Walls that continue upwards almost with no end, adorning a variety of different original paintings, classic pieces and bright neon signs that remind you, you are in a bar. Deep red hues flooding over curtains, ceilings, and vinyl booth seating that runs along the walls each side. Getting the sense that this room has stories, memories, has seen its fair share. The air is still, that smell is so distractingly delicious that everything else seems to fall flat in comparison. Taking a peek around the register, there’s billowing steam, deep red -on theme- BBQ sauce inlaid into the counter, for handy access of course and a single man moving so quick, expressing with joy,
“Oh yeah! I can throw a little chicken in there!” Smoke Berkeley BBQ is a
This is a place where the goal is for
Berkeley neighborhood staple.
you to feel apart of the bigger
Smoke Berkeley BBQ is a Berkeley neighborhood staple. Crafting, Perfecting, and loving traditional Texas BBQ. Smoke Berkeley has been in the same building since 2011, a smallscale but significant place, that now unfortunately rest under a large, dark, banner. The building is being prepared for demolition. Smoke Berkeley needed to go, so they moved. Working out of the back of a bar’s kitchen was not their first plan, but when Spat’s bar in downtown Berkeley reached out, it seemed like a perfect match. Eager to reach this new location, hoping that it will be as good as I remember. Parking on a different street, walking around a different corner, that smell hasn’t changed! Even better than the memory. Instantly noticeable from down the block. Thanks to a massive banner hanging under Spats sign, reading Smoke Berkeley BBQ, with a lighter tone than the other. The space feels grand, almost ball room like.
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the food to resonate with you, for picture as to why they’ve perfected their craft. Then I hear a call, my name echoing through the massive hollow space. Hurrying over to the counter, cannot wait, the excitement for this food is overwhelming. Here it is, in a sturdy, grocery brown paper bag, the iconic dollops of grease creasing the corners of the bottom, already spreading onto your hands. Opening up the clear take out container lined with grease, filling with steam, I can’t wait to dig in!
