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Fatty Smokes is located at 328 E. Broad St. and is the 11th restaurant from EAT Restaurant Partners.
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Executive Chef Mike Lindsey of EAT Restaurant Partners chops pork.
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A custom cutting board and chopping station made for Executive Chef Mike Lindsey of EAT Restaurant Partners
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Executive Chef Mike Lindsey has been with EAT Restaurant Partners for six years.
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An appetizer of fried green tomatoes with pimento cheese, slab bacon, pickled onions, house-made hot sauce and spicy honey.
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These fried ribs and waffles feature two deep-fried pork ribs, sweet barbecue butter, spicy honey and a drizzle of caramel maple syrup.
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Each table in Fatty Smokes is topped with three bottles of house-made barbecue sauces.
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Chris Staples, director of hospitality and marketing for EAT Restaurant Partners, stands in front of the installation completed by local artist Noah Scalin.
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Seating inside Fatty Smokes
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High-top tables and window seats face Broad Street.
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The dining room area inside Fatty Smokes
“If there was something in the world I would choose to do, it’s barbecue,” says Executive Chef Mike Lindsey of EAT Restaurant Partners as he stands inside Fatty Smokes, the newest addition to the group’s growing portfolio of eateries. Fatty Smokes opens for dinner Tuesday, April 23, at 328 E. Broad St.
In preparation for this new role, Lindsey, also the restaurant's pitmaster, traveled to Memphis, Austin, Kansas City and his native North Carolina for a journey in barbecue, immersing himself in the flavors and traditions of the nation's meat Meccas. He hopes to present Richmond with the fruits of that adventure at Fatty Smokes.
What kind of experience can diners expect? “It's like taking a road trip, but you get to do it at the restaurant,” Lindsey says.
Although smoked meats, including pulled and chopped pork, chicken, brisket, ribs, and sausage, are at the forefront of Fatty Smokes' offerings, Lindsey and team want to elevate the smoky experience and showcase some atypical barbecue offerings.
“I think barbecue is in such a box, but I want to put barbecue in a position of how we think of pizza — pizza in its true form is a vehicle for anything,” says Lindsey, who describes the menu as a balance of true and authentic dishes while being chef-y and creative.
On the creative side, enter “Virginia Lasagna,” a heaping, layered mound of pimento mac and cheese, Brunswick stew, and collards — fried collards, to be exact.
Fatty Smokes also boasts a ramen dish featuring carrots, collards, pickled onions, deviled eggs and a choice of protein swimming in a smoked pork broth, a dish that would be right at home at sister restaurant Foo Dog.
Chris Staples, director of hospitality for EAT Restaurant Partners, says the group's diverse collection of restaurants such as Foo Dog, Hot Chick, Pizza & Beer of Richmond, and Wong Gonzalez allow them to draw inspiration from other culinary styles.
“We have such a diverse group conceptually, it’s easy to draw upon what we know,” he says, noting that the Sticky Asian sauce invented for Pizza & Beer of Richmond finds its “best iteration with the ribs” at Fatty Smokes.
Other menu items include “Big Mike’s Egg Rolls,” brisket tacos, fried ribs and waffles, cheddar-cornbread popovers, the usual slew of sides, and a “Shorty” and “Notorious Feast" — platter portions meant to be shared among a squad of diners that include a stack of smoked meats and fixin’s.
Lindsey embraces the old-school tradition of leaving the barbecue “naked,” or sauce-less, until it hits the plate. Each table in the dining room is adorned with three sauce bottles — the sweet molasses-based Kansas City, the tangy and vinegar-based North Carolina, and a fusion of the two dubbed Virginia — for guests to add at their discretion. Other sauces include a mustard-based Carolina, the aforementioned Sticky Asian and a White Alabama.
Fatty Smokes features an expansive kitchen, visible from the dining area, that is home to a Southern Pride 500 smoker fed with hickory logs — which can be spotted near the line — and a modern aesthetic amid wood accents and a wall-sized art installation from Richmonder Noah Scalin created with tennis shoes that forms the image of a pig.
The bar offers a hefty dose of beers — 24 taps — comprised of local brews from Ardent Craft Ales, Steam Bell Beer Works, Stone Brewing, Bingo Beer Co. and Three Notch’d, along with selections from Virginia and across the country.
Bourbon is a focus on the spirits side of the menu, with 50 different varieties offered. There will also be bourbon flights, craft cocktails, bottled sodas and Cheerwine on tap.
"We have a huge bar, we do full-service, and we want to push that elevation," says Lindsey.
Fatty Smokes will have limited hours upon opening. By mid-May, Fatty Smokes will introduce regular business hours of Sunday through Thursday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. and Friday and Saturday from 11 a.m. to midnight.
