After five months of building renovations, Q Smokehouse brought its authentic Deep South taste of smoked barbecue to Green Street with its opening Wednesday.

Troy Reed, one of the restaurant’s managers, said Q Smokehouse was packed for opening day and sold around 200 meals. Business doubled, if not tripled, last Thursday, Reed said.

“(On Friday), we sold ourselves out of product and had to close early. That’s how well we’ve done,” Reed said.

Reed expected business on Sunday and Monday to be slower after the rush of homecoming weekend, but customer flow picked up and Reed now expects this week to be as successful or even more successful than the last.

Terren L. Gaither, Q Smokehouse employee, said the restaurant did not do any promotional advertising before opening.

Instead, the restaurant trained employees and fixed computer problems during the first week to increase service and product quality, Reed said.

Another employee, Maria Gaspar, learned to work the restaurant’s Point of Service system, make a burrito and provide positive customer service, all in one week.

Restaurant owner Sean Mahaffey closed Smoke ‘Que and Brew, his previous restaurant once located at 2411 Village Green Place in southwest Champaign, to open a campus location with a different menu, said restaurant manager Steve Sappenfield.

“The menu that (Mahaffey) wanted to serve (is) more conducive to the student population in a quick service environment,” Sappenfield said.

The smaller menu features homemade in-house selections, whereas Smoke ‘Que and Brew’s menu contained many shipped-in, pre-made items, Reed said.

Instead of Smoke ‘Que and Brew’s classic waiter and waitress set up, Q Smokehouse has an order-and-seat-yourself style. Q Smokehouse customers fill out an order form, bring it to the register and watch as their food is made, in a similar fashion to the procedure at Jimmy John’s or Chipotle, Reed said.

“(Customers) are a lot happier, because they basically get to do what they want to do,” Reed said. “They get to do practically everything but put the food together themselves.”

Gaspar said she has already noticed customers coming back. These returning customers seem to enjoy the restaurant and like the sauces offered, Gaspar said.

The two-level restaurant, which contains about 97 seats, hasn’t filled up yet, but Reed believes this is because many people order food to-go. The restaurant may add more tables if customers start frequently filling up the top floor.

Q Smokehouse’s menu features pulled pork, beef briskets, pulled chicken, smoked sausage, burnt-end sandwiches and ribs. All meat is smoked and prepared fresh daily, Gaither said.

Large-portioned sandwiches range from $5.50 to $7.99, and they come with a corn muffin, a fried pickle and two toppings of the customer’s choice, according to Reed. Additional toppings are 50 cents each. Homemade sides include barbecue beans and Carolina slaw. Q Smokehouse also features bacon chocolate chip cookies and bourbon apple dream bars, Sappenfield said.

Q Smokehouse plans to run daily specials within a few weeks, Sappenfield said. The restaurant is considering offering lunch discounts for University staff and students.

“We are kind of just waiting to see how things go first,” Sappenfield said. “We want to get up and open and go from there.”

Sappenfield said he looks forward to gaining customers and building customer relationships.

“(We have) a very friendly staff, and hopefully that and the high quality food will keep people coming back,” Sappenfield said.

Gaspar said that all the employees are getting along so far. She said she enjoys her coworkers and said that it is a positive work environment.

On a regular basis, eight workers and two managers work at Q Smokehouse, Reed said. As a front of house manager, he monitors cashiers, food preparation and restaurant appearance. The back of house management supervises meal preparation, Reed said.

The restaurant is open seven days a week from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Customers can contact Q Smokehouse at 217-344-5849.

Mikayla can be reached at [email protected].