Harry Harrell and Gary Torrence\u2019s mighty Southern pit-stop Tom Jenkins\u2019 Bar-B-Q survived for 36 years on Federal Highway in the shadow of Fort Lauderdale\u2019s ever-rising skyline.
\nBut on Dec. 21, the longtime friends and pitmasters will permanently close their barbecue house at 1236 S. Federal Highway, known for heaping portions of St. Louis-style ribs, juicy chopped pork and smoky chicken, collard greens and mac and cheese, Harrell told the South Florida Sun Sentinel on Thursday. He said they plan to sell the building and land.<\/p>\n
Calling their retirement \u201cbittersweet,\u201d Harrell, 65, said the tension of \u201cskyrocketing\u201d food prices, catering orders eroded by the COVID-19 pandemic, and the higher costs of labor and insurance convinced them to retire.<\/p>\n
Pitmaster Marquis Curry has worked at Tom Jenkins’ Bar-B-Que for 23 years.
\nThis week, the barbecue duo posted their Dec. 21 closing date in goodbye messages taped to Tom Jenkins\u2019 front door and cash register, which Harrell said triggered a flurry of \u201cshocked phone calls\u201d from longtime customers.
\nThe message states: \u201cAfter two years of careful planning \u2026 we have decided to retire and close the doors of Tom Jenkins Bar-B-Q. We want to thank all our customers for all these years of loyal support. \u2026 This has been a journey full of love blessed by God and we are certainly grateful.\u201d
\nHarrell and Torrence, Omega Psi Phi fraternity roommates at Florida A&M University, at first picked careers that bore no resemblance to barbecuing. Harrell majored in computer science and worked at IBM for 13 years as a computer programmer and systems engineer, while Torrence majored in electrical engineering, designing computer chips for eight years before becoming a middle-school math teacher in Broward County.<\/p>\n
Together, they created a barbecue sauce \u2014 a palate-pleasing blend of sweetness and vinegar \u2014 that friends and family clamored for at every gathering. This convinced them to start a business.
\nHowever, banks kept rejecting their loan applications because \u201crestaurants then and still do have a risky 90% failure rate,\u201d Harrell said.
\n\u201cWe weren\u2019t into climbing the corporate ladder,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019re just kind of entrepreneurs at heart, so we started small, building up a clientele, and thankfully our plan worked.\u201d
\nIn 1989, while still working their 9-to-5 jobs, they opened an 8-by-12-foot barbecue trailer on Federal Highway, in the parking lot of the Inn N Out Oil Change. In 1995, they crossed the street and transformed The Straw Hat, a country and western bar, into the 40-seat Tom Jenkins, named after one of Torrence\u2019s favorite uncles. The restaurant opened for business in 1996.<\/p>\n
Tom Jenkins became a massive fan favorite for its ribs, chopped pork and smoky chicken, slow-cooked in the restaurant\u2019s 6-by-10-foot pit.
\nThrough the years, Tom Jenkins became a massive fan favorite for its three top-sellers \u2014 ribs, chopped pork and smoky chicken \u2014 slow-cooked over red oak in the restaurant\u2019s 6-by-10-foot pit. And they became just as noteworthy for their sides, including potato salad, cole slaw, baked beans, corn on the cob, french fries and onion rings.
\nTom Jenkins\u2019 shack has earned decades of praise in local publications, most recently from the Sun Sentinel, whose readers named it the Best Barbecue in 2011 and made it a finalist in the Best of South Florida Dining series last year.<\/p>\n
However, the restaurant\u2019s fortunes turned sour when the pandemic obliterated its office catering business, which accounted for 35% of sales, Harrell said. Then, just as their catering business rebounded in recent years, the cost of food, labor and liability insurance soared.
\nThe sign on the door says it all. Tom Jenkins’ Bar-B-Q in Fort Lauderdale is closing its doors.
\n\u201cIn-person dining didn\u2019t make up for the loss in catering,\u201d he said. \u201cRestaurants don\u2019t work like gas stations. When oil goes up, gas goes up, and people are used to it. But you can only charge so much for a pork sandwich. If pork prices go up, the menu price stays the same, and we just ate the difference.\u201d<\/p>\n
Harrell insists that the recent rise of nearby barbecue competitors \u2014 Fat Boyz Barbecue a half-mile north, Ukiah Japanese Smokehouse downtown and all-you-can-eat Gen Korean BBQ on Las Olas Boulevard \u2014 did not factor into the decision to retire.
\n\u201cWe were never concerned about competition, not to sound arrogant,\u201d he said. \u201cThat\u2019s our IBM training: Never disparage anybody else. We just want to present the best product we can, and we knew it could stand up to anyone else\u2019s product.\u201d
\nTom Jenkins\u2019 Bar-B-Q, at 1236 S. Federal Highway, Fort Lauderdale, is scheduled to close on Dec. 21. Call 954-522-5046.<\/p>\n
Q: When is Tom Jenkins’ Bar-B-Q closing?
\nA: Tom Jenkins’ Bar-B-Q is scheduled to close on Dec. 21.
\nQ: Why is Tom Jenkins’ Bar-B-Q closing?
\nA: The owners, Harry Harrell and Gary Torrence, are retiring due to the challenges faced by the restaurant, including skyrocketing food prices, catering orders eroded by the COVID-19 pandemic, and higher costs of labor and insurance.
\nQ: What will happen to the building and land?
\nA: The owners plan to sell the building and land.
\nQ: Can I still visit Tom Jenkins’ Bar-B-Q before it closes?
\nA: Yes, Tom Jenkins’ Bar-B-Q is still open until Dec. 21, and you can visit them at 1236 S. Federal Highway, Fort Lauderdale. Call 954-522-5046 for more information.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Introduction to Tom Jenkins’ Bar-B-Q Harry Harrell and Gary Torrence\u2019s mighty Southern pit-stop Tom Jenkins\u2019 Bar-B-Q survived for 36 years on Federal Highway in the shadow of Fort Lauderdale\u2019s ever-rising skyline. But on Dec. 21, the longtime friends and pitmasters will permanently close their barbecue house at 1236 S. Federal Highway, known for heaping portions […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":23136,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rank_math_lock_modified_date":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-23134","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-dining"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/www.sun-sentinel.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/tfl-l-tom-jenkins-bbq-closing-03.jpg?w=1400px&strip=all&w=1400&resize=1400,956&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/miami\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23134"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/miami\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/miami\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/miami\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/miami\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23134"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/miami\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23134\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23137,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/miami\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23134\/revisions\/23137"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/miami\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23136"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/miami\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23134"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/miami\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23134"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/citystuff.com\/miami\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23134"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}