The Southampton restaurant serving 'big dirty American food'

The team at Blue’s Smokehouse in Above Bar Street are holding nothing back in their attempt to take their guests across the pond for a proper American diner experience.

The restaurant opened in February with the aim to replicate the flavours and feelings of a typical American-style diner.

Its new Blue’s breakfast and brunch menu gives guests even more options, whether they fancy a stack of pancakes or some juicy ribs.

READ MORE: Meet the man taking one of the city's most popular venues from 'strength to strength'

Christmas tree inside Blue's Smokehouse (Image: Jose Ramos)

Gareth Wright, one of the directors, said: "The vision behind this restaurant is all about the authentic barbeque smokehouse, the big dirty sexy American food."

The 42-year-old said the personality of the eatery and the culture of the city go hand in hand, hence the decision for the business to take a leap of faith and settle down in the city eight years after opening its first restaurant in Bracknell.

Gareth said: “The reason Southampton is exciting is it’s our big city adventure, when we looked at the area, we thought it has everything we wanted.

“It’s got different age groups, it has the student community, the really vibey energetic culture to it and that is what Blues is all about.”

Bringing live music to the restaurant will be a big focus in 2023, Gareth said.

One of the founding directors, Jean-Marc Bidegain, or JM as he’s called by his fellow staff, came up with the idea of the restaurant after trying the food himself eight years ago.

He said: “A few years ago we went to eat at a place not far away from Bracknell, which sparked the idea at first.

“We then started researching and found a guy who first brought a smoker into the UK and then bought some and started to smoke the meat and went from there.”

The eatery is also offering its own Christmas BBQ menu for guests wanting an American twist to their festive celebration, with a three-course meal at £24.50.

Blue's Smokehouse is one of the venues that shoppers are being encouraged to support as part of the great Christmas giveaway.

When shoppers support local businesses they are signing up for the competition which could see them win one of 25 prizes.

READ MORE: Giveaway launched to encourage shoppers to support local businesses

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