10/02/2026
Who remembers this building??
THIS ALABAMA BARBECUE JOINT STARTED SERVING TRAVELERS IN 1891
Think about that year for a second.
1891.
Cars weren't rolling down Alabama highways because Alabama highways as we know them didn't exist.
Yet in Irondale, the place that became Golden Rule Bar-B-Q was already feeding travelers.
The Williams family opened Golden Rule along what was then the Atlanta Highway. Its early customers were travelers stopping for barbecue, refreshments and a break from the road.
And somehow, more than 130 years later, Golden Rule is still in business.
The story passed through several Alabama families.
In the 1930s, electrician Jabo Stone married Ellene Williams and joined the family business.
The Stones operated Golden Rule for roughly four decades.
Then in 1969, with no children to inherit the restaurant, Stone approached Birmingham restaurateur Michael Matsos about taking over.
Another chapter began.
Golden Rule eventually expanded beyond its original roadside roots, and in 2022 the Kemp family purchased the business.
Today you'll find Golden Rule at 2504 Crestwood Boulevard in Irondale.
But the part that gets me is imagining the customers.
People stopped here before interstate highways.
Before television.
Before airplanes became ordinary transportation.
Before Bear Bryant was born.
Before Alabama had its first radio station.
Generations of Alabamians have lived entire lifetimes while this barbecue name remained part of the landscape.
That's more than an old restaurant.
That's a piece of Alabama roadside history that somehow survived long enough for us to still order lunch from it.
Verification: Golden Rule's official history dates its Irondale beginnings to 1891 and confirms the Williams, Stone, Matsos and Kemp ownership chapters.
