Epic Smokehouse, a new upscale barbecue restaurant concept at 1330 S. Fern Street in Pentagon City, opened its doors to the public on Monday.
The restaurant serves “quality smoked meats and seafood paired with innovative cocktails and high-caliber wine at affordable prices,” according to a press release. Lunch items range from$10 to $15, while dinner entrees range from $15 to $25. Soups, sides and salads are priced between $2 to $7. Wines by the glass — available whenever the restaurant finally gets its liquor license — range from $6 to $10.
Lunch items include the EPIC burger (pictured — blend of ground pork and beef, bacon, smoked gruyere cheese, homemade apple wine BBQ sauce, fries); beer belly chicken (beer and herb roasted chicken); and a cho’gall sandwich (slicked brisket, pulled pork, lettuce, grilled onions and chipotle mayo).
Dinner items include apple wine smoked ribs (with fries and Carolina slaw); smoked brisket (with pancetta mac and cheese); black Angus ribeye (porcini rubbed ribeye and bacon sprouts with a red wine sauce); duroc pork loin (kona rubbed duroc pork loin with creamy polenta and Patron Cafe XO sauce); and garlic ginger teriyaki shrimp (marinated shrimp, vegetables and coconut jasmine rice).
Dessert choices include bourbon bread pudding with smoked ice cream, pecan pie, and candied bacon cupcake (pictured below).
The space seats 84 inside and 16 at an outdoor patio.
Co-owners Joon Yang and Wayne Halleran, long-time friends who were most recently working at The Palm restaurant in Tysons Corner, say they want Epic Smokehouse to be a “neighborhood gathering spot.” At the same time, though, they want the restaurant to be a more modern, urban and upscale version of the traditional red-and-white-checkered table cloth barbecue joint.
While some might see Epic Smokehouse’s somewhat inconspicuous location across from Costco as a hindrance to attracting customers — the only other restaurant on the block is a Dunkin’ Donuts — Yang says he sees it as an opportunity.
“We’re kind of lucky I guess,” he said of the location. “When we saw this, we saw the need for it. With the amount of residents that live right here, they need something that’s close to them. When we saw the opportunity to open something here, we jumped at it.”
