Located at 6043 Old US Highway 52, Cafe 71 Smoke House BBQ is about to get closed forever. Newland Spears, owner of this BBQ eatery, it’s quite sad for him to close this place just before its four-month anniversary. However, he had to make this decision due to a lack of enough kitchen staff.

Spears mentioned that around 25 to 30 people have joined and left the restaurant kitchen. So, it was more like a revolving door. While the girls at the front door were good at their job, the lack of sufficient kitchen staff took a toll on the restaurant business.

Even the customers started noticing for the past few weeks that the diner remained unexpectedly closed even during advertised “open” hours. Even the employees have to make excuses to the customers saying that they either ran out of grilled chicken or cannot prepare the order due to understaffing. And, there was not even any proper sign or reason explaining the closure. Only the customers saw lately was a locked door with turned-off interior lights.

Cafe 71 Smoke House & BBQ’s Final ‘Closed’ Sign

But last weekend, there was an orange sign saying “Closed” on the cafe’s front door. And, then the following Tuesday, Spears he won’t be reopening the eatery. Explaining his situation, he said that he actually doesn’t have the time to run the restaurant because of this other business. Since his other business is working well, he does not get enough time to direct the eatery himself.

Carolina Customs, towing, and body shop, is Spears’ first business for 30 years now. He opened Cafe 71 Smoke House BBQ on October 1, 2022. Initially, the business was doing well but later due to a lack of staff, it didn’t work out as he expected. After all, there cannot be a Smoke House BBQ without a proper grillmaster in the kitchen, right?

That’s the reason why Spears had to close the eatery. He might try owning a restaurant again in the future. But for now, he needs to focus on his other business.

Meanwhile, BBQ lovers in the US can try out some other BBQ places. After all, there are several BBQ joints in different cities in America. Here are the 5 Best Cities for Barbecue in America you need to try.

Via: The Dispatch