There’s been a lot of chatter among Foodies in the 24/680 lately – mostly about their favorite restaurants and the hurdles they face bringing food to the masses, or even to just a few folks on odd days every now and then.
Rents. Food costs. Shortage of reliable workers. All factors in a notoriously unforgiving business where headline-grabbing chefs have turned to bank robbery and others are suspected of torching their restaurants to collect on insurance money.
It can be a dramatic turn for owner/chefs who came out strong with slick websites and ads promising the finest ingredients and cutting edge cooking mere months before unpaid suppliers stop deliveries, kitchen staffs fail to show up for work and pretty soon the county is slapping a suspension notice on the front door.
Such is the case, apparently, with Horn BBQ in Lafayette – which came out of the bullpen strong in December, 2024 – pitmaster Matt Horn generating buzz in local foodie mags and excitement at the chamber of commerce when he announced he was bringing his brisket and ribs to Lafayette.
The chosen location, 3422 Mt. Diablo Boulevard, had seen a succession of barbecue restaurants come and go: Bo’s, Boneheads’s Texas and All the Smoke, businesses and chefs who enjoyed varying degrees of success before the County Man came around and the Yelp notices went up.
We’ve been watching Horn for a while and, to be fair, they’re not the only local business to run into trouble. But the Lafayette location is currently dark and customers are reporting it closed. A notice proclaiming the business’s liquor license had been suspended over unpaid taxes was plastered to the door.
Horn himself has yet to offer an explanation. Employees describe additional factors at play, including location closures and legal and financial problems looming outside of Lamorinda. The popular Mandela Parkway location in West Oakland was destroyed by an arson fire on November 21, 2023, following prior incidents of vandalism, the fire forcing its closure amid complaints of unpaid wages and other bills by workers and vendors.
The owner/chef’s current challenges are all the more jarring when compared to Horn’s energetic opening and excitement generated by announcement of its arrival.
While the final chapter of the ongoing saga has yet to be written, Horn’s customers do not appear especially hopeful.
We were wondering.
Who else?