Red Smoke Barbecue Restaurant Coming To Royal Oak?

ROYAL OAK, MI — Royal Oak’s dining scene continues to grow. Red Smoke Barbecue restaurant is in the pipeline with a possible 2019 opening after city commissioners approved its plan of operation earlier this week. If plans are finalized, the restaurant would be located at 218 S. Main Street.

It would be the second Red Smoke Barbecue location, with the original in Detroit’s Greektown. Restaurant co-owner Tasso Teftsis said the menu will offer the same selections, which includes slow-cooked barbeque, macaroni and cheese, and pork belly baked beans. Teftsis owns the Astoria Bakery on Main Street in Royal Oak, according to the Royal Oak Daily Tribune.

The restaurant will be part of a $3.8 million mixed use development, the newspaper reported. The restaurant will occupy about 4,000 square feet of the two story building. It will be built on the site of the former Citizens Bank building, which had sat vacant for about a decade prior to being demolished last year, the Daily Tribune reported.

“We expect to break ground in the fall of 2018 and construction will take about 10 months,” Teftsis told commissioners, the newspaper reported. The building will also include office space, something city officials wanted more of in the downtown area. Additional floors could be added in the future, the Daily Tribune reported.

Sales at Red Smoke Barbeque are expected to be 80 percent food and 20 percent alcohol. Hours of operations would be 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 11 a.m. to midnight Friday and Saturday. Teftsis said the restaurant will close well before 2 a.m. to stay away from being part of the bar scene, the Daily Tribune reported.

The restaurant will have interior seating for 130 patrons with plans for a sidewalk cafe area for 16 customers.

As for the offerings at Red Smoke Barbeque? The appear to be a hit with Yelp reviewers. On April 17, LaMar W. gave the Detroit Greektown location five stars out of five: “Out came a Carnivore's Platter of the Gods and - wow was it impressive,” he wrote on Yelp. “Juicy chicken, tender brisket, big 'ol thick ribs and what's with those... cornbread? Mmm... caramelized on the edges, like only a iron muffin pan can do, with little jalapeno greeness lurking under the surface - just like mom made them. OMG.”

“The food was very good and had just the right amount of spice in the BBQ brisket,” added Jeremy N of Southfield. “Mac and cheese is always good at a BBQ place but it was especially good here.”

Overall, Yelp gives Red Smoke Barbeque 3.5 stars out of five. Not everyone on the review site gave the restaurant glowing marks, however.

“Today I got pulled chicken which really wasn't tender or anything , I cook better chicken,” wrote Alex V. of Clinton Township, who gave Red Smoke just one star. “I'm not a snob either. The candy sweet potatoes are very good.”

Photo by Phil Brown via Flickr Commons