Honey Pit Smokehouse unlocked its doors and switched on the glowing Edison-style lights on December 23 without so much as a whisper on Facebook or a banner on their web page.
Guests showed up when they opened for business at 11 a.m., and the newest BBQ joint in town has been bustling ever since. Longtime Imo’s restaurateur Shane Milhaljevic made the pivot from pizza to pulled pork with his son, Shane, and Zack Fagas, both partners in Honey Pit. The elder Shane continues to operate three Imo’s Pizza stores and seems to revel in the barbecue, burgers, and shakes world of Honey Pit Smokehouse.
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“We’re doing things a little differently here,” Fagas says.
Here’s what’s new with their Q.
Not-Your-Typical Smoker: The ownership trio chose Myron Mixon’s H2O Water Smoker for Honey Pit after they attended his barbecue school. Mixon, known as the “winningest man in competition barbecue,” designed the smoker and added a patented Waterpan beneath the firebox. “The steam from the water circulates around the meats, keeping them moist and tender,” pizza-man Shane says.
Pitmaster Jeff Fenderman, whose tender brisket and very moist turkey breast slices graced our plates the day we checked out the restaurant, seems to have harnessed the power of this particular smoker beast.
Barbecue Purists Delights: Ribs, brisket, turkey, sausage, pulled pork, chicken—Honey Pit barbecue menu isn’t missing a darn thing. Rubs, glazes, all-stops-out smoked meats rule at Honey Pit. You can order them sliced and served or packaged in bulk to take home. They stack meat high on buns. You add the sauce, from the Tangy Vinegar to sweetest Wild Berry Barbecue – Honey Pit blends six house sauces for platters and sandwiches.
Meats and More for Conscious Eaters: “Shane and I are both gym goers,” Fagas says. “We watch what we eat, and we thought it would be a good addition to have a separate menu, which is our Macro Menu that focuses on healthy choices. We take quite a few extra steps to deliver good food.”
Clean-eating advocates and the calorie conscious can choose from that separate menu, designed by Emily Frisella of Fit Health and Home. Nutritional analysis for each item is listed on the menu, as is portion size.
The poultry and salmon preparations Frisella developed don’t use rubs, oils, or marinades with sugars and sodium for their flavors. Smoking skinless turkey breasts, chicken breasts, and salmon over a mix of pecan, hickory, and oak woods adds a smoky flavor to these healthy-as-possible proteins.
Emily’s Fit Sauce, a sugar-free, no sodium barbecue sauce mixed with proprietary spice blends, is available in regular or spicy versions. It’s not on the tables, but you can request it when you order.
Healthy—and tasty—sides include a cup and a half serving of Macro Slaw with finely shredded carrots, plus red and green cabbage tossed with a red wine vinegar base combined with Stevia with no sugars, carbs or sodium. That’s a lot of goodness for 20 calories. It was a favorite for me, as were the oven-roasted small red potatoes. “The seasoning blend contains no sugar, no MSG, and no carbs. Fresh citrus is used to blend the flavors. No oil is used on these oven-roasted potatoes either. It’s a super clean dish,” Frisella says.
Three vegetables are on the menu each day. Expect either broccoli, green beans, or a zucchini and yellow squash medley, each finished with a touch of sea salt.
Side Show for Platters, Sandwiches, and Meats: In addition to the more common seasoned fries, sweet mayo coleslaw, and zesty potato salad, you’ll discover a panoply of unusual sides like the Provel mac ‘n cheese, creamy Krazy Korn studded with pepper pieces, and an unusual Hungarian salad with cucumbers, red onion, and colorful pepper slices. We liked the looks of honey-baked cornbread, and we slavered over peach-smoked pit beans, too, but we’ll need to try them on future trips.
Burgers, Special Sandwiches, and Daily Specials Amp up the Q: “I’m a burger guy,” dad Shane says. “We blend our own mix of beef and brisket for the burgers, which we cook to order on the flat top. The double cheeseburger with grilled onions is my favorite of the burgers.”
Look for Special Sandwiches made from barbecue meats with adds sure to please, like the brisket cheese steak with garlic butter, Provel, grilled onions and peppers, all served on a hoagie bun. There’s four different kinds of special sandwiches.
Chef Justin Brundies posts specials on a board each day that add to the menu’s complexity and to its appeal, so be sure to check them out on arrival. Brundies is responsible for the house-baked desserts, too, like the smoked chocolate chip cookies and the plethora of specialty shakes.
Conscious Raising Choices: Shane, the younger gym rat, named his favorite menu items. “The glazed ribs and Provel mac ‘n cheese would be it for me,” he says, “but we also offer healthy choices, which is important to all three of us.”
Insider’s Tip: Look up the menu before you go. It’s extensive, and it’s hard to choose from the good things listed.
The Takeaway: Right now the business is more heavily weighted to the dine-in side, but the place did a brisk turn in take-out orders the day we visited. One customer stopped on his way home from a Christmas trip the day we visited. “Do you know how long I’ve been watching this, waiting for you guys to open?” he said. “I’m taking home dinner, brisket and turkey, and some sides, plus Provel mac ‘n cheese for the little guy. Let’s pack it up.”
