BBQ partners to open food truck, then restaurant in Worcester
Photo | Courtesy of Black Sheep Bah-Bah-Q & Kitchen
Black Sheep Bah-Bah-Q food truck's smoker.
Worcester will soon have more barbecue. Patrick Flynn and Jennifer Wright plan to open their food truck Black Sheep Bah-Bah-Q & Kitchen in the parking lot of 393 Chandler St. in Worcester on Monday and are working to open a full-service restaurant in the old City Bar & Grille space in the building.
Flynn and Wright opened a BBQ food truck on Main Street in Spencer in 2021 and are expanding to a brick-and-mortar restaurant.
The location previously housed City Bar & Grille, which closed in 2019. Todd Greamo, whose family owns the building that also houses Rocky’s Ace Hardware, said the restaurant is turnkey ready.
After City Bar closed, someone planned to open a social club in the space and built out a kitchen, but the COVID pandemic killed the business. Greamo said the social club only opened four or five times before its owner decided to close it permanently. A deal was struck for the barely used equipment to be left behind for the next tenant.
Wright and Flynn are turning the space around and making it their own.
Flynn previously worked in construction while Wright spent 30 years in the restaurant industry, working her way up to be the general manager of Brew City Grill and Brew House Tap on Shrewsbury Street. Flynn said the partners were hours away from striking a deal to lease space at the old Olympia Theater on Main Street in Worcester before the pandemic forced the world to shut down. They had an agreement in place to purchase the venue for $700,000, and according to MassLive, even held some virtual performances to drum up support.
They rethought their plan, bought a 36-foot food trailer, and built a commercial kitchen on it to go with the smoker. They opened the trailer in the summer 2021 and have a second food truck for events.
As for the new space on Chandler Street, Flynn and Wright are waiting for all the paperwork to go through the permitting process and hope they can open inside by Jan. 1 at the latest.
Flynn said they will bring their barbecue menu, which is inspired not by any particular region like North Carolina, Memphis or Text styles, but instead by the flavors they grew up eating in Worcester. It’s why we called it Bah-Bah-Q, Flynn said.
The new restaurant will have an expanded menu focusing on American comfort food, with a focus on making sure it is allergen safe. On top of that, Flynn said they expect to have weekly music performances at the restaurant.
Flynn and Wright have their liquor license hearing on Dec. 1.
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