private genre restaurants founder floyd sonny tillman headquarters winter park florida united states number of locations 126 area served alabama florida georgia kentucky louisiana mississippi north carolina south carolina and tennessee key people sonny tillman john yarmuth owner bob yarmuth website www.sonnysbbq.com sonny s bbq is a barbecue restaurant chain founded by floyd sonny tillman in gainesville florida in 1968 . bob yarmuth purchased the company in 1991 and continues as the company s owner and ceo today . sonny s bbq now has 122 restaurants across nine southeastern states and is headquartered in winter park florida . the restaurant specializes in southern style bbq . contents 1 history 2 menu 3 2008 recession 4 see also 5 references 6 external links history edit sonny s real pit bar b q was founded in april 17 1968 by floyd sonny tillman and his wife lucille starting with a single location on waldo road in gainesville florida . 1 the company began franchising nine years later in 1977 with a menu consisting of pork beef ribs chicken beans and other sides . 2 3 in 1988 sonny s bbq had grown to 77 restaurants across six states and tillman sold the company to outside investors . 4 in 1991 bob yarmuth purchased the company . 5 during the 2000s sonny s was the largest bbq restaurant chain in the united states with about 150 locations across nine states . in 2011 the company had 125 operating franchised restaurants . in 2012 the company moved its headquarters to winter park florida and in 2013 the company changed its name from sonny s real pit bar b q to sonny s bbq . 2 6 7 8 sonny tillman s birthday is celebrated as a special event by the restaurant each august 14 . despite selling the franchise tillman retained ownership of the original sonny s bbq until 2011 when he relinquished his franchisee agreement . afterwards he continued to attend grand openings sometimes appearing in commercials and participating in other events . 9 10 11 12 events held by sonny s include its random acts of bbq events where individual restaurants provide a bbq feast for community volunteers and volunteer organizations . 13 14 menu edit sonny s bbq menu has southern style barbecue including pulled pork sliced pork baby back ribs buffalo wings st. louis style ribs and beef brisket ; along with burgers appetizers and sides . 15 16 17 18 2008 recession edit on september 25 2008 greater atlanta bar b q the only metro atlanta franchisee of sonny s filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy protection for ten locations four of which were closed completely raising concerns about another restaurant s viability after metromedia restaurant group closed its bennigan s and steak and ale restaurant chains . yet as of the first week of june in 2009 it came out of bankruptcy completing chapter 11 requirements . 19 on october 15 2008 all three sonny s locations in the greater daytona beach area florida were closed . 20 as of december 1 2009 the tifton georgia restaurant became known as the smokehouse restaurant due to disputes with sonny s over imagery and icons in the restaurant itself and on employees clothing . 21 see also edit list of barbecue restaurants references edit about sonny s bbq . retrieved december 4 2015 . a b ray lampe 2007 . dr. bbq s big time barbecue road trip . macmillan . retrieved september 2 2014 . robb walsh 2013 . barbecue crossroads notes and recipes from a southern odyssey . university of texas press . p. 107 . retrieved september 1 2014 . robert f. moss 2010 . barbecue the history of an american institution . university of alabama press . p. 237 . retrieved september 3 2014 . hoovers sonny s bbq . retrieved september 7 2014 . sonny s real pit bar b q cooking up big changes . qsr magazine . july 11 2013 . retrieved september 3 2014 . erin dostal july 3 2013 . sonny s real pit bar b q hires coo vp of marketing brandon manly and dominic losacco have filled the positions respectively . nation s restaurant news . retrieved september 4 2014 . gary mills july 17 2013 . sonny s real pit bar b q unveils new name look . retrieved september 5 2014 . celebrate sonny s bbq founder sonny tillman s 85th birthday . retrieved september 6 2014 . sonny s bbq founder celebrates 85th birthday at waldo road restaurant . august 14 2014 . retrieved september 4 2014 . andrea rumbaugh september 9 2011 . sonny tillman sells alachua bbq location . retrieved september 3 2014 . sarah pedicini . talking with ... monique yeager sonny s bbq is still cookin . orlando sentinel . retrieved september 3 2014 . alex de armas 17 november 2014 . community counts random acts of bbq . abc 7 . com . retrieved 17 march 2015 . sonny s real pit bbq feeds 120 to mark 20th anniversary . northwest georgia news . retrieved 17 march 2015 . marcia heroux pounds february 8 1999 . regional flavors may go national under florida based barbecue chain . knight ridder tribune business news . retrieved september 4 2014 . michael w. sherer july 24 1989 . how about some steak with that salad steakhouses continue to offer bigger food bars but not at the expense of beef sales executives say . 400 steak & bbq . restaurants & institutions . retrieved september 9 2014 . nora caley january 28 2002 . sonny s real pit bar b q adapting its menu to the territory s particular taste is this restaurant chain s recipe for expansion . regional powerhouse chains . nation s restaurant news . retrieved september 3 2014 . barbara mchatton . sonny s franchise company . food and drink magazine . retrieved september 5 2014 . trubey j. scott 2008 09 25 . operator of 10 sonny s restaurants files for chapter 11 . atlanta business chronicle . retrieved 2008 09 26 . sonny s in daytona closes but chain is poised for growth thompson angie 2009 12 01 . tifton gazette tifton restaurant owner loses sonny s franchise . tifton gazette . tifton gazette . retrieved 2009 12 16 . external links edit sonny s bbq v t e barbecue cooking styles asado barbacoa char siu churrascaria churrasco indirect grilling korean barbecue mangal mixed grill mongolian barbecue schwenker shao kao shisa nyama siu mei yakiniku regional variations of barbecue barbecue in the united states barbecue in north carolina barbecue in oklahoma barbecue in texas kansas city style barbecue memphis style barbecue santa maria style barbecue st. louis style barbecue cookers and related barbecue grill barrel barbecue briquette buccan charbroiler charcoal lighter fluid chimney starter disposable grill flattop grill gridiron grilling hibachi kamado pit barbecue propane shichirin skewer smoking foods and dishes list of barbecue dishes list of smoked foods anticuchos arrosticini bakkwa barbecue chicken barbecue sandwich barbecue sauce brochette bulgogi bull roast burnt ends cha siu bao chuan churrasco cocolo i corn on the cob espetada fat ny ros frig rui galinha africana isaw jeok jujeh kabab kabab barg kai yang kebab khorkhog khorovats kofte kebab lechon mashawi m choui meurav yerushalmi mixiote mu kalica pig pickin pig roast pinchitos provoleta pulled pork ra nji i red slaw satay sausage sizzle shashlik i kebap shish taouk spare ribs sosatie souvlaki suckling pig suya tsukune yakitori misc . barbecue restaurant list of barbecue restaurants food portal category commons wikiproject food and drink retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title sonny % 27s bbq & oldid 738847310 categories restaurants in floridaeconomy of the southeastern united statesregional restaurant chains in the united statesrestaurants established in 1968companies established in 1968barbecue restaurants1968 establishments in floridahidden categories florida articles missing geocoordinate dataall articles needing coordinates navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout 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