Old Carolina Barbecue Company was formed in 1999 as an idea in the heads of high school friends Brian Bailey and Tim Hug. Brian was a software salesman in the newspaper industry, traveling the country sampling his favorite food, barbecue, at every outpost he could find. Tim was a manager for a fast food franchisee, supervising multiple units in Northeast Ohio. During a lunch at a barbecue joint in St. Louis, Brian had an epiphany: Canton did not have an authentic barbecue restaurant and he and Tim, two Timken Sr. High School graduates and former swim team teammates, needed to open one.