Major changes underway at the Village at Leesburg. Smokehouse Live, the immense BBQ and music venue, has closed its doors — effective immediately. Instead, the new ChefScape commercial kitchen that was already taking over part of the space, will now take over the entire 16,000 s.f. of Smokehouse. The current plan calls for ChefScape to keep the Smokehouse bar and stage and offer an expanded food hall concept.
In a press release this afternoon, Smokehouse said they intend to stay in business and operate out of a space within the ChefScape center.
We heard from multiple sources that employees were notified Tuesday and musicians scheduled to play on the Smokehouse stage were told the dates were canceled.
The sudden closure is surprising considering the restaurant has been taking Easter reservations and touting their upcoming menu revamp. There are several scheduled charity events that may have to find new venues.
Smokehouse has been in the news recently when it was announced they were going to downsize from its current 16,000 s.f. to a smaller 6,000 s.f. footprint. ChefScape was going to take the other 10,000 s.f. but now they will assume the entire space
Hopefully they will still offer their BBQ in the near future. The rent for that space must have hurt their bottom line.
I hate to say I told you so, but….I called this when they announced the ChefScape occupancy. One thing always prevails in the restaurant business: Good food.
When Smokehouse Live first opened, their food was great. Slowly but surely, the quality of the food eroded and the quality of service went right along with it. The last time I was there, I was served ice cold food by employees who looked like they were just waking up from a nap. The food was terrible- nothing but fat on the meats and the portions were getting smaller and smaller.
I think the turning point was when the original BBQ master left not long after they opened, maybe a year after.
I predicted they wouldn’t last another 18 months…heck, they didn’t last two!
I knew this was in the mix as soon as they stopped offering their cheese grits. We never returned….the grits were that good.
For those that never tried them….you seriously missed an opportunity. If the bbq was a 10. The grits were an 11.
So sad.
This is unfortunate. a little known secret is that the best thing on the menu and perfect companion to any BBQ choice was the amazing cheese grits. I know I know. Most of you ashburnianites are like…ewww and went for the Mac and cheese But you missed it. Truly. (this is what the owner told us as we gasped in disappointment that the glorious side so named cheese grits got pulled from the menu). They were just too southern for people to be adventurous with.
Unfortunately. Once this got pulled. We never returned. That glory that was Smokehouse live died that day with the grits. We now travel to one Loudoun for a blue cheese burger at the B – you must all try this food combination.
Sorry smokehouse.
P.s. smokehouse – we will pay for your cheese grit recipe
That Leesburg shopping center has an identity crisis. What is surprising is how Firebirds is still in business. Went there twice and the food and service was really bad. Go look on their social media pages and it’s nothing but bad reviews. You’ll always find good food and service at the places in Ashburn and Leesburg that have been around for a long time. Just because a restaurant is at modern shopping center doesn’t make it good.
Where am I supposed to go for LIVE MUSIC now????
The BBQ was average at best.
I only visited one time; spent $20 on lunch and it wasn’t good. Instead of driving 3mi to Smokehouse and trying to find parking and spending too much, we go to Carolina Bros, Monk’s or Roots 657 for good BBQ in LoCo. They’re all superior food, service and nowhere near as expensive.
Hell yeah! Monks any day over Smokehouse.
Half a dozen better places for BBQ within 20 miles. Cold food. Middling service. Not a surprise.
Comments are closed.