Barabicu Smokehouse in Parma to Close This Weekend After a Decade

Danny Cassano has been selling out of brisket every single business day for a decade. His Barabicu Smokehouse (5767 Ridge Rd.) in Parma sits at the top of the list for diehard barbecue fans because Cassano is a pitmaster in the truest sense of the word.

He works all week to produce a weekend worth of smoked meats, a few sides and scratch sauces. Pity the customer who arrives after the last half-pound of brisket or slab of baby backs has been claimed.

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“Running out is pretty much the only complaint we’ve gotten,” Cassano says. “We operate Barabicu like a true smokehouse; when it’s gone, it’s gone. Everything is made fresh every day and it’s never reheated. If you’re not running out of brisket, you’re either psychic or you’re reheating it.”

Cassano just announced that he will be closing Barabicu after service on Saturday, July 11, three months shy of the restaurant’s 10th anniversary. He has sold the building that has housed the barbecue restaurant since the start and will be taking some time off to attend to personal matters.

But…

“It’s not got goodbye, it’s just goodbye for now,” he says. “I’m actively looking at a few locations.”

Cassano says that his next location, which could open before the end of the year if things go as hoped, will allow him to expand his offerings and days of operation.

“I want a full kitchen,” he says. “The dream was to have a sit-down, fully functioning restaurant with a liquor license. But the economic models have shifted. For where the industry is at right now, I like the to-go model with a few seats for people waiting.”

When he does reopen, Cassano will resume crafting stellar beef brisket, baby back ribs, whole chickens, double-smoked bacon and bacon burnt ends with brown sugar – all of which is smoked over local cherry wood that he cuts and seasons himself.

“I love when you crack open a piece of wood and it smells like you just opened a can of cherry soda.”

New items might include brisket smash burgers, beef tallow french fries, chicken fingers and more. The additional items will help defray the skyrocketing costs of meat, he explains.

“The nominal cost now compared to pre-Covid is almost double, and I haven’t passed those costs on to my customer. You can only increase the margins so much until people are being squeezed. I want people to have a good experience here. If you put love into your food, people can feel that.”

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