When third cousins Tom Clanton and G.R. “Bingo” Mills opened up their first restaurant in 1946, they couldn’t have known their legacy would last over 70 years.
Tom and his wife Bettye opened the current location of Tom & Bingo’s Bar-B-Q on 34th Street in Lubbock in 1952. From 1980 to 2017, Clanton’s son Dwayne and wife Liz were at the helm of the family business. The next branch of the family tree, son-in-law Ian Timmons, became the current owner of the business in 2017.
Ian worked under Dwayne while he studied at Texas Tech University to gain first-hand experience as a Pitmaster. He honors his family’s legacy by smoking his barbecue on the same brick pits used for decades before his time.
Tom & Bingo’s Bar-B-Q was designated at Texas Treasure Business in 2022.