| Barbeque Integrated Inc. | |
| Trade Name: | Smokey Bones Bar & Fire Grill |
| Type: | Subsidiary |
| Industry: | Restaurant |
| Genre: | Casual dining |
| Foundation: | in Orlando, Florida |
| Location: | Beverly Hills, California, U.S. |
| Locations: | 61 (2023) |
| Area Served: | United States |
| Key People: | Ken Kuick (Co-CEO) Rob Rosen (Co-CEO) Thayer D. Wiederhorn (COO) |
| Num Employees: | 3,700 (2015)[1] |
| Parent: | Darden Restaurants (1999–2007) Sun Capital Partners (2007-2023) FAT Brands (2023-Present) |
| Footnotes: | [2] |
Barbeque Integrated Inc. (or simply Smokey Bones and doing business as Smokey Bones Bar and Fire Grill) is an American casual dining restaurant chain owned by FAT Brands. Its franchise headquarters are in Beverly Hills, California. As of April 2023, Smokey Bones has 62 restaurants[3] in 16 Eastern states.[1] Under its previous owner, Smokey Bones had as many as 128 restaurants across most of the United States before it shrank to its current core area.
In August 1999, Darden Restaurants, Inc. opened the first Smokey Bones restaurant in Orlando, Florida, at the site previously occupied by Red Lobster and close to Darden's headquarters.[4] [5] By June 2001, Darden had opened 8 additional Smokey Bones BBQ Sports Bar restaurants in Florida, the Midwest and Northeast.[6]
On May 5, 2007, it was announced that Darden Restaurants was closing 56 Smokey Bones restaurants and planning to sell the remaining 73 in its struggling chain.[7] The closings occurred in 22 states, primarily across the southwest and north-central United States.[8]
In December 2007, Darden sold Smokey Bones to Barbeque Integrated Inc., a subsidiary of Sun Capital, for approximately $80 million.[9]
On August 4, 2015, Ryan Esko was named CEO of Smokey Bones.[1] Esko was replaced by James O’Reilly in 2019.
On September 25, 2023, FAT Brands acquired Barbeque Integrated Inc. from Sun Capital Partners for $30 million.[10]