BBQ spot celebrated by Guy Fieri will see smokers ripped from restaurant over lefty new zoning law

A barbecue joint praised by celebrity chef Guy Fieri has been forced to take its smoking operation on the road after a zoning crackdown in deep-blue California left its owners scrambling to keep the meat — and the business — cooking.A&M BBQ in Sebastopol is now smoking its meat outside city limits and trucking the food back to the restaurant, a costly workaround that owner Kristopher Austin says cannot last.The unusual arrangement follows a May 28 notice giving the restaurant 10 days to stop using its outdoor commercial smokers because they violated local zoning rules, SFGATE reported.The biggest news, opinion and culture shaping California right now.

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Never miss a story Rather than shut down the operation, Austin and co-owner Finn Liss have moved the equipment beyond Sebastopol’s borders and are hauling the finished barbecue back to customers.But the logistical shuffle is taking a toll on the business.The dispute is especially frustrating for the restaurant, which has already earned high-profile praise for its food.Fieri singled out A&M’s confit smoked oxtail at last year’s Healdsburg Wine & Food Experience, raving about the dish’s creamy, silky texture.Austin and Liss opened the restaurant in June 2024 and are now hunting for a permanent solution that will let them expand without running afoul of city regulations.In a mid-May Instagram statement, the owners said they had spent nearly a year searching for a location better suited to the restaurant’s growth.But relocating a commercial smoking operation is no easy feat.

Permits, infrastructure and financing can make an immediate move prohibitively difficult.“Relocating a restaurant operation involving commercial smokers, permitting, infrastructure, and financing is a complex process that takes time, but we are committed to finding a resp...