Those craving a sit-down barbecue joint in downtown Vancouver: Your wish has been granted.
Longtime restaurant workers — and former roommates at Washington State University in Pullman — Erick Gill and Bryan Rodgers are teaming up to open their first restaurant serving central Texas barbecue with a Northwest spin.
The restaurant and bar called The Smokin’ Oak will fill the vacant space at 501 Columbia St.
Torque Coffee Roasters occupied the spot between 2012 and 2015. (The coffee shop is no more following a couple of lawsuits filed due to debt.) Ever since Torque moved out, the spot across from the Hilton Vancouver Washington and next door to Loowit Brewing Company has been vacant.
Gill and Rodgers hope to open the restaurant in January or February, but it will take a lot of work to bring the blank slate up to code and transform it into a restaurant. Architectural plans call for a to-go counter near the entrance, restaurant seating on the south side that gets more natural light, a bar on the opposite side, bathrooms at the back and the kitchen in the middle. Gill and Rodgers are aiming for a vibe that’s a mix of contemporary Northwest and Southwest without being too hokey.
Almost everything will be cooked outside overnight; the pit will be 18 feet long or so, built out of a 1,000-gallon propane tank in an enclosed trailer.
Brisket, which takes 15 to 17 hours to cook, will be the main attraction, along with pork ribs, pulled pork and housemade sausage.
“In the barbecue world, there are kind of distinct regions,” Gill said. “There’s Texas style versus North Carolina style or Kansas City style. But, inside of Texas, there’s central Texas style, western Texas style, northern Texas style. It’s all mostly the different type of woods they use and different type of pits they use.”
Gill and Rodgers recently went on a fact-finding mission to Austin, Texas, where they visited 20 barbecue joints in four days. True to its namesake, meat at The Smokin’ Oak will be cooked using white oak sourced from Battle Ground. Traditionally used post oak, which is widespread in Texas, doesn’t grow around here, Gill said.
Although Rodgers is currently running a restaurant in Breckenridge, Colo., enjoying the Rocky Mountain life, he’s originally from Austin, Texas.
His family has “been doing barbecue 60, 70 years. He’s bringing all the recipes and the techniques and all that stuff. I’m more the bar side of the operation,” Gill said.
The pair have kicked around ideas for beef ribs, alderwood-smoked salmon, smoked meatloaf and swineapple (pork stuffed into a carved-out pineapple that’s wrapped in bacon and smoked).
“We want to get into some things other than just traditional barbecue,” Gill said. “The nice thing about being up here in the Pacific Northwest — sure we’re Texas style and central Texas style — but we can dip into some of the others. We can make a mustard sauce or a vinegar sauce or do a pulled pork that’s kind of a Carolina style. It’s not like we’re in Austin, where it’s my way or the highway.”
Gill tends bar at Main Event and Lucky’s Roadhouse, and has worked in the restaurant industry since 2002. The owners of Main Event are helping him through the process of opening his first restaurant; after all, they use to be in his shoes.
“If you talk to most servers and bartenders, ultimately they want to have their own place,” Gill said. “We’re a couple of guys who are in the same spot. We’re in our mid-30s. We’re career hospitality workers. We’re young enough where we can take a shot, and if it doesn’t work out we can go back to what we’re doing.”
He expects to get patrons from Esther Short Park and the Hilton. The waterfront development and developer Ryan Hurley’s plans to redevelop two and a half city blocks close to the restaurant could also bring in people, he said.
“Ultimately, my whole concept is, I’m making a place that I want. It’s the food that I like. It’s the music that I like. It’s the atmosphere that I like. It’s the drinks that I like,” Gill said. “I want to make it kind of something for everybody. You can only go so high-end with barbecue, but we’re trying to push that envelope a little bit.”
West Vancouver’s food scene is growing rapidly this summer. Nonavo Pizza on Sixth Street as well as Uptown Barrel Room, at 2011 Main St., and The Rusty Chain, at 3100 Columbia St., are all westside establishments that recently opened.
Beerded Brothers Brewing plans to open a tasting room at 605 Washington St. this fall. And, a long-vacant spot at 801 C St. next to the Regal City Center Stadium 12 theater may soon be home to a restaurant called Nom Nom.
