Nuñez has been catering festivals and weekend barbecue events in the Dayton area since 1998. He is a Texas native who started smoking meats while serving in the U.S. Navy from 1984 to 1991. He also is president and investment advisor at AGORA Investments in downtown Dayton.
Nuñez had been seeking to open a barbecue restaurant at 219 N. Patterson Blvd. near Fifth Third Field in downtown Dayton. The space previously housed Club 88 nightclub and Zola restaurant and has been vacant since 2011. He said late last year that the project had encountered regulatory and logistical obstacles.
This morning, Nuñez said the Patterson Boulevard project fell through, and after looking at other downtown locations, the Wright Dunbar opportunity came along, and he seized it. “Every person we’ve come across in the neighborhood is so excited,” he said.
The West Third Street restaurant will be open to the public as well as to co-op members for lunch and dinner, serving items such as mesquite-smoked beef brisket, pulled pork, and smoked sausage. Nuñez said plans call for expanding the menu in the future to include chicken, ribs, Gulf Coast seafood, and Bison brisket.
The restaurant is expected to employ nine. A grand opening is being planned for late April, with membership events prior to the grand opening.
For more information, check out the Texas Beef & Cattle Company Facebook page.
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