One of Memphis’ best-known barbecue brands, Tops Bar-B-Q, will expand its local footprint with a new restaurant in Bartlett by mid-summer, and the company is working towards possibly franchising by 2022.

Tops Bar-B-Q has new local owners

A new ownership group, Tops Operations LLC, bought the company last spring, and the Bartlett location will be the group’s first new opening.

Known for its slow-cooked, real pit barbecue, Tops opened in 1952 and now has 15 locations scattered across the Memphis metro area, northern Mississippi and eastern Arkansas.

For the new Bartlett location, renovation should get underway soon on the former Sheridans Latte’s and Frozen Custard building at 6745 Stage Road.

“Bartlett’s a great market, and we don’t have a location in that part of town,” Tops President Terry Trim said. “It’s a prime spot for us, and it won’t detract from any of the other stores we have in Memphis and the surrounding areas. Since we’re designing the store, it will be the springboard for what we do with units moving forward.”

The renovation will include enclosing what had been a large patio space in front of the building and turning it into a dining room, while keeping the existing kitchen area in the back and installing a $25,000 pit for cooking the pork shoulders.

“Tops’ new location will be in the heart of Bartlett and close neighbors to other popular retail establishments,” Bartlett Area Chamber of Commerce President John Threadgill said. “They’ll have great exposure and visibility and probably couldn’t have asked for a better spot.” 

Monty Montague is the former co-owner and longtime CEO of Tops, and he has been a consultant since the mid-1970s.

“I think Bartlett is going to be a great location,” Montague said. “Every place that we’ve opened up since I’ve been here, we’ve just been overwhelmed. I think that’s how it will be out there.”

Many of the company’s current locations bring in between $1 million and $2 million per year in sales.

Montague is quick to call out some of Tops’ competitors for the use of liquid smoke in their sauce.

“If you want real barbecue, you’ve got to put it on an open pit, and you’ve got to cook it with hardwood charcoal and green hickory wood,” Montague, 82, said. 

Tops is also in the process of having a new mascot designed. Monty -- named in honor of Montague -- should be ready in time for the anticipated Bartlett opening in June.

The company will hire 30 to 40 people to start at the Bartlett location.

The last Tops location to open was a decade ago on Stateline Road in Southaven, and it’s now one of the company’s top earners.

Tops could also expand through franchising within the next couple of years.

“It’s something that we want to do in order to grow and expand, but we won’t even consider it until probably 2022,” Trim said. “We need to open up a few more stores first and take care of things like making sure we have all of our technology up to speed to support the franchisees.”

He points to how Gus’s World Famous Chicken expanded in recent years from one location locally to more than 30 nationwide.

“The majority of the country is not inclined to have a lot of great barbecue, so to take a nearly 70-year-old company that’s been doing it right for a long time and say, ‘Hey, we’re coming to your neighborhood’ is a tremendous opportunity,” said Trim, who also hopes to grow the retail side of the business this year. He plans to begin selling Tops sauce and rubs as well as T-shirts and other apparel at the restaurants and on the newly designed website.

The company is growing its catering ops this year as well, with new Director of Catering & Marketing Darnel Alexander taking the lead. Trim plans to work during 2020 to establish more partnerships with local nonprofits to give back to the community.

Tops is also in the process of rolling out the first of a number of new limited-edition menu items, such as barbecue Smoked Gouda BBQ Mac and Cheese, for catering and at select store locations. Other new items in the coming months will be Flaming Hot Cheeto Nachos, fried pies, sliders and barbecue egg rolls.

“The goal is that by the time the Bartlett location opens in June, these will be permanent menu items,” Trim said.

He stresses the company has not and will not change anything related to its recipes for traditional pulled pork, ribs, brisket, and fresh-ground, cooked-to-order hamburgers and cheeseburgers.

“It’s worked for 67 years – there’s no need to make any changes,” Trim said. “It’s a great company. We’re looking forward to taking it to the 100-year mark.”