Smokey Bones, the popular barbeque chain restaurant and sports bar, has announced it’s closing the doors on 15 underperforming locations. The restaurant, which is known for its slow-cooked pulled pork and fire-grilled ribs, was acquired by FAT Brands in 2023 and has recently undergone changes in leadership to help strategize and boost business performance.
Smokey Bones is Transforming 15 Locations Into Twin Peaks
In January of 2025, Smokey Bones joined forces with Twin Peaks, the lodgey sports bar and restaurant known for its ultra-cold draft beer, scratch-made menu, sports viewing and all-female service staff, to create Twin Hospitality. With the new strategy and leadership by Ken Brendemihl, President of Smokey Bones, the company plans to convert many of the locations into Twin Peaks. A few of those conversions have already occurred, and those restaurants are bringing in over twice as much profit as Smokey Bones was in those same locations.
Smokey Bones New Business Leadership and Model
Per the company’s statement, they’ll utilize FAT Brands’ successful francise model on some of the remaining Smokey Bones locations to “create a more balanced corporate-to-franchise mix and unlock additional growth potential for the brand”.
Brendemihl has over 25 years of experience in restaurant operations, most notably with California Pizza Kitchen, Texas Roadhouse, On The Border, Alamo Drafthouse and Velvet Tacos.
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What Are Smokey Bones and Twin Peaks Known For?
The remaining Smokey Bones locations will continue to provide their same high level of hospitality. Their lunch, dinner and late-night meals include their ever-popular BBQ platters with carved turkey, baby back ribs, brisket and BBQ chicken with their award-winning sides including mac and cheese, mashed potatoes and gravy, BBQ baked beans and creamy coleslaw, to name a few. They’re also known for their burgers, wings, steaks, grilled shrimp, soups and salads.
Twin Peaks is known for their sandwiches, burgers, flatbreads, tacos, salads and appetizers. Their menu is boasted as scratch-made, stating they’ll satisfy any appetite, “even an axe man”.
Here’s to hoping the remaining Smokey Bones locations continue to thrive through the tough economic times, and we’ll be keeping an eye on how the new Twin Peaks locations do as well.
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