Few things pair better during a Phoenix summer than barbecue and beer, especially when they're from a new venture that combines a popular Mesa pop-up with an award-winning brewery.
Golden Oak Barbecue & Taproom will be a full-service restaurant from the team behind Nicky’s Barbeque and Oro Brewing Co. It's taking over the former Throne Brewing Co. on Central Avenue near downtown Phoenix and is set to welcome its first customers in early August.
The partnership stemmed from the two beloved Mesa businesses comparing notes, and goals, about how to expand their brands.
While only open for eight months, Nicky's Barbecue, led by Chris Figueroa, has garnered some serious local buzz, setting up at Oro, Tipsy Cactus, Sleepy Whale and Thunderbird Lounge.
Figueroa has been in the barbecue business on and off for almost a decade, starting in St. Louis, and wanted to bring that style and hospitality to the Valley. As demand increased this past year, Figueroa made plans to expand, which meant closing the pop-up to make way for the opportunity for a brick-and-mortar restaurant.
“Downtown Phoenix has always been the dream,” says Figueroa. “This is where the energy, culture, and community meet, and we’re bringing something special that’s rooted in the traditions of barbecue and beer, but infused with our own twist. Oro’s beer. Nicky’s flavor. One roof."
Oro Brewing Co. has been serving pints from its tiny taproom on Main Street in Mesa since October 2016. As the gold medals for best beer in the state started to pile up, owner Dave Valencia looked for possibilities to expand the brand.
“We are consistently one of the top-rated breweries in the state, but we are very small, so we were looking at doing a second location," Valencia says. "It made sense, when Chris and I started to talk, to try and bring our products to Phoenix in a way that could introduce the city to us and help bring something new to both the barbecue and beer scenes."
What's on the menu?
The new venture will focus on full-service dining, with an approach Figueroa refers to as “respecting the process and culture” of each meat and the history of the dishes. The brisket will be prepared Texas-style, the ribs will lean into St. Louis influence and the pulled pork will draw heavily from the Carolinas.The barbecue will be cooked on-site in a rotisserie-style smoker burning only post oak, which Figueroa describes as the star of the show. Sauces will be available table-side, but patrons will be in control of how much or how little they need.
“The meat stands on its own. The smoke does all the work, but we will have a variety of sauces that pull from various regions, should you want them,” Figueroa says.
Customers can expect touches of Figueroa’s Peruvian heritage to crop up on the menu as well. The brisket sandwich, for instance, will feature an aji amarillo aioli and chimichurri. The roasted chicken will be prepared in the style of a traditional Peruvian pollo a la brasa.
The restaurant will serve traditional barbecue sides such as mac and cheese, and some with a creative twist, such as a coleslaw with an El Salvadorian influence.
“With Peruvian culture and cuisine, it’s well-known globally, but not so much in Phoenix, so when people get little snippets to try it, such as these options next to the more traditional barbecue staples, it opens up the palate to want to try other things,” Figueroa explains.
Golden Oak plans to source products not made in-house from local producers. They've partnered with Tempe’s Venezia Bakery for bread. The meat will come from Arizona’s Gold Canyon Meat Co. The owners are in talks with several local vendors to finalize tortillas and possible dessert offerings.
The food options are designed to pair well with Oro Brewery’s rotating tap selections. The brewery has won six gold medals at the Arizona Craft Beer Awards and is the all-time leader in gold medals awarded by the Arizona Craft Brewers Guild.
The brewers are excited to bring fan-favorites, like their Trigo Suave tangerine wheat ale and the Hopiphany American IPA, to the downtown Phoenix beer scene. Expect some seasonal offerings, as well as the trusted Oro stable of English ales, lagers and sours. There will also be wines, cocktails and to-go offerings in cans and growlers.
“We were brewery of the year in 2022, and up until now we haven’t won anything but gold in the competition since, not to brag. But now we get to bring some of that to downtown,” Valencia says.
The co-owners see this partnership as a natural collaboration, and even the name itself reflects the complementary pairing.
“We are burning nothing but oak, and ‘oro’ is Spanish for gold, hence ‘The Golden Oak,’” Figueroa explains.
Now, the team is stoking the fire and letting the inviting aromas waft over Central Avenue as they prepare for the new barbecue brewpub's opening later this summer.
Golden Oak Barbecue & Taproom
1326 N. Central Ave.Opening early August
