Despite fire, restaurant owner keeps faith
Neighbors, friends and city officials stopped by Oakland’s acclaimed Horn Barbecue on Wednesday afternoon — though not for its signature smoked brisket or house-made sausages — but to offer support to owner Matt Horn after a fire ripped through the restaurant the day before and ravaged the inside.
Despite Tuesday’s fire and vandalism from a separate incident earlier this week, Horn said he didn’t want to cancel the restaurant’s annual turkey giveaway. He said he was committed to keep serving the West Oakland community.
“I’m going to continue to serve our community and make sure that our team is taken care of,” Horn said. “There’s a lot of people that rely on what we do here.”
Staff from Edith’s Pie in Uptown Oakland donated about two dozen pies for the turkey giveaway that took place outside the restaurant Wednesday. Horn’s family and friends gave out frozen turkeys to West Oakland residents and families. Loyal customers showed up to express their sympathy to Horn.
The blaze on Tuesday morning charred the restaurant’s equipment and damaged the restaurant’s roof and the back wall, according to Horn and a city spokesperson. The city of Oakland red-tagged the building, meaning it is unsafe to enter the property. The fire broke out just days after Horn shared on Instagram that the restaurant had been defaced with graffiti and that vandals tried to, once again, break into his food trailer. In an Instagram post, Horn blasted the vandals, calling them “filth that plagues our beautiful city.”
The cause of the fire remained under investigation, according to Chief Damon Covington of the Oakland Fire Department, who showed up Wednesday with a crew of firefighters to assess the damage.
Covington said Horn Barbecue is a business that “has become part of the West Oakland community.”
Rotteinia Freeman and her two friends were the first to line up for a free turkey. They offered to help Horn’s wife, Nina, place the turkeys on tables in front of the restaurant.
“They give out a lot of stuff to us,” Freeman, who lives in an RV on Wood Street, said of Horn Barbecue. She said the restaurant has given residents on Wood Street free food and bones for their dogs.
They are “worthy of helping,” Freeman said, adding that she was sad to hear about the blaze.
Horn Barbecue opened in 2020. In 2022, it received a James Beard nomination for best new restaurant in the U.S. In 2021, the restaurant made the Michelin Guide’s new Bib Gourmand list.
The vandalism and fire prompted an outpouring of support from customers, city officials and the Bay Area food community, including chef and television host Tyler Florence. A GoFundMe campaign has been set up to support Horn’s staff and the restaurant’s renovations.
Horn said he’s having trouble wrapping his head around what happened.
“It really broke my heart,” said Horn. “Not just for me, but my staff. They’re here every day so it affects their livelihood.”
Horn said he learned of the fire while he was having breakfast with his children Tuesday morning. One of his staff called and asked him “are you sitting down?” before relaying the news. Horn said he assumed it might have been “some sort of violence” that occurred in the area, saying his staff has witnessed robberies and car break-ins near the restaurant.
“It wasn’t until I went inside and saw how bad it was, that’s when the reality of all this sat in,” Horn said. “That’s how I feel now: a little numb.”
Nothing inside the restaurant can be salvaged, Horn said. He could not provide an estimated cost of damages because he said fire officials were still assessing the property. Horn said he’s committed to West Oakland and plans to “rebuild as quickly as possible.”
He did not want to speculate on whether the fire was intentionally set, but he said there had never been a fire at the restaurant. “It’s just kind of weird, the timing of it all,” Horn said of the blaze.
For now, Horn said he’s focused on helping his staff and the Oakland community and rebuilding Horn Barbecue.
“I have to continue to fight … and remind myself that this is about serving the community,” he said.