Iconic Georgia BBQ restaurant known for ‘Pig Hill of Fame’ will stay open after all

ELLIJAY, Ga. — Two months after it announced its closure, an iconic barbecue restaurant in North Georgia will stay open after all.

Poole’s BBQ confirmed on Facebook Thursday that someone purchased the restaurant. The new owners said they will keep similar hours and the same recipes, including a customer favorite: coleslaw.

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Oscar Poole, a retired pastor, and his wife Edna, first opened Poole’s BBQ out of a trailer in East Ellijay in 1989. The restaurant became quickly known as a stop for political candidates and its infamous “Pig Hill of Fame,” which is one of Georgia’s odd roadside attractions.

Poole himself became known for his yellow suit and top hat.

“He saw Col. Sanders with that white suit, and he said, ‘I’m going to have me a yellow suit’. I laughed. I thought, ‘I can’t believe he’s going to wear a solid yellow suit’, but he did,” Edna told WSB Radio’s Sandra Parrish.

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Poole died in 2020. His son, Darvin, took over the business and kept up with his father’s pig hill.

“That’s the No. 1 reason people stop because people see all the pigs on the hill. It’s very visible to the four-lane highway and it’s been a blessing,” he told WSB Radio.

Darvin Poole announced in November that he was closing the restaurant, so he and his wife would have more time for their grandchildren.

The Facebook post did not identify the new owners.

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Krog Street Tunnel (Nelson Hicks)

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