'A Family Tradition': Looking Back At 60 Years Of Archibald's BBQ In Northport

NORTHPORT, AL — Busting up tough chunks of hickory wood is the first memory Woodrow Washington III can recall of Archibald's BBQ .

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Washington's grandfather, Alabama pitmaster and BBQ legend George Archibald, would pay his grandson and the other kids in his family with a barbecue pork sandwich — mostly of scrap meat — a Faygo or Grapico soft drink and a few dollars for their grueling labor. But these were the good ol' days for Washington, as his family's beloved barbecue joint would go on to weather generational changes, a fire and the COVID-19 pandemic to celebrate 60 years in business.

"It was always busting wood," Washington said with a laugh in an interview with Patch, mentioning a job he still does to this day. "That used to be my job. My Granddaddy would go out to the woods and cut down some hickory and then it was our job, the kids. It's like we were playing a game and didn't realize he was just working the heck out of us. But we would see who could bust the wood up the fastest."

Opened in 1962 by George and Betty Archibald, the BBQ joint's hickory-smoked flavor and acclaimed sauce would go on to transform a humble Northport family into culinary royalty and a small building on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard into the Mecca of Alabama barbecue.

In Mark A. Johnson's book "An Irresistible History of Alabama Barbecue: From Wood Pit to White Sauce," George Archibald told the author:

"Well, it's just a small little place ... Just build a fire and keep the fire low, yes — and cook it slow."

The second generation to run the business would be Washington's uncle, George Archibald Jr. and Woodrow's Mama, Paulette Washington. There's a painting owned by Washington of his uncle, Arthur B. Welch and another man remembered only as "Mr. Danny" that the third-generation business owner cherishes to this day.

"It's just the family business," Woodrow Washington III explained. "It's really not a choice. You kind of do it by default. To me, it's just being able to carry on the hard work of my grandparents and my Mom. Keeping the quality and taste the same."

Paulette can be credited with picking up the torch on the sauce-making tradition pioneered by Betty Archibald, a sauce that one sportswriter said stained the favorite tie worn by legendary Alabama football coach Paul W. "Bear" Bryant when he was buried.

Then, there are faces like those of Jane Hinton, who has worked just about every job in the kitchen and business since 1962, helping keep the timeless legacy alive into the present day. It's this attention to continuity that has aided in the business's survival just as much as the sauce.

"[Hinton] is the cook," Washington said. "She cuts, she helps make the sides and she runs the register. We try not to put hard work on her, but she's there every day."

Without giving away too many secrets, the world-famous taste of Archibald's barbecue can be found in the old-school approach still incorporated by the third-generation of family running the business, which includes Washington's sister Lashawn Humphrey.

"Really, it's the style of cooking, because it's an open pit, just an old hickory pit," he said. "We use all hickory wood, and it's about being consistent. We use high heat, sometimes low heat depending on the timing. But when you need something ready, you have to get it good and hot."

While fire is a normal occupational hazard in the pit barbecue business, it would be the flames originating from the same hickory pit the family has depended on for years that nearly took out the original building on Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard in 2017.

Thankfully, though, the fire was quickly contained — in no small part due to Woodrow Washington III being a retired firefighter — and the business didn't miss a beat.

"I pulled the food truck up that same day," he said. "It got my roof, but we never closed."

Washington has plenty to keep him busy, as he also serves in his first term as a member of the Northport City Council, but he continues to look ahead to the next decade, focusing on expansion not just of franchises, but of the brand itself.

"If the Lord is willing, we'll have sauce on the shelf [at grocery stores] and franchises throughout the country," he said. "That's my 5- or 10-year goal is to get our sauce bottled and get franchises."

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