photograph by michael donahue
Restaurant owner Adam Itayem with his son, Basem.
Adam Itayem can smoke some mean barbecue. And he can repair your iMac.
Before buying Tom’s Bar-B-Q & Deli in 1995, Itayem set up state-of-the-art dialysis clinics all over the South. “I repair anything electronic,” says Itayem, 59. “Anything you can imagine — electric typewriters, IBM computers, Macintosh computers.”
Now Itayem can be found every day at the iconic Tom’s Bar-B-Q restaurant in Whitehaven, which will celebrate its 54th anniversary in June.
Tom’s famous rib tips, along with other barbecued items and sides, are served on folding plastic tables inside. Or they go out the door with customers.
photograph by basem itayem
The author dives in.
Glass cases are filled with deli items, including smoked turkey, smoked ham, pork and beef bologna, and smoked sausage. Also behind glass are Tom’s house-made desserts, including the popular strawberry shortcake and banana pudding.
Walls are covered with photos, which feature regulars and travelers who stop for a bite to eat. Itayem refers to the photos as the “Wall of Fame.”
Born in Jerusalem but raised in Cleveland, Ohio, Itayem moved to Memphis in 1992. In addition to working in electronics, he opened his first business, Pop’s Deli, where he also sold barbecue, in Whitehaven.
He was intrigued when he heard the late Tom Stergios wanted to sell Tom’s Bar-B-Q in 1995. “Tom took it over from some ladies who were twins. And that was about 50 years ago.” The women originally sold cold cuts and ham sandwiches, but no barbecue.
Originally built as a grocery store and gas station, Tom’s looked less than promising when Itayem first saw it. “When I first looked at it, I thought it was a dump,” he says.
The place was smoky, with peeling pink siding and a gravel parking lot. “No heat. No air conditioning. It was very rustic. It looked like an old shack.”
Stergios had only one barbecue pit. “Tom would be sitting in the corner with this cigar. He had three older ladies that ran the barbecue pit. He would start it and they would finish it.”
Itayem tried Stergios’ barbecue and liked it, for the most part. “Just leg quarters and all pork,” he says. “He was famous for his rib tips. It was awesome—moist and juicy. But I could tell he was using name-brand barbecue sauce.”
Even so, he noticed “a line out the door” at lunchtime. Stergios was hesitant about selling. “He wanted to sell, but then he didn’t want to sell. It was his pride and joy. It was his legacy,” says Itayem. “But he was getting older, and his family didn’t want to take over.”
The women who ran the pits showed Itayem how they barbecued the meat using indirect heat. “Patience,” he says. “Everything was by feel and touch.”
photograph by michael donahue
The restaurant originally opened as a combination gas station and grocery store.
Stergios taught Itayem how to make his Greek barbecue rub. But Itayem took out the MSG and created the same taste using 10 spices, including Italian oregano and a pinch of nutmeg, saying, “It went from a Greek rub to a Mediterranean rub.” Itayem also created his own barbecue sauce using the rub as part of the ingredients.
Over the years, he made changes to the restaurant’s exterior and interior. He put in two more pits and a concrete floor. He added six tables inside the restaurant, whose only seating was once a lone outdoor picnic table. And he continued expanding the building, growing it from 800 square feet to at least 3,000 square feet today.
Thirteen years ago, a visit from Guy Fieri changed things. Fieri featured Tom’s on his TV show, Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives. After that, “people were coming to see Elvis, coming to see us, coming to see Beale Street,” says Itayem.
Fieri, who did three more shows on Tom’s, also included the restaurant in one of his books, An All-American Road Trip. In February, Tom’s Bar-B-Q placed third in Fieri’s food competition, part of the South Beach Food and Wine Festival.
The star loved Tom’s rib tips, Itayem says. “Ours are unusual. My rib tips are from the loin. Usually, the cut comes off the spare rib. [These are] the trims of the loin. So, it’s a little softer meat.” Itayem also added boneless chicken thighs and a “big line of beef,” including short ribs and brisket.
Itayem opened a second Tom’s Bar-B-Q & Deli location in Horn Lake, Mississippi, but that one lasted only four years, shuttered because of the Covid pandemic.
Itayem’s employees have come and gone over the years, but Larry Daniels has worked at Tom’s since he was 16. “He has been here over 16 years with me.” Family members have also come aboard. Itayem’s son, Basem, who has a business degree from Boston College, worked for FedEx for several years before joining his dad at Tom’s Bar-B-Q.
Basem is currently working on a new website with shipping capabilities to reach Tom’s Bar-B-Q customers nationwide.
His son “sees the potential,” Itayem says. “And he can elevate it to the next level. We want people to know Tom’s all over the United States.”
Tom’s Bar-B-Q & Deli is located at 4087 New Getwell Road.
