Happy Birthday to The Pit!

In a couple of days, it will be New Year’s Eve. If that’s not exciting enough, it will also be the birthday of The Pit!

Yes, it was back on December 31, 1968 that the barbecue restaurant founded by Mr. and Mrs. Neil Pinkley and Mr. and Mrs. Noah Tedford at 3909 Liberty Avenue opened. Above is the ad that ran in the Journal on December 28, 1970 – fifty years ago today – observing the second birthday of the restaurant.

The ad is interesting to me because it features a great photo of the restaurant (before it was enlarged) and sign, circa 1970. What’s surprising is that the barbecued spare ribs (available in whole slab or half-slab) were only a recent addition to the menu. 

I also recently found the ad announcing the Pit's one-year birthday (below). It ran in the Journal on December 30, 1969. I wonder what the gifts were for the kiddies – pint-sized jars of barbecue sauce?

I wrote a four-part blog series about the history of the Pit which included an interview with Steve Pinkley, son of the co-founders of the restaurant. (You can read it by clicking here and scrolling down to the bottom to Part 1.)

Anyway, here’s wishing the great people at Your Pit BBQ (the current name of the restaurant) a Happy 52nd Birthday! (I started the party early by carrying out a delicious pulled-pork sandwich on Sunday.)