Even though many casual restaurants have added ribs to their menus over the last several years, Sticky Fingers maintains that its ribs are superior due to the focus it has on them.

In only 15 years, Sticky Fingers Ribhouse has become a destination restaurant in Charleston, S.C. The chain's downtown Charleston location has served some of the world's most famous people, including actor Bill Murray, the rock band KISS and President George W. Bush.

The list of celebrities, sports stars and public figures who have raved about Sticky Fingers' ribs is a long one, and co-founder Chad Walldorf says it's the company's attention to quality and service that has made the chain a favorite with people from all walks of life. Sticky Fingers is the brainchild of Walldorf and childhood friends Todd Eischeid and Jeff Goldstein. The three met in seventh grade in Chattanooga, Tenn., and remained friends throughout high school and college.

After college, Goldstein moved to Memphis, Tenn., to work with his father at the Public Eye Restaurant. According to the company, this was where Goldstein developed his love of barbecue. When he moved with his family to Charleston, Goldstein complained to his friends about the lack of authentic Memphis-style barbecue, and the idea for Sticky Fingers was hatched.

Walldorf, Goldstein and Eischeid opened their first restaurant just outside of Charleston in 1992, with little money or experience. The company says the partners made up for their lack of expertise with a drive to give excellent customer service. The chain began to grow with additional restaurants in Summerville, S.C., downtown Charleston and Chattanooga. Today, the company has 17 locations in North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Tennessee and Georgia. This year, the company will celebrate its 15th anniversary by opening four new locations in Chattanooga, Jacksonville, Fla., and Charlotte, N.C.

Main Attractions
Even though many casual restaurants have added ribs to their menus over the last several years, Sticky Fingers maintains that its ribs are superior due to the focus it has on them. The chain's menu features sandwiches, burgers and salads, but the main attraction has always been and will always be its Memphis-style ribs, Walldorf says.

He says Sticky Fingers' ribs are slow-cooked over aged hickory wood, and are prepared in five different ways: Memphis-Style Wet, Memphis-Style Dry, Carolina Sweet, Tennessee Whiskey or Habanero Hot. Sticky Fingers' barbecue sauces are unique to the chain and are also available in more than 3,300 grocery stores in the Southeast and other states such as Illinois, Texas and New York.

Sticky Fingers' ribs are also available through mail order, and more recently through the Home Shopping Network. Walldorf says the mail order business not only serves customers too far away from a Sticky Fingers restaurant, it works as another form of advertising. "It lets people know when they walk into one of our restaurants that if our ribs are good enough to be shipped all over the country, they're our specialty," he says. The atmosphere at Sticky Fingers also plays a big role in drawing in customers. The market for barbecue before Walldorf and his partners opened their first restaurant was made up mostly of mom-and-pop roadside restaurants. Unlike those barbecue restaurants, though, Sticky Fingers emphasizes its dinner menu and wider selections.

"Traditionally, barbecue in the Southeast has tended to be smaller operators that oftentimes were only open Thursdays through Sundays, with rustic surroundings and beer and wine likely not available," Walldorf says.

"A lot of other places tend to focus more on pulled barbecue pork and other sandwiches," he continues. "We wanted to be more of a rib dinner house."

Top-notch service also counts towards the chain's popularity, and Walldorf says the company places a lot of emphasis on training. "We're huge believers in taking care of our people and making this a great place to work," he says. The company's rewards director works as a liaison for managers to provide incentives for employees. The employees, in turn, tend to bend over backwards for customers.

Star Power
Sticky Fingers' brand of barbecue has become a favorite with celebrities passing through Charleston, and Walldorf says that has helped the company gain a lot of attention. President Bush took an order of Sticky Fingers ribs onto Air Force One and sent the restaurant a thank-you letter. "From a PR standpoint, we've been able to make good use of that," Walldorf says.

Another celebrity connection bringing Sticky Fingers a higher profile is the chain's recent acquisition of a portrait of Stephen Colbert of TV's "The Colbert Report." A native of South Carolina, Colbert has flown in Sticky Fingers' pulled barbecue pork to serve to the staff of his satirical news show, Walldorf says.

In return, Sticky Fingers made the winning bid in a charity auction for a portrait of the fake conservative pundit that was at one time featured on the program. The auction brought Sticky Fingers national attention from Fox News, "The Colbert Report" and numerous wire services.  FAD