Elk Grove residents who love BBQ are in a treat as Sacramento’s LowBrau’s founder, Michael Hargis, moves forward with LowBrau’s Slow & Low Smokehouse at 9615 Railroad Street. The restaurant is anticipated to open in March 2024.
Slow & Low is a communal-style BBQ house situated in a newly remodeled 6,500-square-foot brick building and a 2,400 square-foot outdoor dining patio. The restaurant will feature pork, beef, and chicken options with classic sides such as mac and cheese and baked beans. The menu will also carry vegan and vegetarian options. Meanwhile, the bar program will highlight regional beers and cocktails.
Positioned as a communal-style smokehouse, Slow & Low is counter-service so people can come and go and dine at ease. The restaurant features a custom-made smoker that primarily burns white oak and almond.
Quality smoked meat is not a new element used by Hargis and his business partner, Brock Macdonald. The duo previously operated Block Butcher Bar, focusing on various meat and meat products. The element was then inherited by Beast & Bounty. Before moving forward with the Slow & Low concept, the duo spent a week in Memphis and Nashville to learn from other top barbecue cities.
Slow & Low is Hargis’s first concept in the suburbs. The restaurant was originally planned to open last year but faced some struggles. In June 2023, Hargis acquired a $500,000 commercial loan with assistance from the City of Elk Grove to cover the project’s expenses. The restaurant is still anticipated to open in the spring of 2024.
In the meantime, Hargis is also working on a vegan concept called Love Child at the former Ice Blocks space.
