Photo by Erin Nelson.
Brian Kemp, the new owner of Golden Rule BBQ, in the dining room at the original Golden Rule BBQ in Irondale.
It's been a short time since Brian Kemp bought the Golden Rule from the Matsos family and, for good reason, the Trussville native is a busy man. Already focused on his other growing restaurant brand, Kemp's Kitchen, Kemp is in the process of developing a game plan to add new life to Alabama's oldest restaurant.
Kemp purchased the Golden Rule BBQ brand from the Matsos family in March, which included the original location in Irondale (first established in 1891), the Trussville location and rights over a franchised location in Pell City.
Golden Rule, which had been under the ownership of the Matsos family since 1969, originally started working with Kemp in December 2022 with a goal of bringing the two restaurant names under one roof in Trussville. Things were trucking along just fine until Kemp was offered a deal to take over one of the Southeast's most historically significant barbecue restaurants instead.
"I was asked by the previous owner, 'Would you be interested in the entire brand?’" Kemp said. "Of course, you know, that was quite a surprise. It never crossed my mind that I'd be the owner of the oldest restaurant in the state of Alabama."
Kemp grew up in the restaurant business, starting out working at the Chick-fil-A in Century Plaza, managed by his mother, at the age of 15. Kemp stayed with Chick-fil-A for several more years, helping to open the Leeds location and even attending the Chick-fil-A leadership program with the intention of becoming the youngest store operator in the company.
In his 20s, however, Kemp took a detour, leaving the restaurant business for several years to work as an insurance salesman. All the while, however, the restaurant business was a constant presence in the back of his mind as he wrestled with whether to jump back in and, if so, how.
"I had always wanted to have a restaurant, I just didn't know what I wanted to do and I was just trying to find my way through life," Kemp said.
The opportunity to own his first restaurant came in 2017, when a restaurant on Gadsden Highway called Yard Birds came up for sale. Kemp jumped at the chance and decided to give one of the Birmingham area's favorite restaurant concepts — the meat-and-three — a shot in the arm.
"I started with some of my mom's and my grandmother's recipes and came up with my own recipes to create the Kemp's Kitchen brand," he said
Kemp's Kitchen eventually moved into the old Hardee's restaurant building in 2020, only to suffer a setback in November 2021 when the building — and it seemed, the entire business — was lost in a fire. A dedicated Christian, Kemp said his faith as well as the great community helped him and the business bounce back quickly.
"It made me kind of sit there and wonder like, 'Okay, is this it? I've lost most everything that I worked for and built,' and then the community came together," he said.
"They really helped take care of the staff," Kemp said. "The Lord just blessed it and was able to take it and turn it around. Friends and family came together to help a lot and build things back. It was definitely much faster than I ever could have imagined."
Kemp opened a second Kemp's Kitchen location in Gardendale in 2021. However, another opportunity presented itself when the Trussville Golden Rule location abruptly closed its doors in August 2022. The Matsos family and Kemp came together to relaunch in Trussville, co-branding as Kemp’s Kitchen & Bakery and Golden Rule BBQ & Grill in December 2022.
Shortly thereafter, the family made their offer to sell the Golden Rule brand outright to Kemp.
"I prayed about it and talked to my family, and I just really felt like that was the right decision to make," Kemp said. "It was a good time for both of us."
In just a few weeks since buying Golden Rule, Kemp wasted no time putting his stamp on the venerable barbecue brand. At the Trussville location, for instance, he made a handful of renovations right off the bat, such as new marble floors in the dining room and adding a drive-through window for the first time in the restaurant's history — a must-have considering downtown Trussville's legendary parking issues. He is also making some updates to the menu, including brisket macaroni bites, a new item Kemp said will debut this summer.
Kemp also made an important update, taking into consideration that most people like the smell of barbecue but don't necessarily want to bottle it as a cologne.
"One thing that people complained about there was smelling like the pit when they leave the restaurant," Kemp said. "We got some proper ventilation in there now, so that doesn't happen."
Kemp is also working on making sure the food at all three locations — Irondale, Trussville and Pell City — is consistent while building on Golden Rule's legacy. For instance, Kemp is bringing back the original baby back ribs and hand-cut french fries, while also making sure the pork and brisket follow the original recipes and methods first developed more than 130 years ago.
Kemp's vision is to update the customer service aspects of the Golden Rule brand and carefully open new locations over time, keeping one foot in the future and the other firmly rooted in the restaurant's rich history.
"We're trying to get those three locations as similar as possible and back to the original source, like it is here in Irondale," Kemp said. "We obviously want to stay relevant with the times but we want to also keep that old-school customer service and thrive off of being the oldest restaurant in the state."
