Robert Owens is a Georgia native with family roots in South Carolina, too. He attributes his love of fresh vegetables & care for his cuisine to his Grandmother Harriet of Anderson, South Carolina. He has many memories of Summers there picking vegetables from their garden and taking them straight to the kitchen to make meals with her for them and his brothers.
His family moved to the Roswell area where he started his professional career in local restaurants. He spent time with excellent company such as Araxi & Todd Annis, Deux Plex & Hector Santiago, & a number of Concentrics Hospitality Restaurants with Bob Amick & Todd Rushing.
In the early 2000’s he started looking for something a bit different and that he could spend the rest of his time learning, honing the quality & making his own. He re-connected with Dave Roberts who was with Sam’s BBQ1. He started studying BBQ with them and quickly knew this was a life long passion.
In 2011 he opened Grand Champion BBQ and grew to 5 stores by 2015. Grand Champion BBQ received accolades for Best Mac n’ Cheese, Brisket & Ribs from the AJC and Atlanta Magazine named them Best Runner Up BBQ. Not one to rest, Robert started looking to pare down Grand Champion BBQ to re-focus on the highest quality meats, woods, smokers & fresh sides. To get back to the “basics” of BBQ and elevate them even higher.
He opened Owens & Hull in 2023 and operates it out of Grand Champion’s location in Smyrna. It is a blend of Texas & Carolina styles of BBQ to create a Georgia brand. The focus is on curating the highest quality ingredients to smoke and serve with a rotating menu of fresh & creative sides.
Since opening, Owens & Hull have been happy to receive “Hottest new restaurant” from Eater Atlanta & remaining on this list for 5 months, named in the Top 20 Hottest BBQ restaurants in the South from Southern Living. They have also been featured in two articles by Daniel Vaughn from Texas Monthly magazine. The first was a solo feature about Owens & Hull BBQ. The second introduced them as Daniel’s #3 BBQ destination in the United States in 2024.
Robert has over 25 years of experience in the hospitality industry with 15 of them with BBQ. He still resides in the Atlanta metro area and enjoys F1 & racing in the time he’s not tending to the smoker.
2:00 pm - 5:30 pm
