Redemption BBQ is closing its doors, at least for now

After more than a year of working 60 to 80 unpaid hours a week, betting on an expansion deal that never materialized, and stretching his finances to the limit, the owner of Redemption BBQ has made the call: this week will be the restaurant’s final barbecue service for the foreseeable future.

It’s a gut-punch announcement, but the way owner John Vest tells it, it’s also an honest one.

“I can’t in good conscience employ people I might not be able to compensate or order meat from local farmers I might not be able to pay,” he wrote in a statement shared with customers. That line says a lot about how Redemption has operated from the start.

The math never quite worked

Barbecue is a tough business under normal conditions. The proteins are expensive, the labor is intensive, and margins are thin even when everything goes right. Redemption compounded that challenge by sourcing only humanely-raised, pasture-grazed meat, which runs two to three times the cost of conventional product. That’s a principled choice, and it’s a costly one.

Two years ago, the restaurant nearly closed. What kept it alive was a feature in Southern Living that named it one of the best new barbecue spots in the South. That recognition doubled sales and proved the concept could work, but only at volume.

So when an opportunity for a larger space came along, the owner took the leap. He expanded staff and hours over a year ago, anticipating a move into a new location by May 2025. The expansion would have provided the scale needed to make the food costs sustainable long-term. He knew the ramp-up would be expensive, but figured it would only last a few months.

Three months became twelve. Last week, he found out the expansion is now delayed indefinitely.

A final pivot that didn’t hold

His first instinct was to find a middle path: cut barbecue service to the two busiest days, take one real day off each week to be with his family, and shift more of his energy toward pizza production and distribution. By the end of that same week, he realized even that wouldn’t be enough. The current location simply doesn’t generate the volume to cover food and labor costs.

There’s no villain in this story, just an industry under real pressure, a bet on expansion that didn’t pan out, and a business model built on doing things the hard way because the owner believes it’s the right way.

“I overextended myself for as long as I did because I believe in what we do,” he wrote. “I don’t know what’s at the end of the tunnel now, but I can’t take on any more debt or imperil my family’s finances worse than I have already. More importantly, I don’t want to miss any more of my sons’ childhoods.”

Four more days, and a sendoff worth showing up for

Redemption BBQ will be open Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and Saturday this week only. They have four days of meat on hand, including Autumn Olive Farms pork shoulders going on the smoker Friday and Saturday. If you’ve been meaning to go, this is it.

After service ends Saturday, the owner will say goodbye to his staff and shift his focus to Chicago-style deep dish pizza. He says the move will help him pay down the debt he took on to keep barbecue going this long, and that he intends to carry forward his commitment to pasture-raised meats in that format. Details are still forthcoming.

It’s not a clean ending, but it’s an honest one from someone who clearly cared about what he was building. Richmond’s barbecue scene will feel the absence.