New Restaurants SF

July 9, 2026

Mt. Diablo BBQ Opens Where Matt Horn Was Evicted, Betting Steady Hands Over Hype

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One SF/Bay Area opening a day, chosen and checked. Today: the Lafayette BBQ address that evicted a celebrated pitmaster in February gets its fifth smoker, this time from a veteran South Bay BBQ family with no magazine covers to cash in.

The building at 3422 Mt. Diablo Boulevard, in downtown Lafayette, has a barbecue problem. Bo's Barbecue, a longtime local favorite, gave way to Bonehead's Texas BBQ, then All the Smoke BBQ, then Matt Horn. Horn was the famous one. He opened his West Oakland flagship in 2020 to national acclaim, collected a Food & Wine Best New Chefs honor, and turned "West Coast Barbecue" into a brand before an arson fire, wage-theft claims, lawsuits from vendors and former employees, and a too-fast expansion across Lafayette, Elk Grove, and Fresno collapsed the empire. On February 5, the Contra Costa County Sheriff taped a "legal lockout" notice to the Lafayette door, and the building's owner vowed the space would "not reopen as Horn Barbecue nor (with) anyone affiliated with Matt Horn." By spring, Horn had no Bay Area locations left.

Last Tuesday, July 7, the smoker relit. Mt. Diablo BBQ opened for business, and the choice of tenant is the whole story. It is run by RSBBQ, Inc., the Real Smoked BBQ group behind South Winchester BBQ and The BBQ Pit in San Jose, a veteran operator with a string of working barbecue restaurants across the South Bay and Central Coast. No pop-up mythology, no cookbook deal, no celebrity pitmaster. Diablo Magazine framed the contrast plainly: where Horn courted controversy, the new owners are "part of a veteran restaurant family with an established track record."

The menu reads like a deliberate rebuke of drama. Oak-smoked tri-tip, pulled pork, St. Louis-style ribs, brisket, and burnt ends, in sandwich or plate form; sides of mac and cheese, baked potato, beans, and cornbread; homemade seasonal pies, bread pudding, berry cobbler, and a root beer float to finish. The kitchen opens at 7 a.m. for breakfast tacos and biscuit sandwiches stuffed with brisket, tri-tip, or pulled pork. And the bar that sat dark under Horn's suspended liquor license now pours eight local craft taps, including Del Cielo, Almanac, and Ghost Town. A grand opening is set for August 2, but the website warns the smoked meats can sell out before the 9 p.m. close.

The bet here is unsexy and probably correct: on an address that has burned through four barbecue operators, steady competence and a working liquor license may outlast hype. Walk in, order at the counter, and accept that the brisket can run out. No reservations.

3422 Mt. Diablo Blvd., downtown Lafayette. Open 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. daily, or until sold out.

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