Lehigh Valley natives and young entrepreneurs Dean and Andrew Zannakis are expanding their barbecue venture.
Their brother-owned restaurant, The Barbecue Boys, will open a new location at 306 S. New St., Unit 109, joining their flagship spot at 4 Union Square in Philipsburg, N.J.
“My brother and I are relatively young, I’m 24 and he’s 22,” Dean told What Now Philadelphia. “We’ve been doing this for five years now and we’ve just always been open to expanding and trying something new and were presented with this opportunity.”
Dean said the new location will offer a slightly different experience than the original outpost.
“Our new idea is more of a modern twist on our same concept,” he said. “We took a lot of the stuff we currently do and really changed the idea behind how it’s formulated in the kitchen on our end.”
Dean explained the original location offers classic barbecue meals with sides but limited customization. The new spot, he said, will let customers tailor their orders while still focusing on the same beloved flavors.
“All our traditional sandwiches we’re most known for–our pulled pork, smoked brisket, sausage and chicken–all those items are going to be very customizable,” Dean said. “We’re doing some other things too like customizable potato chips. We have an array of different dry rubs and seasonings. You get to choose what seasoning and how much of it you’d like.”
He added that all sausages will be made and smoked entirely in-house, and the new Bethlehem location will offer counter and table seating for about 30 guests.
“You go into something new and exciting and you’re happy to do it, but until you open the doors you don’t really know what’s going to come in terms of what people are going to like, what may change,” Dean said. “But, we’re excited to get into another area and really play around with more ingredients and different ways of smoking.”
The Barbecue Boys will be open Tuesday, Wednesday and Sunday until midnight and Thursday through Saturday until 3 a.m. The restaurant will be closed Mondays.
“We’ve always thought it would be cool to do a late night spot,” Dean said. “You don’t really have anything like that with barbecue done here. We just wanted to try it.”
Dean said the shop plans to smoke its way into South Bethlehem on Sept. 16, pending final preparations. For updates on the grand opening, visit The Barbecue Boys’ website and follow them on Instagram and Facebook.
