The second Blue Oak BBQ is 450 miles or so from their first.
On Wednesday, Blue Oak founders Ronnie Evans and Philip Moseley opened their long-gestating Alabama location, in Huntsville at address 100 Mid City Drive, within the shadows of Orion Amphitheater in the MidCity District.
Blue Oak, its mothership at 900 N. Carrollton Ave. in New Orleans, first announced their Huntsville intentions in August 2021. At the time, they planned to open that location in summer 2022. Now, about 18 months after that target, Blue Oak BBQ Huntsville is finally reality.
“As different cities as they are,” Moseley says, “we saw a lot of similarities in the people and the friendliness. And we thought we can bring something to the table here with our food. Huntsville is happening, it’s growing, which is kind of a rush. Anybody would want to be a part of that.”
Culinary-wise, Alabama is known for its barbecue. People here know barbecue, too, and have high standards for it -- with standouts like Boarhog’s in Huntsville, Big Bob Gibson in Decatur, Archibald’s in Northport, Dreamland in Tuscaloosa, Full Moon in Birmingham, Saucy Q in Mobile, among many others.
Still, Blue Oak’s arrival is a big deal. As Eater put it in 2023, “Blue Oak is undoubtedly New Orleans’s hottest barbecue joint, with one of the most fiercely loyal and widespread fanbases to be had.”
Beside local cred, Blue Oak’s drawn national attention from the likes of “Today” show, Forbes, Washington Post, Playboy and Thrillist.
Blue Oak barbecue is known for their brisket and ribs. As the business name suggest they use oak to smoke their meats, which Evans says results in, “subtle smoke flavor that doesn’t pound you in the face. It’s just a little kiss.”
Their spicy chicken sandwich has “a cult-like following,” Moseley says Signature sides include the roasted garlic mac and cheese, ginger sesame slaw and Brussels sprouts. They also do daily specials, like po-boys, tempura fried okra, brisket Philly sandwich, etc.
Drawing from NOLA’s frozen daiquiri stands and drive-thrus, frozen craft-cocktails are a thing at Blue Oak. For example, the “Spring Fling”: Raspberry vodka, cranberry, lemon and ginger simple syrup. Full food and beverage menu at blueoakbbq.com.
New Orleans has long been one of the best food cities in the U.S., its vivid cuisine a mix of Creole, Cajun, European and soul food. Blue Oak BBQ draws from all that, as well as central Texas and other influences.
Blue Oak BBQ in Huntsville, Alabama. (Matt Wake/mwake@al.com)Matt Wake
The Huntsville space is around 5,000 square feet with a high ceiling, 12 TVs and an “MTV Cribs”-worthy projection screen. There’s a bar that opens to both the sidewalk out front and, on the side of the restaurant, a covered patio with seating. The interior décor’s outfitted with SEC team flags and photos, framed concert posters and a giant American flag.
On Wednesday, Blue Oak was open via reservation. Moseley says, “We just want to make sure we’re setting everybody our team up for success.”
After the staff of 30 or so got their legs that way, the Huntsville location opened fully Thursday. For now, the restaurant’s running 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Wednesday through Sunday. They plan on expanding to daily hours.
Asked for why launching Huntsville took longer than expected, Evans says, “A lot of factors. The build-out was delayed a little bit, and we had some factors in Orleans that kind of pushed us back. We opened another business during that time, the Avenue Pub, it’s kind of like a beer-heavy bar with great food in an old two-story building in New Orleans. Long story short, it’s construction and planning and organizing.”
The lag might’ve been advantageous. Huntsville’s profile has risen since summer 2022, with booming development and population growth.
Culturally, Huntsville’s on the upturn too, sparked by Orion Amphitheater. Since opening in spring ‘22, Orion’s brought an impressive array of headliners to Huntsville for the first time, including Lana Del Rey, Stevie Nicks, Jack White, Robert Plant, and, next weekend, Neil Young.
Blue Oak Huntsville is less than a half-mile walk from the amphitheater.
“Being from New Orleans,” Moseley says, “of course, you have to love music and we do. We’re super excited about being able walk to the Orion, and being able to cater to all the music fans that pour out of it after shows, kind of late-night. And we’re hoping to do a little bit of music in here too, on either show days or random weekdays, weekends. The music scene here is going to continue to grow.”
In September, Huntsville will welcome the inaugural South Star Music Festival, featuring acts like Gwen Stefani, blink-182, Beck and Jane’s Addiction to John Hunt Park, about a 15 minute drive from MidCity.
Moseley, who went to LSU, and Evans, who attended University of Alabama, first met as youths at Holy Name of Jesus School in New Orleans across from Audubon Park. Moseley and Evans were originally introduced by mutual friend Cody Morgan, who along with Jamie Munoz are now Blue Oak’s operating partners for the Huntsville location.
Evans cut his restaurant-biz teeth at Moe’s Original BBQ, which was cofounded by Huntsville High grad Jeff Kennedy. After college, Evans worked at Moe’s Vail, Colorado headquarters.
Eventually Moseley, who’s been working for a coffee importer in New Orleans, joined Evans out in Colorado. About a year later, they returned to New Orleans to shoot their shot.
They launched Blue Oak BBQ in 2012 as an embedded restaurant/long term pop-up at late-night bar Grits. Next, they moved operations to a music venue called Chickie Wah Wah. Eventually, they opened as a standalone, brick-and-mortar.
Away from work, Evans and Moseley’s interests include golf and New Orleans Saints football. In Huntsville, they’ve rented an apartment near their restaurant.
Moseley says opening Blue Oak’s second location, “would’ve been easier in the parish [Louisiana’s equivalent of a county] over instead of six hours away. But we met people and felt the energy in Huntsville and, for lack of a better word, just kind of fell in love with it. We’re super excited to be here.”
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