OUR STORY

Hugh-Baby’s is a Nashville-born burger and barbecue spot dedicated to simple, delicious food and warm Southern hospitality. The vision of restaurateur and founder Pat Martin, Hugh-Baby’s is a loving tribute to the small-town eateries Martin frequented in his childhood. The restaurant’s vibrant, modern design and all-are-welcome-here mindset come to life via a counter-service experience that draws inspiration from the old school barbecue and burger spots of days gone by.

Hugh-Baby’s takes its name from Martin’s beloved uncle, “Hugh Baby” Coleman. A spirited family man, Hugh Baby loved to enjoy real, honest Southern food while telling stories and jokes surrounded by family and friends. These fond childhood memories centered around the pit and the table inspired Pat Martin to dedicate his life to hospitality - bringing culinary comfort to people all over through Martin’s Bar-B-Que Joint and Hugh-Baby’s BBQ & Burger Shop.

Hugh-Baby’s is an ode not only to Pat’s uncle, but his entire loving family.

Pat Martin, Founder

Pat Martin is the founder of Hugh-Baby’s BBQ & Burger Shop and Martin’s Bar-B-Que Joint. A leader in American barbecue, Pat Martin is one of the few pitmasters still carrying the torch of West Tennessee-style whole hog BBQ. Martin’s Bar-B-Que Joint is rooted in Martin’s lifelong love for the old ways and traditional practices of authentic American pit barbecue in its truest form.

Hugh-Baby’s is the realization of Martin’s hankering for the type of no-fuss barbecue and burger spots that dotted the mid-South of his youth. In 2017, Martin opened his first Hugh-Baby’s with a menu designed to remind any Southerner of their favorite hometown barbecue shop they visited as a youngin’ - great food, cooked-to-order, just the way you want it. It’s also worth noting that the Martin’s Bar-B-Que Joint burger (on the menu since opening day in 2006!) is also very much an inspiration for Hugh-Baby’s founding, thanks to an incredible response from guests.

In March of 2022. Pat released his first book, Life of Fire: Mastering the Arts of Pit-Cooked Barbecue, The Grill, and The Smokehouse (Clarkson Potter). Through beautiful photography and detailed instruction, this procedural book looks to transform the way you cook by revealing the craft of West Tennessee-style BBQ - a tradition Pat’s spent a lifetime studying, teaching, and celebrating.

In October 2022, Martin will celebrate the 16th Anniversary of Martin’s Bar-B-Que Joint.

the Food

Hugh-Baby's BBQ & Burger Shop - Slaw Dog, Smoked Turkey Club, Cheeseburger, Shake, Co-Cola.jpg

our BURGERS

Our celebrated burgers feature a custom blend of premium beef, ground fresh daily, and cooked to order. We’re partial to the classics - American cheese, lettuce, tomato, pickles, onion, on a toasted potato bun. Pretty much exactly what we think a great burger needs, and nothing else. That said, don’t sleep on our BBQ Burger (ain’t nothin’ better than throwing our Memphis-style Pulled Pork on our signature patty) or our Shroom & Swiss Burger (which earned us the “Best of the Bash” title at South Beach Wine & Food Festival in 2020!).

our BBQ Sandwiches

We’re serious about our barbecue, just as you’d expect from the sibling spot to Pitmaster Pat Martin’s [almost 16-year old!] Martin’s Bar-B-Que Joint. Here, we follow the time-honored traditions of Memphis-style BBQ, a far more familiar regional American style of barbecue than the West Tennessee-style whole hog barbecue we celebrate at Martin’s Bar-B-Que Joint. We love them differently - but equally! - and hope all our guests will as well.

We smoke our Pulled Pork, Turkey, and Bologna on site, every single day, for up to 18 hours. The same can be said for our Hugh-Baby’s BBQ Sauce - we make it in-house, every single day, at each of our locations. We follow the traditions of all the true, old school barbecue places; we only smoke so much every day - and when we run out, we run out!

THE FRIED CHICKEN SANDWiCH

Crispy, hand-breaded Fried Chicken Thigh topped with Pickles and Comeback Sauce

FRIES & Shakes

Crispy, golden French Fries and hand-spun Milkshakes pair perfectly with every item on our menu. Our milkshakes feature scratch-made chocolate, strawberry, and seasonal fruit flavors. We’re making these mix-ins in-house, at each location, every day.

HOT DOGs

Hugh-Baby’s hot dogs are an ode to the quintessential gas station dogs of our youth. Keep it classic with our Ballpark Dog (yellow mustard and relish), our signature SlawDog (cole slaw, chopped onions, yellow mustard, house-made chili sauce), Chili Cheese Dog (exactly as it sounds), and the Pickwick (grilled onions, jalapeños, yellow mustard, mayo, Hugh-Baby’s BBQ Sauce).

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Hugh-Baby's is...

Simple

We pride ourselves in simple, delicious, just-right versions of the classics. We focus on exactly what we feel an item needs, and nothing else. We serve all our sandwiches on butter-toasted potato rolls.

Authentic

Our no-fuss Southern hospitality calls to mind the small town Southern burger and barbecue spots of the 60’s and 70’s. We smoke all the meats for our BBQ Sandwiches according to the time-honored traditions of Memphis barbecue. Our hot dogs are an ode to the quintessential gas station dogs of days gone by. And the Depression-era “Slugburger” hailing from Corinth, Mississippi, offers a perfect little historical taste of a infamous regional Southern bite.

Fresh

Almost everything on our menu is made from scratch, in-house at each location, every day. Our burgers feature a custom blend of premium beef, ground fresh daily, and cooked to order. We smoke our pulled pork, turkey, and bologna onsite every single day. When we run out, we run out! All of our hand-spun milkshakes feature scratch-made chocolate, strawberry, and seasonal fruit mix-ins.

Our Roots Run Deep

Our Inspiration

Here’s a look at a few of the classic stops across Tennessee and Mississippi that serve as Pat Martin’s inspiration in creating Hugh-Baby's.

History of The Slugburger

A Depression-era favorite made famous in Corinth, Mississippi, a "Slugburger" is made with ground meat (usually pork and sometimes beef), flour, soy grits or another extender. They are as flavorful as they come, and a nostalgia-fueled delicacy around North Mississippi, West Tennessee, and Northern Alabama.

In 1917, a gentleman named John Weeks headed South from Chicago to Corinth, Mississippi. Tapping his knowledge of the beef processing industry, he devised a recipe for a new “burger” that allowed him to save money on the meat (and which ensured his guests saved money on their meals as well). His creation - the Slugburger (originally called the “Weeks Burger”) - sold for a nickel (aka a “slug,” hence he name) and proved a perfect, inexpensive meal during The Great Depression and World War II.

John sold his burgers from the back of a moveable shack with bicycle wheels, eventually purchasing an old trolley car that he converted into a freestanding café. From there, the family franchise converted four more trolley cars, and the legend of the Slugburger grew.

While the price changed over the years, the name stuck. You can still find them today around Northern Mississippi and into some parts of Tennessee and Alabama. And, of course, you can find them here at Hugh-Baby's every Friday.

We follow tradition by serving Slugburgers with mustard, pickles, and onions, but we like to throw ours on a toasted potato bun.