Pensacola's Hot Spot Barbecue is under construction until Memorial Day. Here's why
Pensacola’s family-owned and operated Hot Spot Barbecue has been a long-time favorite for Southern-style barbecue, sweet tea and icebox lemon pie.
Now for the first time in over a decade, the famous pig statue stationed outside the restaurant at 901 E. La Rua St. is clothed in a construction hard hat indicating that an expansion is underway. Even through weeks of upcoming construction, the restaurant will remain open.
Owners are adding on an addition to keep up with the restaurant’s growing fanbase, especially the high influx of call-in orders. But don’t worry, the homemade secret sauce served on the side of your brisket isn’t changing.
The major change, according to Hot Spot owner Jim Hlubek, is that the building expansion will become the restaurant’s home base for carry-out orders, catering and include an expanded gift shop. There will also be walk-in cooler and supply storage space for staff to free up more room in the restaurant’s dining room. Both restrooms will also be remodeled to meet ADA standards.
Hlubek said he hopes to have everything finished by Memorial Day weekend, which is one of his busiest barbecue weekends of the year.
While customers have been overwhelmingly positive and excited about the upgrades, Hlubek has hung flyers around the restaurant detailing the construction plans and asking customers for a little extra patience.
“We do ask for your patience as we will remain open during construction and on-site parking will be a little more difficult due to safety fencing,” the flyer states. “We hope to finish the main portion of the project by mid-May. During restroom remodeling we will have a luxury restroom trailer on site.”
Hlubek is not only looking to grow the restaurant’s brick-and-mortar presence, but also its food truck footprint. There is currently one Hotspot food trailer stationed at the Truxtop Food Court to cater to the Gulf Breeze crowd and an additional food truck operators move around for different events. Next, they are looking to develop a food truck park north of Interstate 10 in the Ensley area.
“We don’t want to get spread too thin,” Hlubek said. “We believe our quality is important.”
Hlubek said it has been “heartwarming” to see customers keep coming back over the past decade as the business has grown. While he hopes the food is the main thing that keeps people coming back, the care and service for his employees and his customers, which he refers to as his “Guests with a capital G," is intentional.
When Hlubek says he loves his Guests, you can tell he means it in the way they’ll grab him by the shoulder to greet him as he tells them to enjoy their meal. There’s nowhere else he would rather be.
“I wanted to be in the restaurant business my whole life, and we fell into this,” Hlubek said. “It was a God ordained thing to be here.”
For more real-time updates on Hot Spot’s plans, visit the Hot Spot Barbecue Facebook page.
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This article originally appeared on Pensacola News Journal: Hot Spot Barbecue in Pensacola is under construction. Here's why