click to enlarge Courtesy Of Smokey's Low N' Slow

Combination platter at Smokey's Low N' Slow

Downtown Burlington will soon add a barbecue restaurant to its roster when Smokey's Pit Stop opens in Orlando's Bar and Lounge at 1 Lawson Lane, Smokey's owner Jonathan Wish said.

The eatery at Orlando's will be an outpost of Smokey's Low N' Slow, the 125-seat barbecue restaurant and bar that opened in South Burlington in May. Smokey's Pit Stop will serve ribs, pulled pork sandwiches, dry-rubbed smoked chicken wings, smoked turkey, salads, cheese-gravy tots and sides. Meat will be smoked on the two smokers in South Burlington and transported to the Burlington restaurant, Wish said.

The barbecue restaurant will lease the kitchen from Orlando's starting December 1, according to Orlando's co-owner Brandon Mossman. Smokey's Pit Stop will start service that week and host a grand opening on December 6, Wish said.

President of Wish & Careau Hospitality Group, Wish told Seven Days that he had been interested in expanding Smokey's to Burlington. Partnering with Orlando's was a viable and desirable way to make that move, he said: "We all get along really, really well and thought this was a great fit."

Downtown Burlington lost a dedicated barbecue restaurant when Big Fatty's BBQ closed its Main Street location in the spring of 2014. Smokey's Pit Stop at Orlando's will succeed Maudite Poutine, whose co-owners previously announced they would end service at the lounge and focus on their food cart and catering.

Orlando's will extend its hours from four days a week to six in late 2019 or early 2020, when it will be open every day but Tuesday, according to Mossman and Wish.