Meet Kristen Pfeiffer of Corner Pit BBQ

Today we’d like to introduce you to Kristen Pfeiffer. Them and their team share their story with us below:

The BBQ restaurant has been a staple in our neighborhood since 1965 having several owners. Mr. Russell, the original owner is the most iconic! Many stories are still shared about Mr. Russell most weekends.

In the summer of 2008, the restaurant had a fire and closed. The owner of the property, Charles “Bollweevil” Whitt, contacted us and shared with my husband, Bill, “you and your wife are the only ones who can make this business work” – we purchased the property from Mr. Whitt as an investment. Bill began researching how to cook BBQ, purchased an all-wood smoker in IL, and the rest is BBQ history! We began the remodel from the fire and opened for business in May 2009.

We have run our business as a family operation since we opened. Each of our three kids has worked with us. Our business grew and we added catering to our business. On a beautiful summer day in June 2018, we were open, preparing for a catering job when a neighbor ran in telling us our smoker shed was on fire! We were blessed by so many community firefighters who responded (from several counties) who fought the fire and saved our community history and BBQ collection. Bill was quick thinking and rolled the food for the catering job out into the parking lot. With the help of our staff, we were able to complete the job we had been preparing for that evening.

We spent almost two years rebuilding our building, buying a new version of our all-wood smoker, and reopened on Friday, March 13, 2020. The pandemic began one week later. We were soon restricted to carryout only from our porch. We are so thankful for our amazing customers who supported us through this unique situation upon reopening.

Our customers and staff are the lifeblood of our business. We are so blessed to continue the tradition of BBQ in our small Bryson community.

Can you talk to us a bit about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned along the way? Looking back would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
It has not been a smooth road…

It has been hard to make a name for ourselves while keeping the history of BBQ from the corner.

We had been in the wholesale greenhouse business since 1993 so beginning a totally new business was full of learning experiences. We were blessed by the history of our corner to help us get our start in 2009. We have been blessed by being featured in several publications and featured on TN Crossroads.

We purposely purchased a UL-listed BBQ smoker to reduce the chance of fire yet we still experienced our worst nightmare due to a grease fire not started by our smoker.

Appreciate you sharing that. What should we know about Corner Pit BBQ?
Bill and Kristen worked in the computer industry in Huntsville, AL before becoming entrepreneurs in the early ’90s.

We started a wholesale greenhouse operation providing annual bedding plants to independent garden centers and landscapers in the Southern TN/Northern AL area. When the recession of 2008 hit we experienced a decrease in locations to deliver to due to business closures. We took a leap of faith and shifted into a totally new venture by buying the BBQ restaurant. At Corner Pit BBQ we specialize in providing our customers with old-fashioned totally wood-smoked pork, brisket, ribs, and chicken. We feel like our smoker is what sets us apart from other BBQ restaurants. Our unique vinegar-based sauce also is something that sets us apart. We are blessed to have the recipe the original recipe that was a staple for Russell who is the founder of the restaurant.

We are proud of the fact that we cook from scratch and smoke all our meats totally with hickory wood.

We are a family-owned/operated business that has embraced and shared the BBQ history of our restaurant. We strive to share the history of the community, continue to learn more from our customers, and preserve it on our walls. Our business offers homemade sides and 100% hickory smoked meats for the restaurant and catering.

Can you talk to us a bit about happiness and what makes you happy?
We are happy when we hear from outside our restaurant good things about our business, learn more history about the restaurant or our community, and make our regular and new customers happy with our food and service.

Contact Info:

• Website:cornerpitbbq.com
• Instagram: @cornerpitbbq
• Facebook: Corner Pit BBQ

Image Credits
Southern Rose Photography