Smoke Point BBQ’s chef Jarad Gallagher has started opening his restaurant two hours earlier for brunch on weekends. A bold move, since on those days – his busiest days of the week – he expects at least 350 customers anyway.
“It doesn’t cost us any more,” he said. “And what I’m interested in is if Smoke Point comes up when you Google ‘brunch’ in this area. Does that get us more exposure? And it’s an opportunity to do something different. We’ll use our products and people can decide if it’s worth it to them.”
Gallagher said he doesn’t care if he serves two brunches or 100 because his staff is already in the building preparing for the day.
“Vertigo is excellent at what they do,” he said. “Quick service for burritos and things like that. And G&G Cafe has an American breakfast, which is what you’d expect at a place like that. I thought, ‘Let’s see if there’s a desire for brunch here.'”
The menu includes dishes not found on the regular lunch and dinner menu. Gallagher has combined his pulled pork, beef ribs, tri-tip and more with classic Benedicts, green chili and a few surprises to create seven dishes that are just as delicious and innovative as the rest of his offerings.
“A lot of locals come to our brunch,” he said. “Those are the people we see, and I think they’re happy with it. It’s always nice when there’s a change in the menu anyway, and in this city that doesn’t happen very often.”
I first met Gallagher in 2020, a few days before his November 11 opening. He was standing behind a giant grill he had set up outside The Smoke Point BBQ, handing out grilled bacon-wrapped hot dogs to people strolling through town waiting for the Halloween events to start.
He looked like everyone’s favorite neighbor at a street fair – the one guy who knew exactly who wanted a hot dog and who wanted a hamburger, and how bloody the burger fans wanted it. His casual style gave no indication that this Michelin-starred chef would turn San Juan Bautista into a mecca for barbecue lovers.
Opening his restaurant at the height of the COVID pandemic, Gallagher has used his extensive industry knowledge to continually reinvent his business in the face of significant changes in the way people dine while maintaining the high standards of his food. And he has been fearless about launching trial balloons, like the now-closed Outpost in Hollister.
“The store didn’t make much money,” Gallagher said, “but it didn’t lose any money either.”
The upside is that he is considering opening a new restaurant in Hollister as early as 2025.
“It’s been a good learning experience,” he said. “It’s given us a lot of metrics around indoor dining and takeout in Hollister and demand. Before we spend any real money to open a full-service restaurant, we want to make sure we do it right.”
Gallagher has spent his life working at high-end restaurants such as Chez TJ in Mountain View, La Folie in San Francisco (now closed) and Skates on the Bay in Berkeley, and currently leads the kitchen team at Iberian-inspired restaurant Broma in Mountain View. He said that in some ways, running a small restaurant is more difficult than running an upscale one.
“People have an idea of what’s worth in a small business,” Gallagher said, “but not in a fine-dining restaurant, where we can elevate the experience by using really luxurious ingredients. Small restaurants are limited by the amount of labor, the talent within that pool and the price, and it’s hard to build on that.”
According to Gallagher, this difference forces small restaurant owners to be more price-conscious, making it much more difficult to survive in a small community like San Juan or Hollister.
“It’s not just about getting you to buy a hamburger,” he said. “It’s about getting you to buy a hamburger with a side, an appetizer, a second or third beer or a bottle of wine. That’s how you build up the guest’s bill, and given the current economic climate, that’s really, really difficult.”
Gallagher said that people who talk in restaurants about whether or not they like the food are asking the wrong questions.
“Take Jardines de San Juan,” Gallagher said. “The setting is incredible. The margaritas are great and the staff is great at what they do. You may not leave there thinking it was the best experience you’ve ever had, but you always get very good food in a beautiful setting.”
Although he already has a location in mind, Gallagher only revealed that the new restaurant will not be a barbecue restaurant and that he does not plan to supply Doordash and Uber Eats.
“I don’t have much interest in the takeout business,” Gallagher said. “It’s just not where I want to spend my time. I’m a restaurant guy because I like being around people. Is there something inspiring about a DoorDash delivery driver just shoving his way through your door?”
Brunch at The Smoke Point BBQ
Fried Chicken and Waffles – My sample consisted of fried chicken strips and waffles drizzled with hot honey and sprinkled with scallions. (The entire dish contains eggs.) The chicken was juicy and had a great texture that was complemented by the crispy, light breading. The hot honey that had soaked into the waffles gave the whole dish a nice warm kick. Everything about the dish was delicious and cooked to perfection. The obvious local comparison is to the Hapa Bros, but Gallagher goes in a different direction with his expertly prepared chicken, with a different kind of sweetness and his very own harmonious blend of spices. I could eat this dish twice a day and I think it’s a must-try.
French toast with banana and vanilla pod – Banana slices on French toast, sprinkled with toasted coconut, served with hickory smoked bacon and maple syrup. The magic of this dish is the airy tenderness of the bread, which had me staring at the slices while trying to figure out where that marshmallow feeling in my mouth was coming from. I loved what the bananas and toasted coconut gave the dish, a little tropical morning flavor, and the bacon gave it a lot of people’s favorite flavor. I can’t imagine a kid not requesting this every time they come to brunch – it’s just a great dish.
Smoked Beef Rib Benedict – Sliced beef rib on an English muffin, topped with a poached egg and hollandaise sauce, served with breakfast potatoes. I usually eat the ribs with barbecue sauce – here I choose South Carolina, so the hollandaise sauce, with its light, smooth lemon flavor, was a nice change. I love the contrast between the denser texture of the meat and the egg and sauce; the combination is very filling even without the seasoned potatoes, mixed with even more crunchy red peppers. I sneaked in some North Carolina sauce for extra sweetness, but the dish was great.
Hawaiian Sunrise – Smoked pulled port on half Hawaiian rolls, topped with spicy mayo, pickles, fried onions, teriyaki sauce and scallions, covered with a fried egg and a side of breakfast potatoes. Gallagher’s pulled pork, in any form, is already my favorite dish on the menu. Over the past four years, I’ve probably ordered the pulled pork sandwich, served with coleslaw and tart pineapple salsa, about 75% of the time, eating it as two sandwiches and dousing each with the Central Texas and Kansas City sauces. Yummy. So it was no surprise when this became my favorite brunch dish. The presentation is tempting, with the crispy onions on the fried egg, and the whole thing is drizzled with sweet and sour teriyaki sauce. Beneath the egg is a mound of juicy, melt-in-your-mouth pulled pork with mayo that provides a warming depth in the throat. You will enjoy the complex flavors in every bite.
The brunch menu also includes a Chile Verde Tri-Tip Breakfast Bowl with fried egg and hollandaise sauce, a Smoked Beef Brisket Breakfast Sandwich with fried egg and smashed avocado, and a Dungeness Crab Eggs Benedict. The kids’ menu features bacon, waffles, and French toast.
The Smoke Point BBQ and provisions
206 4th St, San Juan Bautista
(831) 593-5009
https://www.instagram.com/thesmokepointbbq
https://www.facebook.com/thesmokepoint
Hours:
Saturday brunch 10am – 12pm
Saturday afternoon 12 – 21 o’clock
Sunday brunch 10am – 12pm
Sunday lunch 12pm – 8pm
Closed Monday and Tuesday
Wednesday 12 – 20 o’clock
Thursday 12 – 20 o’clock
Friday 12 – 21 o’clock
