Smoke in the Pit, a smoked barbecue restaurant, is coming to a building on 38th and Chicago in South Minneapolis that long ago housed the House of Breakfast.
Smoke in the Pit owner Dwight Alexander says he has already built up a clientele for the food at the restaurant’s former location on East Lake Street.
For a couple of years, it offered his specially prepared smoked meats. “No flame hits the meat. It’s pure smoke,” making it healthier than straight-up barbecue, he explains.
To make way for the family-owned business, Alexander is revamping the place, which had to be completely gutted. Right now, construction is still underway, with everything from sheetrock to kitchen equipment being installed. However, the place is shaping up on schedule, even if the space looks a bit raw right now, he says.
Alexander, who lives nearby, aims to open the restaurant by the end of the month or in early February.
He’s done some street vending outside of the restaurant, to let people know that Smoke in the Pit is on the way.
The restaurateur sees the place as a positive addition to an area of the neighborhood that’s undergoing revitalization in many ways. Smoke in the Pit is across the street from a redevelopment that includes the Blue Ox Coffee Company, Covet Consign and Design, photographer Wing Young Huie’s The Third Place Gallery, and the Fox Egg Gallery.
Plus, it offers a place to eat in area that has been known as a food desert. “I already know this will be a big improvement to the area,” he says.
Alexander expects the restaurant to draw people from outside of the neighborhood, as well, especially those who are already familiar with Smoke in the Pit.
Source: Dwight Alexander, owner, Smoke in the Pit
Writer: Anna Pratt