By Heather Lusk
Patrick’s Smokehouse Kitchen has opened inside Danny Boy Beer Works in the Village of West Clay smoking briskets, pork shoulders and ribs. This is the second location for the married restaurant duo Beth Dickerson and Patrick Mullen who also own Zionsville’s Patrick’s Kitchen and Drinks.
Meats are smoked 12 to 18 hours so scheduling is “a little tricky,” said Dickerson. “When it’s gone, it’s gone,” she said of the note on the menu that items from the smoker are available “while supplies last.”
The brewery’s menu was previously pizza-focused but now has shifted to a hybrid of small plates from the Zionsville restaurant’s menu and smokehouse barbecue.
“We wanted people to recognize it if they knew us,” said Dickerson of the menu with the familiar salads, chili and desserts. Barbecue is served with homemade traditional red sauce with Danny Boy beer or yellow sauce mimicking a Carolina vinegar-based sauce.
They used the proceeds from the farmer’s market for a home smoker that is being used in the kitchen with plans to buy a second smoker in the future.
Danny Boy Beer Works began brewing in the Village of West Clay in 2014. Mullen said he was approached by frequent customer and Danny Boy co-owner Kevin Paul to open a second Patrick’s location in the brewery last year, but he said the timing wasn’t right. When Paul approached the two again this spring, the restaurant duo was ready to move forward.
A week after signing the contract, Patrick’s Smokehouse opened, just prior to Memorial Day. “It went well,” Mullen said. “We didn’t run out of food.”
While the brewery is open daily, Patrick’s Smokehouse Kitchen has limited hours 4 to 9 p.m. Tuesday through Thursday and 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday through Sunday. Food trucks will be on site Mondays when the restaurant is closed.
