The Lexington dive bar known for kickstarting restaurants has gone barbecue

Another player has entered the Lexington barbecue arena, bringing smoke and a tasty vegan option to an already heated market.

O’Brother Smokehouse, 500 Euclid Ave., opened inside the Fish Tank dive bar on March 9. The building has a strong reputation of successful food start-ups with girlsgirlsgirls Burritos and Favor beginning as pop-ups or temporary tenants in its kitchen.

“I’m a big fan of girlsgirlsgirls Burritos and what they accomplished in this space in their short time here and hope to replicate some of their success with the smokehouse,” said owner Mike Barnett, who runs the smokehouse with his identical twin brother Chris Barnett and Nick Wright. “When I reached out to (Fishtank owner John Tresaloni) and he told me that he didn’t have a tenant yet for the kitchen, I felt like I’d won the lottery.”

O’Brother Smokehouse menu

The new walk-up food concept menu includes everything from smoked half-pound brisket burgers to loaded mac ‘n cheese, wings and a vegan smoked jackfruit sandwich. Barnett also plans to have occasional specials like burgoo and other dishes showcasing different regions of world BBQ from Kansas City to the Caribbean, Belize and beyond.

“I want to do barbecue, but I don’t want to do normal barbecue,” said Barnett.

Barnett’s unconventional approach to barbecue includes the preparations for his brisket burgers, which uses flat meat that he grinds up before smoking and later grilling into a patty. It’s eventually topped off with bacon jam, lettuce, tomato, onion and house-made barbecue sauce before making its way to the customer.

But arguably O’Brother’s most intriguing dish is its jackfruit sandwich. An item abundant in places like Africa and India but hard to come by in the states, Barnett gets his jackfruit by the can at Yu Yu’s on Waller Ave. and other local Asian supermarkets. He smokes it for 8-12 hours, resulting in a product that both looks and tastes like barbecue.

“It has nodules in it that soak up the smoke like a sponge and give it a pork-like texture,” said Barnett. It’s full of that smoky, barbecue flavor with a slightly sweet and fruity aftertaste.”

Complimenting O’Brother’s entrees are homemade five sides — potato salad, french fries, vinegar slaw, baked beans and white cheddar mac ‘n cheese topped with crumbled Grippos chips.

According to Barnett’s wife Goldie, she had to push him to add sides after he went to work his first events prior to moving into the Fishtank with chips as the only compliment to barbecue on the menu.

“I told him that he couldn’t just have chips,” said Goldie Barnett. “So to prove it to him I made a bunch of mac ‘n cheese that sold out within a few hours at his next event.”

How the BBQ began

Barnett’s infatuation with barbecue began nearly 12 years ago when he experimented with making a rack of ribs in his oven at home. He later got his first gig working a pop-up out of the kitchen of the original Cosmic Charlie’s, located directly across the street from the Fishtank and both owned by John Tresaloni, in 2015.

“I’ve been friends with Mike long before he got into barbecue,” said Tresaloni. “He was a longtime supporter of Cosmic Charlie’s who I’d regularly see when we had shows there. It was a no-brainer to bring him and his barbecue into the Fishtank kitchen.”

From there he began traveling to and serving food at area music festivals like Supermoon Festival in Whitesburg before officially branding as O’Brother Smokehouse early last year prior to the pandemic. At the time Barnett was operating from under a pop-up tent in front of Southland Bagel.

“Even though we were just starting out we felt like we were at an advantage as an outdoor vendor because we didn’t have to pivot as much as many brick and mortar restaurants did,” said Barnett. “With the opportunity to relocate here and pandemic restrictions loosening I feel optimistic for the future and look forward to welcoming the community back and getting to know them over barbecue.”

O’Brother Smokehouse

Where: 500 Euclid Ave.

Hours: Tuesday 4-10 p.m., Wednesday-Thursday 4-11 p.m., Friday-Saturday 4 p.m.-12 a.m., closed Sunday-Monday

Online: Facebook.com/OBrotherSmokehouse

This story was originally published June 16, 2021 at 6:00 AM.