Shocking shutters
Acclaimed Spring Branch barbecue restaurant goes up in smoke after just 7 months
Helote’s B-Daddy’s BBQ may regularly show up on best-of lists, but that wasn’t enough to keep a second location afloat. After just seven months in business, the Spring Branch outpost permanently closed on June 23.
Owner B.R. Anderson confirmed the closure in an email but did not offer a further statement. Although the Spring Branch outpost has been scrubbed from the restaurant’s website, it did not post any explanation through the main page or social media.
The culprit may, however, have been a bad location. After long-running roadhouse Texas 46 Bar and Grill shuttered in 2014, the address at 2 Sun Valley Dr. has seen a string of closures. Most notable was Texas 46 BBQ, a splashy project from Austin hospitality fixture Cuatro Kowalski. Like B-Daddy’s, that spot lasted just a few months, opening in March 2018, before burning out in October of that year.
Anderson opened B-Daddy’s in late December 2018 with a back-to-basics approach. While Texas 46 barbecue boasted upscale takes on comfort food like panko-crusted dill pickles and pork rib poutine, the restaurateur stuck to smoked meats by the pound. The high-end cocktail menu was replaced with ice cold beer.
Locals who need their fix of fall-apart brisket and pulled pork nachos will still be able to visit the brick-and-mortar at 14436 Old Bandera Rd. in Old Town Helotes. Anderson assures CultureMap that the location is “safe and sound.”
And the food trailer that started the business back in 2012 is still trucking throughout San Antonio for corporate lunches, special events, and Spurs' games. Fans can follow the restaurant’s Facebook page to see the weekly update on where it will be parked.