There’s a new pitmaster in Pendleton. And while the name of the barbecue joint may look like “luscious” — which isn’t a bad association — the restaurant is actually called Lucius Q (loo-shus q), a moniker taken from a Roman general with special ties to Cincinnati.
Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus was a retired general turned farmer. When the republic of Rome was besieged by an army, the people called upon Cincinnatus to drop his plough and return to duty. He did so, accepting the mantle of military leader and dictator (a popular Roman two-for-one), quickly vanquishing the invaders and claiming victory for Rome. And then, just as quickly, he relinquished his title, gave up the power and prestige of the dictatorship and returned to his farm.
“He became this model of civic virtue who became this model of putting community first,” says Aaron Sharpe, former WNKU station manager and one of three partners in Lucius Q. “I was familiar with that story (and) certainly knew about Cincinnatus — he’s a statue down at Sawyer Point and a mural on the Kroger building downtown — but I didn’t know much beyond that.”
While searching for a name for their new restaurant, Lucius Q’s partners — which include Sharpe, Jeff Keate and Shane Spears — kept looking for words and phrases with the letter “Q,” “Because it’s barbecue,” Sharpe says. That’s when they stumbled on Cincinnati’s namesake.
“We were like, ‘How can we pay homage to this city in a subtle way that’s kind of fun, in a way people might not know? Let’s see what we can find out about Cincinnatus.’ … (We were) sitting around in my business partner’s apartment one night, drinking bourbon, googled Cincinnatus and it comes up, there it is: Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus. There’s our name.”
The Roman association is pulled through in the branding, created by locals Keith Neltner and Tommy Sheehan: The restaurant logo is a Centurion riding a pig. But the Italian influence stops there. The menu is all about the meat; no pizza or pasta in sight — unless you count the macaroni and cheese waffle. Instead, it draws influence from regional barbecue specialties and the partners’ own backgrounds.
“The sauce and the meat and how we do that is inspired by all the best regions in the country and we bring it here to the heartland,” Sharpe says. “We’ve got the Texas brisket, the Carolina pulled pork, the Memphis-style ribs (and then) we’ve got the Avril-Bleh sausage from right here in Cincinnati. Everything’s smoked back here in that smoker,” he says, motioning out back.
One of Sharpe’s favorite items is the brisket, available in a sandwich, chili and by the pound. “Not everybody does it and it’s the hardest thing to do when it comes to barbecue,” he says. “My partner Shane, he’s from Texas, he’s from Austin, so he’s got high standards for a brisket.”
And as a Carolina native, Sharpe is also a fan of the pulled pork (“That’s barbecue to me”), their “all kinds of messy” signature sandwiches and, unexpectedly, the custom-made sausage.
“I am not a sausage person. I would never go into a barbecue joint and order sausage, but our sausage is out of this world,” he says. “Avril-Bleh put together a recipe for us with smoked brisket and pork and it’s outstanding. It’s got just enough spice.”
In fact, all the meat is provided by Avril-Bleh (except for the chicken wings) and prepared with dry rubs; you sauce the meat yourself at your table. The sauces — which range from Carolina-style Queen City Gold mustard sauce to Kansas City-style Luscious Lucius sweet and smoky sauce to the unique ‘Bama White mayonnaise-based sauce — are made in house. The only thing not made in house are the buns, which are sourced from Giminetti Baking Company in Walnut Hills.
“We try to keep it as local as possible,” Sharpe says.
For vegetarians, there’s a mushroom sandwich with barbecue sauce and sides like coleslaw, grits and queso corn or the pie of the day.
Along with their interest in curating a veritable geographic exploration of barbecue, the guys are also adamant about curating the restaurant’s vibe — especially when it comes to the music.
The building, a former auto mechanic shop, will soon host live music and DJs doing unique stuff, “not club music,” says Sharpe. Even the music being piped into the eatery has been thought through.
“This is not a satellite station or a Spotify channel, it’s a playlist that my partners and I have put together,” Sharpe says, referencing the song playing through the speakers. “In fact, we put this together a long time ago and gave it to our architect when she started to design this space. Right now, you’re hearing Spoon, but also some old ’50s R&B and some Punk. Maybe some classic Country. Kind of a mix like you would expect to hear on WNKU.”
It creates a casual vibe in the industrial-meets-wood interior — especially when added to the service approach, which Sharpe says some would call “cafeteria style.” “’Meat and three’ is what they call it down in Texas,” he says. “You walk up (to the counter), you pick your sides, you pick your meat and you walk down the line and they hand it to you right there. (There are) no servers.”
Playing off that focus of casual and community, there’s also an outdoor patio and full-scale garage doors that will open up the entire backend of the restaurant when the weather warms.
“What attracted all of us to this place, is it’s very much a neighborhood,” Sharpe says. “It’s mixed. It’s diverse.”
“So now we’ve got burgers, barbecue and biscuits on Broadway,” he says, a reference to nearby Nation Kitchen & Bar and Boomtown Biscuit Bar. Three Points Brewery will also soon be opening around the corner to add to the options.
Lucius Q is located at 1131 Broadway St., Pendleton. More info: facebook.com/luciusq.
