How Harper Barbecue & Pitworks is revolutionizing California barbecue
Before Drew Brahs and Bryant Stephens started Harper Barbecue & Pitworks, the loudest complaint about barbecue in California was that pitmasters were unable to conjure up that Central Texas-style smoky flavor. Getting an outdoor offset barrel smoker certified by the California Department of Public Health was impossible.
That is, until Brahs and Stephens figured it out.
“It was a lot of research, a lot of being told, ‘No,’” says Brahs. “We kept pushing through a bunch of different companies that do the certification process. We can build the smokers right away. It was just getting them certified for restaurant use.”
That was the hurdle. For California pitmasters, it was enough of a deterrent to stunt this style of cooking for decades.
But persistence and a little bit of luck paid off. In fact, Brahs’ foray into the business was a serendipitous fluke.
“At the time, I was going to welding school at Orange Coast College,” he says. “I also went to Texas a few times. … I saw the style smoker that a lot of people were using. This was before the DBF series that kicked off the whole Franklin, Texas-style barbecue thing.”
He adds: “I built one because I wanted to use it. I had all the tools. I had all the knowledge. And then, someone bought it off my driveway.”
Brahs built another one.
“A better one for myself,” he says, “and then I ended up putting that one on Craigslist.”
His welding hobby blossomed into a business. Soon, his friend Bryant Stephens joined in.
Stephens grew up in Porterville, Calif., in a family of ranchers. But he wanted to travel a different path, so in 2009, he enlisted in the U.S. Coast Guard.
He was assigned to the Coast Guard Cutter Narwhal, which is a vessel that has participated in a range of at-sea missions and calls Corona del Mar its home port. After serving, Stephens worked on a commercial fishing boat, fished for Newport Dory Fleet and worked at Blackie’s By The Sea in Newport Beach.
“My old boss was Scott Breneman. He owns the Circle Hook and Bear Flag Fish Co. That’s how Drew and I met,” Stephens recalls.
With his days at sea dwindling, “I went back to school, used my G.I. Bill and got my welding certifications,” says Stephens, who then joined Brahs — and that’s how Harper Barbecue & Pitworks got started.
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Brahs wanted to open a restaurant, but the plan changed.
“I helped Danny [Castillo of Heritage Barbecue] because he was on more of a fast track than we had been,” says Brahs.
The gamble paid off for everyone.
Working with Castillo, Brahs and Stephens navigated the health department’s red tape, and Heritage Barbecue opened in August 2020. Lauded for its smoked meats, it’s recognized as one of the best barbecue places in America; the Michelin Guide honored the San Juan Capistrano restaurant in 2021.
Castillo credits part of his success to the custom-built smokers by Harper Barbecue & Pitworks — certified offset smokers that revolutionized pit offerings in California. Other pitmasters came calling, including Matt Horn in Oakland.
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The success fueled their expansion.
“A neighbor came to me with the property and it’s perfect for what we’re doing,” says Brahs. “It’s an old automotive shop from the 1930s — the last piece of dirt in Costa Mesa that hadn’t been touched.”
The restaurant is scheduled to open in the next four to six months. Brahs and Stephens want to honor the area.
“The name comes from the Harper family who owned the cattle ranch here, way before Costa Mesa existed. It was called the little town of Harper,” says Brahs. “I was doing a ton of research, trying to figure out a name. I have a friend at the Costa Mesa Historical Society, and she filled me in on all the information. [We have] a bunch of old photos that we’ll probably hang around the restaurant.”
The coastal smokehouse restaurant will showcase their love of barbecue and the ocean.
“We’ll have a lot of seafood with Central Texas-style influences, but we’re shooting for a coastal smokehouse,” says Brahs.
The goal isn’t to recreate Texas barbecue. Instead, they’re hoping to offer something different and simultaneously put this Costa Mesa coastal smokehouse on the culinary map.