An opening day snowstorm may have kept a mad dash from storming Arrowhead Smoke Works in Manhattan, but it didn’t stop a steady flow of people filing into the restaurant. Despite the February 12 storm, the new restaurant in Manhattan sold out of food nearly two hours before scheduled closing time — a sure sign of success in the BBQ world.
The restaurant offers a variety of dishes, from street tacos to sandwiches, all smoked over a live fire behind the restaurant. Side dishes, such as potato salad, coleslaw, and mac-n-cheese, complement the proteins.
“We use 100 percent oak from Holy Smoke Firewood in Manhattan,” owner Mike Bacon said.
“We try to keep it true to a Central Texas style, some of the meat, like our brisket, is just salt and pepper. The turkey we kept nice and simple, the ribs and pork are rubbed in a brown-sugar-based Memphis-style rub. We don’t do much to the meat — it’s just about the attention to detail and the process,” Bacon added.
Snow plows whooshed by the restaurant at 195 S. State Street, Manhattan, as snow fell harder and orders kept coming in.
A young couple, Amie and Lee Lieser, had just finished dining in with their baby. They recently moved to Manhattan, within the past year.
“I think it might be my new favorite restaurant in Manhattan!” Amie said before adding, “All of the food was really high quality, really good flavored meats. I loved it!”
“I thought it was really good. The portions were really big, which I liked. The vibes here are fun, just the atmosphere. We really enjoyed it. Can’t wait to try the smoked wings. I’m excited to get more food options out here besides just McDonald’s and Subway,” Lee added.
The smell of smoked meats wafted through the air as customers waited for their orders, a bustling kitchen staff hard at work preparing them. Many had tasted the menu at pop-up events or had visited the sister restaurant, Arrowhead Ales, in New Lenox.
“Our whole family goes to Arrowhead Ales quite a bit, so we’re really excited to have them locally. I had their brisket sandwich at one of the events over the summer, and it was really, really good,” Troy Aultz explained. He was enjoying a beer while waiting for his lunch order.
So, how did Mike Bacon (yes, his real last name) and his Smoke Works restaurant come to fruition?
“This is a hobby that’s gone out of control,” Bacon said while cracking a smile.
Bacon explained although he had worked in restaurants before, owning a restaurant was not his original plan. He was in his 11th year of coaching varsity tennis and teaching special education when the idea of owning a restaurant was a distant, “maybe someday.”
It didn’t take long for “maybe someday” to quickly progress into “it’s happening.”
Bacon’s homebrewing hobby had begun to take over.
He dropped cases of his beer into his coaching colleague Wes Cooley’s car to try out and, before long, Bacon had lured him into being a business partner with his tasty brews.
Bacon met Matt Sharp through his work developing craft beer labels. He offered creative direction, and an idea took shape just as a location became available in New Lenox.
Nearly nine years later, Arrowhead Ales still is going strong. The rest, as they say, would be history — except Bacon wasn’t done.
A new hobby, smoking meat, manifested itself.
“I had taken my home smoking I had done and amplified it to the bigger smoker, and I was like, oh man, this is awesome, there are chunks of meat and fire,” Bacon said, talking excitedly about his first trials smoking on a larger scale.
Bacon couldn’t implement those new creations at Arrowhead Ales because the brewery wasn’t set up for smoking meat. A familiar internal fire began brewing.
With success in the restaurant business, a penchant for brewing beer, and an excitement for smoked meats and BBQ, he set out to share that passion with Manhattan.
Bacon tapped Cooley and Sharp’s support and began assembling a team for Arrowhead Smoke Works. The team in Manhattan also includes Pepe Fernandez, who helps manage the restaurant, and John Bembenek, who helps bring food creations to life in the kitchen.
Like the slow-smoked meat it serves, Arrowhead Smoke Works took quite a bit longer to put together than Arrowhead Ales, which had more resources and a nearly turnkey building.
Originally, Bacon wanted to do pop-ups with a food truck. However, after speaking with Mayor Mike Adrieansen and Trustee Justin Young, the duo Bacon also worked with to create Manhattan’s brew, Manhoppenins, he learned restaurant spaces were available.
“We realized the potential of the space and thought it would be worth the effort to go the extra mile to make things unique,” Bacon noted of the historic firehouse building. It needed significantly more work than what Bacon had encountered opening the brewery.
“Here, we gutted the entire building. We ripped the floors out, we ripped the ceilings out, we replaced plumbing, electrical, and reconstructed the place inside from the ground up to make it a totally unique, new thing,” Bacon said, adding they’re still learning about what secrets the building has.
Although the village owns the building, Bacon invested in all of the renovations. He was held to village ordinances and needed special approval from the village for the container that safeguarded the smokers, which initially met resistance.
The controversial container eventually was approved, and the smoker is now constantly going, preparing food for the next day.
“Our proteins are smoked anywhere from four-to-14 hours, held, and rest for almost that same amount of time — so you can’t rush it. You have to care,” Smoke Works Creative Director Sharp offered.
That slow-smoking process also means that when they sell out of product, it’s gone. That’s just how it is in the barbecue business. Plus, they’re still assessing demand.
“Street tacos were really good. Super fresh. Everything was really spot on,” said Amelia Berg, who got there before they sold out.
Another diner praised the portions and food.
“I had the big pulled pork sandwich, that was amazing, and the potato salad was really good,” diner Billy Hethcoat said, who was there for lunch.
The restaurant has a three-year lease, and Bacon is excited for its future.
“Our menu will evolve. We’re starting pretty straightforward with our meats and sides,” Bacon said. “Over time, you’ll see our creativity come out with food ideas, too.”
“What I really want when people walk away from this is for people to say that it was great, and I can tell how much they care about what they do – not only from a food standpoint, but interior design, exterior design, and marketing,” Sharp said.
Customers on opening day seemed to think that way, but anyone hankering BBQ can stop in and decide for themselves. Arrowhead Smoke Works is open Wednesday through Sunday, from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., or until sold out.
Stephanie Irvine is a freelance reporter