Porker's Bar-B-Que closing its restaurant for good

Downtown restaurant will keep catering, launch food truck

Porkers Bar-B-Que, a barbecue joint at 1251 Market St., closed Friday, July 28, 2017, after 28 years in business.
Porkers Bar-B-Que, a barbecue joint at 1251 Market St., closed Friday, July 28, 2017, after 28 years in business.
photo President George Bush tries the ribs at Porkers Bar-B-Que during an unexpected stop at the restaurant in 2007. President Bush was in town to talk about healthcare issues, and made stops at Erlanger and the Chattanooga Convention Center.

Greg Tirey rounded up a half dozen co-workers Wednesday to eat lunch at Porker's Bar-B-Que, a 28-year-old barbecue joint at 1251 Market St. that will close Friday.

"Another one bites the dust," said Tirey, who works downtown at Mesa Associates, an engineering, procurement and construction management firm. "I'm sure it'll be condos here next week."

"Always hate to see a place like this go," he said.

Tirey isn't alone. Porker's Bar-B-Que was packed Wednesday with customers who stopped by for their last taste of barbecue from the business that brags it has the "best butts in town." Another claim to fame is that Porker's Bar-B-Que served a meal to President George W. Bush in 2007 when Bush stopped by after attending a forum on health care initiatives at the Chattanooga Convention Center nearby.

Increased costs and flat-lining sales - because of competition from a plethora of new restaurants downtown compared to the days when Porker's was a pioneer there - prompted the closure, said Porker's Bar-B-Que owner Beau Tucker.

"Rising costs, that's basically what it is," Tucker said. "[Competition split business] that many ways, on top of the fact the costs are going up - food costs, rent, utilities - all that stuff."

While Porker's Bar-B-Que will vacate its longtime Market Street home, it hasn't served its last pork plate.

The restaurant will keep offering its catering service, and it will venture into the food truck business.

Tucker is moving his operation to the American Legion Post No. 95 in East Ridge.

"I'm going to be leasing their kitchen," he said. "They've got a huge, beautiful kitchen, and I'm going to run my catering and my food truck out of there. I'll be downtown probably two or three days a week with my food truck."

He also plans to sell barbecue at such places as the Volkswagen assembly plant and at the Amazon distribution center at Enterprise South Industrial Park.

Contact staff writer Tim Omarzu at tomarzu@timesfreepress.com or www.facebook.com/MeetsForBusiness or on Twitter @meetforbusiness or 423-757-6651.

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