Butcher, BBQ eatery to open at Kickapoo Corners tomorrow

Two business partners have teamed up to open an artisan butcher shop and Texas-style barbecue eatery in Kickapoo Corners.

City Butcher and Barbecue is scheduled to open 10 a.m. tomorrow at 3650 S. Campbell Ave., said co-owner Jeremy Smith, the former sous chef of Metropolitan Farmer. He’s partnered with Cody Smith, founder of the Le Cochon Charcuterie food stand that sold meats and sausages at Farmers Market of the Ozarks and a former employee of Aviary Cafe. The business partners aren’t related.

Jeremy Smith said the concept, located at the former Migulito’s Wrap and Roll Cafe, would sell pork and beef cuts by the pound ranging from $4 to $24, as well as barbecue dishes in its 40-seat restaurant. The meats are sourced from Arkansas City, Kan., beef processor Creekstone Farms, he said.

“Barbecue is really kind of a passion for both of us,” Smith said, noting Springfield was in need of a restaurant selling simple, Texas-style offerings that he described as “salt, pepper and smoke.”

The business partners, who hired two others for the venture, make three sauces - a sweet house sauce, a spicy house sauce and a mustard-based sauce - that would be available on the table, but not cooked onto the meat. The restaurant’s menu lists sandwiches starting at $6, along with sides such as potato salad, coleslaw, smokehouse beans, macaroni and cheese and pasta salad.

City Butcher and Barbecue owners lease the 1,900-square-foot space from Bill Beall Co. for undisclosed terms. They signed a one-year lease, with two one-year options and a another three-year option, Smith said.

Smith said he and Cody Smith, who both operated Le Cochon Charcuterie, outgrew its limited space at Farmers Market of the Ozarks.

“We could put money in the bank, but we weren’t paying ourselves,” Jeremy Smith said. “We had to expand our concept.”

Smith said Le Cochon Charcuterie will not operate at Farmers Market of the Ozarks for the time being as the crew gets settles in at City Butcher and Barbecue.[[In-content Ad]]