Dan's BBQ is a Neighborhood Pub on the Radio

For being known as 'Stranger Dan', the owner of Dan's BBQ is hardly a stranger at all to his regulars. Or even to the broader Eorzean food and hospitality scene, featuring at events like A Feast Reborn where the Courier previously spoke with him. His story, and that of his little corner of the Mists, grabbed our attention over delicious barbecue mac and cheese, so I decided to meet the man himself for a whiskey the afternoon after a successful open.

"Actually had some good turnout the last few weeks or so. Things're lookin good headin' into the starlight season," he said. "We got some folks that have been comin' damn near every day we've opened for four or five years now. Sometimes y'just need that neighborhood spot that you know's always gonna do you right."

Dan was born in the Brume, and as an au ra during the Dragonsong War that was an especially trying experience. Like more than a few of his fellow Brumers, Dan grew up with blues music in his heart and barbecue as a way to make the most of what was often the worst cuts of meat. It can be easy to dismiss the culture of areas like the Brume or Pearl Lane for those without connection to the maligned districts, but some of the cultural touchstones taken for granted by broader society grew out of the necessity, community, and ingenuity of places like these. Dan, himself, is a prime example of that. 

But when Dan made it out into the broader world, as he traveled around the cities trying to see what the world had to offer, he noticed there wasn't a lot of places that made him feel at home. His music was hard to find. Good BBQ was even harder to find. So, he bought a house, and decided to do it himself. 

"there was a time I would try to spend more time out 'n about and there were two things I took note of: weren't nobody playin' the type of music I grew up with, and weren't nobody servin the BBQ I wanted to eat. And that ain't to slight any of those places I visited, I guess a cynical type might say I saw a 'gap in the market' or some such. But truthfully, I just wanted to start a place that I'd wanna hang at."

And he was a hit with adventurers almost immediately. He remembered how many of his early customers would come in with stories about fighting some terrible monster or overcoming some great trial. They'd have pulled pork or chicken sandwiches, tell their stories, and get to know one another in the neighborhood pub atmosphere Dan provided. 

Dan's place isn't as spartan as, say, the Forgotten Knight. It's got a pool table, darts, and an in-house radio station. But it isn't flashy. He compared other venues with more glitz about them like The Repair Bay or Bandee Pakshee to amusement parks - places a person goes to be a part of a different world from their ordinary lives. Be that word a haven for robots or an idealized version of Radz-at-Han for Eorzean audiences, they are slices of another life that patrons seek out. And Dan understands the appeal of that. But there is certainly a demand for a place that isn't an amusement park. A place that just is part of the patron's usual, daily world and life. 

Sitting in a beautiful beachside estate, there's no question Dan's BBQ doesn't have a bit of the thrill of a night out still, but that thrill feels more humble. It feels like a place that a Brumer would call his little piece of paradise. 

But he isn't without his unique flair. Where other venues employ live bands or DJs to provide musical entertainment, Dan took to radio. Radio is still a bit of a novelty in Eorzea, being a primarily Garlean form of media until recent years, and so plenty of Dan's guests have never heard anything like it. But it was born from a very practical consideration: Dan doesn't have a large staff. The restaurant runs lean, as it were.

"I know most places have live DJs or somethin' to spin records for 'em, but I didn't wanna try to do that and run this place at the same time. So I figure, why not get on the radio? Could record sets beforehand, maybe sprinkle in news or ads for friends of ours, and gives me a lil more flexibility in gettin' it sounding just the way I want," he explained. ""Oh yeah, had more'n a few folks stop me to say they hadn't heard nothin like it, neither the style of music nor the radio show format. It's another thing that, not to slight the DJs or nothin out there, I think just feels a lil more grounded?"

Dan's radio station, WOLR, runs recorded programs and advertisements. Recently, Dan explained, he ran an advertisement about fantasias for the Alchemists' Guild. And in the coming year, he hopes to continue to expand WOLR's offerings. In fact, the Courier is in talks with Dan about providing news segments for WOLR, among other future plans for things like radio dramas, advice shows, and broadcasts for things like blitzball or chocobo racing.

WOLR also has an impressive recording studio set up for another way Dan is hoping to expand in the near future: WOLR Records. A place for artists to come and perform both for the radio and for orchestrion record recordings. Music is so instrumental to the kind of environment Dan was seeking that expanding that profile of his small business empire makes a logical next step. 

Whether for the music or atmosphere, Dan's BBQ is the best way to start a week. I wholeheartedly recommend the Mac and Cheese, but Dan wants people to give the BBQ Sketti a try. There's no one house specialty, he explained, and some people wind up ordering half the menu. 

"There's some real bottomless pits out there, tell y'what."

Dan's is located in the Malboro neighborhood of the Mists. Ward 10 Plot 30. It's open on the first night of each week, at eighth evening bell Eastern Eorzean Time.