Leave it to barbecue to beat the economic slump.

Birmingham-based restaurant chain Jim 'N Nick's Bar-B-Q has posted 2002 sales topping $12.8 million, a 20.38 percent increase from 2001. The record sales showed a profit jump of nearly 31 percent from 2001. The chain has five locations in the Magic City.

The increases are well above the state and national levels. According to the National Restaurant Association, the U.S. restaurant industry in 2002 saw sales recover from a dour fall 2001. The association says the nation's restaurants hit $407.8 billion in 2002 sales, an increase of almost 4 percent from 2001. The restaurant industry posted sales growth during the last two years, in spite of fragile consumer confidence and the national economy's first recession in 10 years.

In Alabama, restaurant sales grew at the same pace as the national average, hitting the $4 billion mark.

Jim 'N Nick's was on top. Company president Nick Pihakis says, "While we certainly benefited, in part, from the return to full-service dining by customers who had cut back at the end of 2001, it is our philosophy on quality food and customer service that allowed us to post such great sales."

Pihakis points to loyal customers and an increase in catering services in explaining the sales spike.

The growth might not be over yet. The association's 2003 restaurant industry forecast predicts 2003 sales of $426.1 billion nationally.