Montgomery Inn

Montgomery Inn is a barbecue restaurant chain headquartered in the Cincinnati suburb of Montgomery, Ohio. Its reputation rests on loin back ribs and the barbecue sauce used to prepare and serve them.

The family business began on November 1, 1951, when Ted Gregory took over an existing establishment called McCabe's Inn in Montgomery, then a fast-growing country town on the edge of metro Cincinnati. Initially, the renamed Montgomery Inn was more a drinking spot than a dining destination; the restaurant side was leased out, and the food was poor. Gregory's wife Matula cooked his meals at home and sent them to the inn, often with extra to feed any friends who stopped by. One day she made barbecued ribs with a homemade sauce, and the dish became popular among those friends. Soon after, the Gregorys and their four children took over the restaurant and began serving ribs full-time. A local journalist gave Gregory the nickname "The Ribs King," which he kept for life.

The original location, a former stagecoach stop on Montgomery Road, attracted famous customers. Entertainer Bob Hope was a longtime fan and the inn's best-known booster. Five U.S. presidents dined there: Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan, George H. W. Bush, Bill Clinton, and George W. Bush. Other notable diners included Cincinnati Reds legends Sparky Anderson, Joe Nuxhall, Pete Rose, Ken Griffey Jr., and Johnny Bench, along with former Reds owner Marge Schott; actors Tom Selleck and Elizabeth Taylor; singers Elton John and Britney Spears; astronauts Neil Armstrong and John Glenn; tennis player Andre Agassi; baseball players Mark McGwire and John Franco; NHL coach Scotty Bowman; and comedian Bill Cosby. The company claims that native Cincinnatian Rosemary Clooney served Montgomery Inn ribs at her wedding.

In 1989, a second location, Montgomery Inn at the Boathouse, opened in downtown Cincinnati on the Ohio River. A banquet facility was added in the Sawyer Point area in 1998, but the company announced in 2006 or 2007 that it would be demolished to make way for a condominium development. A third restaurant, Montgomery Inn East, opened on Cincinnati's east side. In February 1997, a fire started in a malfunctioning sign on the roof, which repairmen had been working on earlier that day. Everyone was evacuated safely, but the restaurant and its sports memorabilia were a total loss. Items destroyed included Barry Larkin's Cincinnati Reds uniform, Oscar Robertson's signed basketball, photos of Arnold Palmer at the U.S. Open, and Cal Ripken's autographed baseball bat.

In 2001, a fourth restaurant opened in Fort Mitchell, Kentucky, in a space that had housed a location of Burbank's Real Bar-B-Q. Burbank's, named for WLW Radio personality Gary Burbank, was once Montgomery Inn's main local competitor, with several locations in southwestern Ohio and northern Kentucky. By 2006, Burbank's had closed all but its original Sharonville, Ohio, location. Montgomery Inn began selling its barbecue sauce in bottles in 1990, and the ribs themselves soon after. Both are regularly available in supermarkets within a 300-mile radius of Cincinnati, and by mail order since 1994.

Ted Gregory died on December 2, 2001. His family continues to run the company, and his image—with a cigar and his "Ribs King" crown—remains part of the logo. In 2009, a new restaurant opened north of Columbus, along the Scioto River in Dublin, Ohio. That Dublin location closed in January 2017, and the Fort Mitchell location closed on July 1, 2018.