkson Potter). Through beautiful photography and detailed instruction, this procedural book is the definitive guide to open-fire cooking. Here, Martin looks to transform the way you cook by revealing the craft of West Tennessee-style BBQ – a tradition he’s spent a lifetime studying, teaching, and celebrating.
A longtime member of the Southern Foodways Alliance, Martin lives in Nashville with his wife, Martha Ann, and their three children, Wyatt, Daisy, and Walker.
