Written by Ethan Conn | Photo by Madison Meyer
Knight Fire BBQ, a local food truck, has been serving customers in Searcy for four years and is now moving into a building located on Main Street in downtown Searcy.
In such close proximity to renowned barbecue from Texas, Memphis, Tennessee, and Kansas City, Missouri — Arkansas is not known to be a staple for barbecue. Knight Fire owner Matthew Knight wants to change that.
Their commitment to excellence is paying off as the Arkansas Times presented Knight Fire a Reader’s Choice Award for “Top Five Best Barbecue around Arkansas.” Knight Fire uses simple, old school, real wood fire as opposed to the modern high-tech smokers. The restaurant wants to attempt to achieve “real craft barbeque and relive the days of old” with each dining experience. In late November 2021, they decided the best way to do that was from a new building that was better suited to handle the demands of a restaurant.
The former tenant of the building was the popular bakery Wild Sweet William’s, which moved into a larger building just a block from their old location. This is an upgrade for the bakery as they went from 675 square feet to 3,500. Wild Sweet William’s opened their new location on Jan. 4.
Knight Fire is working hard to make the building their own by painting a mural on the outside of the building depicting the cuts of meat from cows and pigs. They have also added an outdoor smoker and shed.
Sophomore Timothy Jayne expressed his excitement in Knight Fire having a new location.
“Knight Fire is sick,” Jayne said. “Their barbecue is really good, and I’m glad they have found a permanent location.”
Senior Nick DeLaPena said he was excited to hear about Knight Fire’s new restaurant.
“When I heard they were opening a Knight Fire BBQ in the old Wild Sweet William’s, my mouth started watering,” DeLaPena said. “Their food is so good … [I’m] definitely getting a group of friends to go on the first day they open up.”
Knight Fire hopes to have the grand opening of the new space in February if they stay on schedule. Until then, Knight and his team will continue perfecting what they claim to be the best barbeque in Central Arkansas.
