Plans for new BBQ restaurant in Centerville may have hit a snag

Al’s Smokehouse owner had eyed third location at former Outback Steakhouse space in Cross Pointe

Credit: DaytonDailyNews

Al's Smokehouse Bar & Grill — the barbecue restaurant that was founded in Springfield and which opened a second location in Huber Heights in late 2018 — has canceled a liquor-license application for the former Outback Steakhouse space in the Cross Pointe Centre in Centerville, according to Ohio Division of Liquor Control online records.

>> Yes, you can still get tickets to Dave Chappelle's show in Dayton — and for less than $100

Reached at the Huber Heights restaurant earlier this week, Al’s Smokehouse owner Al Shamburger said he was “not at liberty to discuss” the cancellation of the liquor-license application or the status of his plans to open a third location in the Centerville retail center. A spokeswoman for Don Wright Realty, the broker/owner of Cross Pointe Centre, said this morning, April 25, that the former Outback space is still for lease.

>> RELATED: BBQ restaurant now open in the former TGI Friday's in Huber Heights

Shamburger told this news outlet earlier this year that he wanted to open a third location in the Cross Pointe space, where Outback Steakhouse operated for 22 years until late 2018, when it relocated to a former Sears auto facility outside the Dayton Mall. An LLC that was to do business as Al’s Smokehouse applied in January for a full liquor license for the former Outback space, but those applications are now listed as “canceled” on the Ohio Division of Liquor Control’s web site.

>> RELATED: Outback Steakhouse shuts down at Cross Pointe after 22 years 

Chicken wing dinner at Al’s Smokehouse. BILL LACKEY/STAFF

icon to expand image

Shamburger said in February  that no lease for the former Outback space had been signed yet, but negotiations at that time were going well, and he was confident the restaurant was going to happen.

>> RELATED: Centerville seeing apartment boom near Cross Pointe

“I’m up for any challenge,” Shamburger said at the time. “We’d like to open around the first of April.”

Al Shamburger, the owner of Al's Smokehouse Carryout and Catering. BILL LACKEY/STAFF

Credit: Bill Lackey

icon to expand image

Credit: Bill Lackey

Shamburger is also the founder and owner of Al’s Smokehouse Carryout & Catering in Springfield. He opened his Al’s Smokehouse Bar & Grill in a former TGI Fridays at 7777 Old Troy Pike in an outlot in front of the Waynetowne Plaza in Huber Heights just before Christmas 2018. The TGI Fridays shut down on Labor Day in 2017.

The Huber Heights restaurant seats about 105 and is open seven days a week for lunch and dinner.

>> Local Mexican chain's president scores 'Restaurateur of the Year' award from Ohio Restaurant Association

Pulled pork sandwich at Al’s Smokehouse. BILL LACKEY/STAFF

icon to expand image

The Al’s Smokehouse menu features BBQ favorites such as pulled pork, ribs, beef brisket and bourbon chicken, smoked on-site.

About the Author