Bob Sykes BBQ & BLUES Festival

Bob Sykes Bar B Q has been a staple in Birmingham, Alabama for decades and will celebrate its 65th anniversary this month. Bob Sykes is a family owned local tradition since 1957. Three generations of the Sykes family has proudly served authentic southern barbecue that literally goes from the pit to the plate. The late Bob and Maxine Sykes founded the restaurant and today their son Van runs the family business with the help of his nephew, Jason Jewell. Bob Sykes Bar B Q has been the benchmark for others to match for true southern barbecue. Times may have changed, but nothing has changed in the way Bob Sykes prepares and cooks their famous barbecue oven an open fire pit located in the center of the dining room for guests to watch.

Barbecue and serving others is in the Sykes family blood. Van Sykes grew up in his family barbecue restaurant. By the time Van Sykes was 8 years old he was taking orders, helping in the kitchen and working the pits by the time he was 12. It didn’t take long for the flicker of the flame to catch his eye. For 65 years Bob Sykes Bbq has begun everyday but Sunday at 4am cooking fresh pork shoulders over a natural fire of hickory coals steeped in tradition.

Bob Sykes Bar B Q has been a popular spot for barbecue lovers with its southern hospitality and menu items made fresh daily. Some of the many homemade favorites include the classic bbq pork sandwich, ribs, hamburgers, chicken, onion rings, potato salad, cole slaw, homemade pies and cakes including the red velvet cake and the Bob Sykes Bar B Q Sauce.

Van Sykes says “we pride ourselves on never having deviated from the restaurants initial upstart that my parents created. We’ve stayed true to course. If you have a great product and you start with quality meats, quality items and everything is still made from scratch, people become accustomed to that. We’ve always kept the sauce as it was back in the 50’s that my Dad created.” The biggest change Bob Sykes has made over the years is adding daily menu specials including smoked wings, beef brisket, bbq tacos, catfish and “Grills Gone Wild” weekly specials. Van Sykes says “cooking bbq could be done easier but we like to do it the hard way.”

Van Sykes is proud to announce that he has chronicled how his family traveled in founding the restaurant business. The name of the book is “From the Pit to the Plate” and will be released in 2022. The story tracks the Sykes family move from the farm to the city, marks the ways their work crossed lines of race, class, gender and the story of a true American family business that has evolved today into one of the most recognized names in Southern barbecue.

Van Sykes is one of the 50 founding members of the Southern Foodways Alliance that documents, studies, and explores the diverse food cultures of the changing American South. John T Edge of Southern Foodways Alliance and host of TrueSouth on SEC Network/ESPN wrote the Foreword in the Bob Sykes Bar B Q book and says “For the Sykes family of Bessemer, Alabama, barbecue is their livelihood, their identity, their contribution to the place they call home. You will learn how a business has thrived. You will learn how a family has persevered. And you will learn a thing or three about barbecue.”

Bob Sykes Bar B Q believes in revitalizing communities and bringing people together. The restaurant is hosting the 11th Annual Bob Sykes BBQ & BLUES Festival presented by the City of Bessemer and Premiere Chevrolet April 30, 2022 at the beautiful DeBardeleben Park in historic downtown Bessemer. The festival is a family event and draws thousands from all over Alabama and out of state who gather to hear national and local award winning blues musicians and enjoy legendary bbq. For more details please visit www.BobSykesBlues.com

Bob Sykes Bar B Q has received numerous awards and recognition over the years. In 2014, Bob Sykes was voted as the number one bbq sauce and their bbq pork sandwich was chosen as one of the “100 dishes to eat in Alabama before you die.” The restaurant has received national news coverage for its lemon ice box pie and bbq and been featured on the Food Network and Cooking Channel. The Travel Channel says Bob Sykes is “Not a chain, it’s just a good old fashioned joint with a pig sign and a happy man running it. The Bbq pit is the first thing you see when you enter and Van Sykes will tell you all about it if you ask.”

Bob Sykes Bar B Q

1724 9th Avenue North

Bessemer, Alabama 35020

205-426-1400

www.BobSykes.com