Barbecue in America is more than a style of cooking. It’s a regional identity. That identity is now colliding with the economics of running modern restaurant groups, and the strain is showing across some of the most recognizable names in the business.
Barbecue’s regional identity has long been defined by technique and sauce traditions that vary sharply across the country.
“Meat cuts and cooking methods are the main signifiers of regional barbecue, but the sauces perhaps best define the history of America’s low and slow cooked proteins. From the Carolinas to Texas and Kansas City, barbecue fanatics religiously ally themselves with specific styles of sauces and dips,” according to Eater.com.
Some parts of the country swear by wet barbecue, while others see sauce as an accent to meat served with a dry rub.
Rodney Scott helped bring whole hog barbecue to a broader national audience.
Scott, an author and celebrity chef who won the 2018 James Beard Award for Best Chef: Southeast, helped bring whole hog barbecue to a broader national audience.
He explained that cooking technique in a recent NPR article.
“We butterfly it down the middle and put it belly side down for eight to 12 hours,” Scott said. “Then we’ll take burnt wood down to the embers and scatter it under the hog for a low slow roast.”
Now, despite his reputation and his success in making whole hog barbecue a new American tradition, Scott has closed nearly all of his restaurants.
Rodney Scott’s restaurants closed
“Rodney Scott’s beloved barbecue locations are closed as of Sunday, May 3, 2026, at 5 p.m, ‘until further notice.’ Rodney Scott’s Whole Hog BBQ has temporarily shut its restaurants in Atlanta, Nashville, Homewood, Trussville, Valley Post, and Charleston,” Southern Living reported.
The shutdowns are not necessarily a comment on the success of Scott’s business, as they’re part of bigger problem involving his financial partner Nick Pihakis, owner of Pihakis Restaurant Group (PRG).
Birmingham-based PRG, which includes restaurants in Atlanta, faces $13.7 million in lawsuits and liens, according to a report by AL.com.
The chain operates a variety of concepts, including Little Donkey Mexican Restaurant, Hero, Magnolia Point, and Psito, along with Rodney Scott’s BBQ, has already closed a number of locations.
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“Since mid-April, the group has both temporarily and permanently closed 12 restaurants across the Southeast, including Psito in Summerhill and Hero Diner in Fayetteville. Google and the group’s restaurant websites currently list the Atlanta locations of Psito and Hero Diner as ‘temporarily closed,’” reported Rough Draft Atlanta.
Scott’s restaurants have closed temporarily amid broader financial and operational issues at PRG.
Rodney Scott’s partner faces large lawsuits
“As of Wednesday, April 29, the liens are totaling more than $12 million, according to public records filed in Jefferson and Shelby counties,” according to WBRC.
Pihakis Restaurant Group told the local news site that it’s working with a consultant to create “more sustainable operations across our brands.”
“We have engaged consulting support and are focused on doing the hard, careful work required to build a path forward — one that honors our employees, our guests, and the excellent family of restaurants that make up Pihakis Restaurant Group,” the company shared.
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PRG has to deal with liens
Before Scott’s restaurants can find a path forward, PRG must reach a deal with one of its landlords.
Commercial real estate developer Michael Mouron owns and leases several properties to Pihakis Restaurant Group and its affiliated entities and filed liens on April 14 against eight of those locations.
- A $72,065.56 lien originally filed against 1726, 1722, and 1720 28th Avenue South, where Hero Homewood and Luca Lagotto are located, has been amended to $2,708,365.56.
- The lien filed against Rodney Scott’s Homewood for $36,090.50 has been amended to $803,856.51, and the lien against Little Donkey Homewood has been amended to $803,856.51. It was originally filed for $31,042.98.
- A lien filed against Pihakis Restaurant Group for four properties on 3rd Avenue South in Birmingham, where Joyland is located, was amended on April 27 to $1,075,983.64.
- Mouron also owns the Dunnavant Valley development in Chelsea, where Pihakis Restaurant Group recently opened Hero Diner, Little Donkey, Luca & Lucy, and Rodney Scott’s BBQ.
- In an amended lien for these properties filed on April 27, Mouron is seeking to “secure an indebtedness of $7,166,296.20, plus reasonable attorney’s fees and other expenses for rent due under the said leases.”
Source: WBRC
The liens are an attempt by the landlord to ensure its gets paid.
PRG has not publicly commented on the closures or its legal problems.
A request for comment from TheStreet to the email listed on the Pihakis Restaurant Group website bounced back as “undeliverable.”
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