Last week, Mendel’s Kansas City BBQ (20314 Chagrin Blvd., 216-266-0035) in Shaker Heights quietly opened its doors to a limited number of guests eager to sample the handiwork of Mendel Segal, who is known to his many fans as the “rabbi pitmaster.” The restaurant, located across Chagrin Boulevard from Van Aken District, in the former home of Lucy’s Sweet Surrender, will reopen its doors tomorrow, Jan. 31st.
If kosher barbecue restaurants are seeing an upsurge across the country – and they are – Mendel Segal can take some of the credit. For the past six years, his Miami-based restaurant Mendel’s Backyard BBQ & Brew has been proving on a daily basis that kosher and barbecue can indeed coexist.
Like his Miami restaurant, the Shaker spot is a little more upscale than your typical roadhouse. The 80-seat restaurant is full-service, but family-friendly. And with items like brisket, smoked pastrami, giant beef ribs, beef back ribs, smoked veal brisket, lamb ribs, smoked turkey, burnt ends and smoked chicken, few diners will miss the pork.
In addition to the foods coming out of the pit, the restaurant will offer non-BBQ foods like soups, salads, wings, burgers, fish and steak. To drink, there will be plenty of craft beer and a full liquor license.
As a certified kosher restaurant, Segal’s Backyard BBQ & Brew in Miami can’t prepare foods or accept payment on the sabbath – aka sundown Friday to sundown Saturday. Segal still manages to serve his customers at the restaurant, however, through a unique system of prepayment for meals already prepared. That approach could make its way north if there’s demand for it.
To start, Mendel’s will be dinner only, and serving a limited menu at that. Segal intends to expand the offerings in the coming days. Down the road, take-out business and then lunch service will be added.
This article appears in Jan 25 – Feb 7, 2023.
