College Park has a lot of good pizza and sandwich places, but it’s missing “the real-deal barbecue” experience, said Jeff Holibaugh, Fat Pete’s BBQ co-owner.
The restaurant, which also operates a location in Washington, is slated to open this spring and will feature a smoker the size of a “hockey Zamboni,” said Holibaugh, who holds a graduate degree from this university.
Officials hope the barbecue restaurant will help to retain resident spending within College Park, said city economic development coordinator Randall Toussaint.
College Park residents reported spending almost $60 million on food and drink services last year, according to data the city collected, Toussaint said, but only about $22 million of that was spent on food and drink services within College Park itself.
“We’re having leakage, so we’re spending our money elsewhere,” Toussaint said. “Our goal is to help retain those dollars inside of College Park and that’s where Fat Pete’s comes into play.”
College Park Mayor Patrick Wojahn said he hoped that the new restaurant encourages more restaurants to develop in the city.
“The more steps we take to support local business, the more they’ll want to come to College Park,” Wojahn said. “The growing number of students in the community, and the number of residents who want to see those local businesses continue, will continue to patronize them.”
Fat Pete’s 1,500 square-foot College Park location is the company’s second and will operate like Chipotle in terms of service and seating, Holibaugh said.
“Instead of another chain sandwich shop, this is a full-fledged barbecue place. It’s just another option for people in that marketplace that they have not had until now,” Holibaugh said.
Although the restaurant will directly market to students — featuring delivery and late-night food until 1 or 2 a.m. — Holibaugh said he plans to make a “huge effort” to reach out to the city community as a whole.
“We want to do a lot of catering and delivery, and that whole area is growing in great ways since I went there,” Holibaugh said. “In that location on Route 1 and all the traffic it gets, we hope it’s a lot more than the university because you all are out of school five months of the year, so we have to find other avenues.”
Junior Sasha Ledesma said she looking forward to this new option and thinks the restaurant is student-oriented.
“Route 1 has a lot of restaurants with a bunch of places to eat and drink,” said Ledesma, a family science major. “I think it’ll be another great addition for people to eat and drink and spend their down time.”
