Beloved smokehouse Fargo's Pit BBQ closes after 24 years in business due to 'challenging economic climate'
A popular smokehouse has closed after more than two decades of serving brisket, ribs and other Texas barbecue classics.
Fargo's Pit BBQ in Bryan, located between Houston and Austin, announced it was closing a day after July 4th.
'It is with heavy hearts that we announce the closure of Fargo's Pit BBQ effective July 6, 2024,' wrote husband and wife Alan Caldwell and Belender Wells, who are also co-owners of the restaurant.
They revealed 'challenging economic climate' is behind their decision to end a business they've been running since the turn of the millennium.
'Despite our best efforts and dedication, the challenging economic climate has made it increasingly difficult to sustain our operations,' the Facebook post continued. 'We are grateful for the support you have shown us and cherish the memories we've shared.'
Alan Caldwell, right, and Belender Wells pose in front of their restaurant's sign
Fargo's Pit BBQ served brisket, ribs and other Texas barbecue classics for more than two decades
Fargo's was named by Texas Monthly as one of its top 50 Texas barbecue joints in 2013
Rising food costs aren't just battering the average consumer, it is wreaking havoc on the US restaurant industry, small and large establishments alike.
Red Lobster is the most high-profile chain to go completely bust recently, with other formerly dominant American staples like Cracker Barrel and Boston Market gradually waning in influence as the years go by.
While Caldwell and Wells didn't specifically reference rising meat costs as the reason they're leaving the barbecue business, pork prices have been elevated in the US ever since COVID-19 struck roughly four years ago.
Fargo's was famous for its pork spare ribs, Houston-based digital paper Chron reported over the weekend.
But some blame the more recent price jump in pork on California's passage of Proposition 12, which bans the sale of pork in the state sourced from farms that keep pigs in overcrowded pens.
The ballot measure, which fully went into effect in January 2024, coincides with a rise in pork costs across the US this year.
Pictured: Fargo's Pit BBQ in Bryan, Texas. The restaurant, a hit with locals, is closed for good over the weekend after being in business for 24 years
Nonetheless, Fargo's had a respectable run, with Texas Monthly naming it as one of its top 50 Texas barbecue joints in 2013.
In the paper's 2013 profile of Caldwell, he was revealed to be incredibly secretive about his recipes and methods, going so far as to refuse to show his grill pit.
'Tell me more about that pit,' Daniel Vaughn, the BBQ Editor at Texas Monthly, asked him at the time.
'I've got nothing to tell,' Caldwell responded, though he did say a man named Tiny Tim from Fort Worth custom built it for him.
In February, roughly five months before he decided to close Fargo's, Caldwell told local outlet KAGS-TV that the restaurant business has been especially difficult since the pandemic.
Caldwell poses with ESPN commentator John Buccigross inside the restaurant in October 2019
'A restaurant is hard work. It is not an easy industry,' he said.
'So you have to have your heart poured into it and your staff poured into it - number one because a lot of people start and they don't realize that it's going to take everything you've got and some. It's not for everybody.'
Caldwell and Wells thanked their customers in their final goodbye, calling everyone who's visited and patronized Fargo's 'the backbone of our restaurant.'
Longtime fans of the restaurants poured into the comments of the Facebook post to share how much of a loss this was to the Bryan community.
'Such a HUGE loss. By far the best BBQ and now it has been forced to close through no fault of their own,' one person wrote.
Others thanked the couple for their great food and hospitality over the decades, with some even suggesting they get into the catering business.
'Thank you for being a part of the Fargo’s legacy. We will miss you all dearly,' wrote Caldwell and Wells.
