A year into operation, City Butcher and Barbecue has doubled its space at Kickapoo Corners.
The artisan butcher shop and Texas-style barbecue eatery, 3650 S. Campbell Ave., expanded to 3,900 square feet with around 90 seats, said co-owner Jeremy Smith.
“We outgrew our space. We figured that out probably two months into us being here,” he said, noting the expansion became open to customers on Thursday.
Smith said he and business partner Cody Smith - who isn’t related - began shopping larger spaces because they were boxed in by a beauty supply store and chiropractor. When Dr. Michael Miller decided to move his Alternative Health and Medical Group out of Kickapoo Corners, the City Butcher owners jumped at the chance.
Originally signed to a one-year lease, Jeremy Smith said City Butcher penned a deal in September with Bill Beall Co. for five additional years, plus the option for more.
Declining to disclose lease terms or investment dollars in the expansion, Smith said the company bought a new smoker that’s about twice the size of its original, tripling the restaurant’s capacity.
Now, City Butcher can smoke about 1,800 pounds of meat a day, compared to around 600 pounds a day before the expansion.
At an average 550 pounds a day, the company sold over 171,000 pounds of meat in its first year of operation ended Nov. 14.
“We have a different philosophy on how we think barbecue should be,” Smith said. “Fresh barbecue is the only way things should be done.
“People have really caught on to that idea.”
At City Butcher, the 14 employees start at 11 a.m. and sell to customers until they’re sold out. Sometimes, that could be mean as early as 1:30 p.m., though the butcher shop always stays open until 6 p.m., Smith said.
With the expansion, he expects to keep the restaurant side open during the full seven hours.
“I can’t imagine that we’ll need to cook 1,800 pounds just for the people walking in the front door,” Smith said.
Starting Nov. 29, City Butcher will expand its hours to include Sundays, and the crew also wants to do catering, which wasn’t possible before.
With meats sourced from Arkansas City, Kan., beef processor Creekstone Farms, the restaurant sells pork and beef cuts by the pound, as well as standard barbecue sides. Six months in, the company
placed No. 25 in Branson-born author Johnny Fugitt’s book, “The 100 Best Barbecue Restaurants in America.”
