Dayton barbecue restaurant Fatback’s BBQ sets reopening date

Fatback’s BBQ — the locally owned barbecue restaurant that operated for seven years at 1334 Linden Ave. in Dayton until shutting its doors in September 2020 — will reopen under new owners next weekend.

“Are you hungry for some barbecue? We’ll see you Saturday, March 20 for our grand re-opening!” Curtis Fackler, the restaurant’s new owner, wrote on the Fatback’s BBQ Facebook page on Wednesday, March 10.

The announcement was warmly greeted by Fatback’s fans who have gone without for six months. Facebook comments included, “Can’t wait!” and “Looking forward to it!”

Fackler said the restaurant will sell its rubs and sauces again in addition to the traditional barbecue meats and sides.

Fatback’s founder and former owner Larry “Bub” Britton told this news outlet in February that the restaurant’s new owners “have my total support and blessing, and I am grateful that Fatback’s Barbecue will live on.”

Opening Fatback’s, Britton said, “was a dream of mine that I am so fortunate to have been able to live out, and it is everything I had hoped it would be. Curt and his partners will be the perfect owners to carry on where my dream comes to an end and a new dream begins.”

Fatback’s BBQ on Linden Avenue in Dayton will reopen under new ownership six months after shutting down, its new owners say. MARK FISHER/STAFF

Credit: MARK FISHER/STAFF

Credit: MARK FISHER/STAFF

The building that houses Fatback’s, located west of Smithville Road on Linden Avenue, “has been a huge part of my life over the last 38 years, back to when I had my heating and air conditioning business, Comfort Center Inc., in the same building,” Britton said.

Britton, a Dayton native and 1977 graduate of Belmont High School, had announced in the summer of 2019 that he had put the Fatback’s business, real estate, recipes and equipment up for sale, and that he was willing to teach the new owner the techniques and recipes that have made Fatback’s a popular destination for barbecue enthusiasts and generated a strong catering business in addition to the restaurant’s retail sales.

“I’m not going to sell it to just anybody. I want someone who has a passion for barbecue,” Britton told the Dayton Daily News at the time.

But no sale occurred over the following year, and in September 2020, Britton closed Fatback’s while still keeping it on the market.