Local Origin: Montgomery, OH
The family-owned company began on November 1, 1951, when founder Ted Gregory took over McCabe's Inn in Montgomery, Ohio, then a country town on the edge of metro Cincinnati that was just beginning to grow rapidly. At first, the restaurant, renamed Montgomery Inn, was better known as a place to drink than eat, as the restaurant side of the operation was leased out, and the food served there was less than stellar. Gregory's wife Matula would cook his meals at home and send them to her husband at the inn, usually with some extra to feed any of his friends that stopped by. One day she prepared barbecued ribs with a homemade sauce, and the dish caught on with friends.
Soon after, the Gregorys and their four children took over the restaurant and began serving ribs full-time. A local journalist dubbed Gregory "The Ribs King," a nickname that stayed with Gregory for the rest of his life. The former stagecoach stop on Montgomery Road attracted some famous customers, including entertainer Bob Hope (a longtime fan and the Inn's best-known booster), and five U.S. Presidents: Gerald Ford, Ronald Regan, George H.W Bush, Bill Clinton and George W. Bush. The company claims that singer Rosemary Clooney, a native of the Cincinnati area, served Montgomery Inn ribs at her wedding.
In 1989, a second location, Montgomery Inn at the Boathouse, was added in downtown Cincinnati on the banks of the Ohio River. The company added a banquet facility in the Sawyer Point area in 1998, but announced that the facility would be razed in 2006 or 2007, and the riverfront property would become a new Condominium development.
Ingredients: Tomatoes, Distilled Vinegar, Water, Salt, Dehydrated Onions, Spices, Dehydrated Garlic, Natural Flavors, Corn Syrup, Modified Corn Starch, Molasses, Caramel Color and Tamarind.