Sonny’s Real Pit Bar-B-Q is the largest barbeque chain in America with more than 150 restaurants operating in nine Southeastern states: Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee. Floyd ‘Sonny’ Tillman and his wife, Lucille, founded the company in Gainesville, Fla., in 1968. Their goal was to create a casual restaurant that offered the very best authentic southern barbeque, including slow-smoked barbeque ribs, sliced barbeque pork and beef, and barbeque chicken. Soon, Gainesville’s best-kept secret wasn’t a secret anymore and Sonny and Lucille’s restaurant succeeded beyond their wildest dreams. In 1977, the Tillmans began franchising. The Statesboro, Ga., is just one of their many locations.