LAFAYETTE, CALIFORNIA – I still remember the first time I drove by the future location of Horn BBQ in Lafayette and saw the “Horn” sign posted.
My first thought was: “Wow, here??”
Horn’s location in Oakland had won multiple national awards, and was considered one of the best BBQ spots on the West coast. Now, as if by total surprise, Horn was coming to Lafayette.
It was a jubilant announcement. Now, though, multiple signs suggest the Lafayette outpost may be in real distress.
A Delicious Start
When Horn BBQ in Lafayette first opened, I stopped by to check it out. I ended up waiting 75 minutes in the rain to get my hands on some of the food.
It didn’t matter. As I wrote at the time, this was some of the best BBQ food I’ve ever tasted.
From the beginning, though, it was hard to tell whether Horn was flying, or struggling. The wait times would mean huge demand, or challenges keeping up with the flow of customers (or both).
And locals reported food selling out early in the day. Again, that can be par for the course for a BBQ place. Or it can signal challenges.
Signs of Trouble
This month, we started to hear reports that Horn might be in trouble. According to reporting by the San Francisco Chronicle, the Lafayette location is currently dark and its liquor license has been suspended, allegedly over unpaid taxes.
Yelp is also flagging the Lafayette listing as “Temporarily Closed,” based on user reports.
Today, the Bay Area Telegraph stopped by, and observed a construction notice on the front of the restaurant.
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Even for a restaurant that is best known for smoked meats, a liquor license suspension can be a serious operational blow. It can cut off a meaningful revenue stream, complicate planned service, and sometimes signals broader back-office problems.
California’s California Department of Alcoholic Beverage Control explains that delinquent tax-related suspensions involve official notice requirements and restrictions on alcohol sales until the issue is resolved.
The Chronicle’s reporting describes wider turbulence across the Horn Barbecue business, including closures and legal/financial headaches beyond Lamorinda.
That broader context matters because it can affect staffing, vendor relationships, and the ability to keep any one location consistently open.
There are also reports that the restaurant didn’t open at all in January, and that other nearby businesses have been offered the restaurant’s space by its landlord.
Again, the challenges at Horn feel especially jarring in Lafayette because the local launch felt so strong. And the food, if you didn’t get a chance to try it, was really, really good!
Operating a restaurant in the 925 is hard, though. And BBQ places seem to especially struggle here.
Locals have noted that multiple BBQ spots occupied the same restaurant space before Horn, including All the Smoke and Boneheads before that.
Dad’s BBQ Next Generation also opened near Rossmoor, and closed within a year. So again, it’s a tough landscape, even for a place with food as good as Horn’s.
For the sake of the business and of Lafayette’s BBQ scene, we’re hopeful that this could still be genuinely a temporary closure, and that the liquor license might be renewed and Horn Lafayette reopened.
It would be nice to stop by and grab more of those delicious, slightly peppery ribs. Or another serving of the pulled pork–even if the wait felt interminable.
It’s also a shame to see this struggle, because Horn seemed to bring people to Lafayette from all around the region. Waiting in line for my first meal there, I met people who had driven over an hour to try the food. They were friendly, sharing umbrellas and uniting around the shared love of good ribs. It would be sad to lose that energy.
We’re not sure what will happen next with Horn. We’ll continue to follow the story and hope for the best, though. I’ll keep you updated as soon as I know more. Please join my free 925 News newsletter here, and I’ll let you know as more info comes out.
