Co-owner Andy Burns said there was potential to host live acoustic music at the new venue though wanted to concentrate getting the eatery up and running first.

He said Barrels has come a long way from “humbled beginnings” of cooking meat out a small offset smoker to now outgrowing their one tonne smoker and taking their food truck to events big and small across the Illawarra.

2 Smoking Barrels will begin serving brisket, pulled pork, smoked hot links, ribs, chicken, smoked cheeseburgers and more from Wednesday December 20.

“We’re going to try and give it a real off-the-street beer garden feel which is perfect for barbecue and tinnies which is what we do,” Mr Burns said.

Brother-in-law Gavin Tidbury will be looking after the smoker and ensuring every piece of brisket is cooked to perfection over the top of iron bark sourced from regional NSW.

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Mr Burns said popularity for slow-cooked meets had risen over the last three years and barbecue connoisseurs were understanding the American-style flavours need a lot more love than a steak at the pub.

“You know, 250 grams of cooked brisket that’s taken 12 hours to cook and it’s been cooked over expensive timber … it’s a lot more labour intensive and a lot more care factor goes into it,” he said.

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