Barbecue lovers fondly remember Gridley’s Fine Bar-B-Q. The name is synonymous with smoky, tasty, cooked pork slathered in a special sauce.
Robyn Gridley Nickell is keeping that taste alive. Nickell, daughter of Celeste and restaurant founder Clyde Gridley, launched the Gridley Revival line of products, including classic mild and hot barbecue sauce, classic back-of-the house rub, and barbecue shrimp seasoning.
“I wanted to honor mom and dad,” Nickell says. “I could not let it die. I couldn’t. I was not going to let it go away.”
Gridley’s, which was in business from 1975 to the early 2000s and had numerous locations, brings back fond memories for its fans. People tell her, “I had my first date there.” “We had our reception there.” “Our rehearsal dinner there.”
Nickell says, “It’s almost magical.”
The origin of Gridley’s began in 1962 with a small business owned by her dad. “Dad had always loved food,” she says. “We had a little dairy-type drive-in on Macon Road called Stop N Tell.”
They sold ice cream, but they also sold the Gridburger, Nickell says. “He created a sauce that he put on it.”
Gridley’s main job was working as comptroller for Loeb Enterprises under Bill Loeb, who owned barbecue restaurants and laundries around town. Loeb made a bet with Gridley about running one of his barbecue restaurants. “He made him a $1,200 bet. He didn’t think Daddy could make one of those stores a number-one in a year.”
Her dad chose the Loeb’s at Summer Avenue and Graham Street. That location, which is now Bryant’s Breakfast, was close to their home.
“He won the bet, for sure,” Nickell says. “He said, ‘I can take on a couple more.’ At one point he ended up with five.”
But Gridley wanted to sell wet ribs and have a dining room at the restaurants he was operating. Loeb thought he was “getting too big for his britches” and wouldn’t let him do either of those things.
So, Gridley left Loeb’s. “He said, ‘I’m going to do it my way. I want to open my own place,’” says Nickell.
With a backer, Gridley opened the first Gridleys Bar-B-Que in September 1975, on Summer between Waring and Graham. He wanted it to be more than a barbecue joint. He hired servers and even a maître d’ to take care of customers in the dining room. They also had a self-serve counter. Gridley wanted to offer “a nice dining experience,” his daughter says.
The decor wasn’t bright. “It was dark — dark leather and all that — but people loved it. They said it was cozy. They loved the wait staff we had.”
And, she says, “Business took off.”
In addition to pork shoulders and beef brisket, the Gridley’s menu included barbecued shrimp, seafood gumbo, a remoulade, and other Gulf Coast fare. “Daddy was born and raised on the Gulf Coast,” Nickell says. “Biloxi.”
The Gridley’s menu included seafood gumbo and other Gulf Coast fare. “Daddy was born and raised on the Gulf Coast,” Nickell says. “Biloxi.”
Her dad also came up with a bread that was a cross between sourdough and French. “He wanted to make a po’ boy sandwich like they did on the coast,” she says.
People still talk about his food, including the beans. “It’s definitely spicier than some beans, but it’s not hot. It’s definitely a sweet bean, and we put a lot of pork in the beans.”
Her father “just had a knack,” she says. “He knew what people wanted.”
Gridley also put the emphasis on quality. “He was so rigid about keeping the best products,” Nickell recalls. “I could not tell you how many times I went to meat packers with him to get the right rib cut, the right shoulder. He bought his shrimp and anything seafood-related on the Gulf Coast.”
Gridley’s grew to include four locations in Memphis: Summer between Waring and Graham, Sycamore View, Elvis Presley Boulevard, and Winchester at Kirby.
Franchise locations were in Jackson, Tennessee, and Jackson, Mississippi. Another one was about to open in Atlanta, Georgia, but, Nickell says, “Daddy died suddenly of a massive heart attack. He was in a car driving.”
People came to her mother and told her Gridley had promised them this and that. “Nobody was as kind and generous as my mother,” she says. “But my mother did not have any clue what daddy had been promising.
“My daddy trusted a lot of people. He did a lot of stuff on a handshake. That’s what bit him in the ass, literally.”
Her mother sold the business to a local restaurant group in the late 1980s. One by one, all the Gridley’s locations closed. “The last one open was on Stage and Summer,” says Nickell.
In 2022, the family began bottling Gridley’s sauces. “We had notes and recipes. Things dad had written down,” she says. “We knew we had the barbecue shrimp seasonings because I was making that.”
Family members knew how to make the gumbo and baked beans, but they had to match sauces by memory because Gridley used a commercial sauce, which no longer was made. “It took nine or 10 tastings on the mild to get it,” says Nickell.
They also began making barbecue rubs, including Hello Honey!, a honey jalapeño sauce; and Sunshine Rub, a high-citrus seafood rub that also “works great on vegetables.”
Family members involved in the business include Nickell’s son and general manager Matt Nickell, and her daughters Nikki Domenico and Caitlin Miller.
They sell their products at The Woman’s Exchange of Memphis, The Truffle Pig in Collierville, Katie’s Kitchen in Germantown, and Cypress Home & Garden in Rossville, Tennessee. People can also order from their website: gridleyrevival.com. “We’ll ship our sauces and seasoning to your door,” Nickell says.
Gridley Revival products also include jelly and preserves made from family recipes. It offers prepared foods, including barbecue, soups, and Nickell’s dad’s famous chili. And it features hand towels, ornaments, T-shirts, and stickers with nostalgic artwork, including the old Merrymobile.
They’re not ready for Kroger, Superlo, and other bigger stores at this time. “We are a small batch bottler,” Nickell says. “We’re not in a position to do the huge orders. I’m trying to keep it controllable.”
But no matter where she’s selling Gridley Revival products, Nickell loves to hear people say, “You do not know how much this means that you’re bringing it back.”