Martin's Bar-B-Que Joint

West Tennessee’s legendary whole-hog BBQ tradition is the cornerstone of Martin’s Bar-B-Que Joint. The restaurants have been featured on the Food Network, Travel Channel, Cooking Channel, and The Today Show and in publications such as Bon Appetit, Esquire, Conde Nast Traveler, and Men’s Journal.

Pat Martin learned the art and craft of West Tennessee-style smoke and meat 25 years ago in the tiny town of Henderson, TN before making Nashville his home. It became a consuming passion that eventually led to a business when he opened the first Martin's Bar-B-Que Joint in October of 2006 in Nolensville, Tennessee - just south of Nashville. Today, there are four locations in the Nashville area, including the newest serving those seeking great BBQ in Downtown Nashville.

We come in at 5 am, every day, seven days a week. From the sides to the sauces, everything is made from scratch every single day. But the bar-b-que actually starts a day ahead, as the process for smoking whole hogs simply can't be rushed.

Just as Pat learned the nuances of whole-hog bar-b-que through years of hands-on experience, his crew of pitmasters also spend time apprenticing before they're trusted in the pit. The intuition it takes to make good bar-b-que is not something that is developed overnight. It's this passion for the craft that keeps customers coming back to Martin's year after year.

Pat is a member of the famed Fatback Collective, a philanthropic group of restaurateurs, pit masters, chefs, farmers and writers who strive to help others in times of need in the diverse and modern South. He lives in Nashville with his wife, Martha Ann, and their three children, Wyatt, Daisy and Walker.