Guy Fieri-Praised BBQ Joint Forced to Move Smokers After City Rejects Zoning Changes

SEBASTOPOL, Calif. — A Northern California barbecue restaurant that earned a shout-out from celebrity chef Guy Fieri has been ordered to cease operating its outdoor commercial smokers by Friday, after the City Council unanimously rejected two zoning proposals that would have allowed the equipment to remain.

The decision by Sebastopol officials ends a months-long dispute between A&M BBQ and neighbors who complained about smoke drifting into residential areas. The restaurant, which opened in June 2024 on South Main Street, sits in an Office Commercial district where outdoor commercial barbecues are prohibited under current code. While other commercial zones in the city permit smokers with conditional use permits addressing smoke, odor and air quality, the council voted 5-0 on Oct. 6 against both rezoning the property and amending the district-wide rules.

“We are not being shut down. Our restaurant can remain open, the restriction is on having our smokers at our current location,” co-owners Kris Austin and Finn Liss wrote in a Facebook statement this week. They warned the move could limit production capacity and force menu changes.

Fieri highlighted the restaurant’s confit smoked oxtail during the 2025 Healdsburg Wine & Food Experience, in a video later posted to Austin’s “Smoking With Austin” YouTube channel. The exposure drew customers from beyond Sonoma County, prompting the owners to replace their original smokers with larger units to meet demand — a shift that intensified neighbor complaints.

At a May 5 council meeting, residents described smoke infiltrating homes and yards. The city subsequently explored two pathways: a spot rezone for the restaurant’s parcel, or a broader text amendment allowing conditional smokers throughout the Office Commercial district. Both required conditional use permits with environmental standards. Council members rejected both, citing concerns about precedent and enforcement.

The ruling revives the prospect of daily fines for noncompliance. City Manager Mary Gourley told SFGATE that a courtesy notice was issued warning enforcement would begin after this week. Gourley said staff would follow up on compliance Friday.

The owners previously attempted a workaround: cooking meat at an off-site location roughly three miles away and transporting it back. They abandoned the arrangement after the Sonoma County Health Department objected to the transport of smoked meats between facilities, Liss told the council.

Now the restaurant is pursuing a temporary solution — placing a smoker on property offered by the owner of El Coronel Mexican Restaurant — while searching for a permanent off-site smoking facility. The owners have asked supporters for leads on commercial spaces or property owners willing to host the equipment.

“We want to be courteous to the community around us while we continue working toward a long-term solution,” the owners wrote. They also urged patience with potential sellouts and menu limitations, and asked customers to treat staff kindly during the transition.

Sebastopol, a city of roughly 7,500 about 55 miles north of San Francisco, has seen similar tensions between food businesses and residential quality-of-life concerns. In 2022, a mobile wood-fired pizza operation faced pushback over smoke in a mixed-use neighborhood, eventually relocating to an industrial zone.

For now, A&M BBQ’s dining room remains open. The smokers go cold Friday.