Two Scotts: New West Side eatery offering 'Michigan-style' barbecue

GRAND RAPIDS, MI -- For the past year, Scott Hartmann and Scott Luecht have been making to-do lists. Next item on the list? Take a victory lap.

On Saturday, March 28, the "two Scotts" finally opened their highly anticipated Two Scotts Barbecue joint at 536 Leonard St. NW, inside a landmark eatery that once served hot dogs and homemade root beer to hungry West Siders.

The 930-square-foot building -- a former 1950s A&W stand where servers used to roll up to parked cars on skates -- has been transformed into the latest in a series of local barbecue spots opening around Grand Rapids.

"We're fusing different regions of Southern barbecue and bringing it north to create our own style," said Luecht.

The simple menu includes sandwiches made with either pulled pork, pulled chicken, sliced brisket or sausage; half-pound "just meat" orders; ribs, and sides including smoked baked beans, cornbread, pimento mac & cheese and mustard potato salad. The ribs are dry-rub and the meats are served with sauce on the side.

The eatery serves gourmet root beer and sodas as homage to the building history. Orders are taken at the counter. There only about 15 seats inside the building, but when warm weather finally arrives, another 25 seats will open on the patio.

Hartmann, a Kansas City native with a business management and construction background, joined forces with Luecht at the Riverhouse Ada pub, where Hartmann, who dreamed of owning a barbecue joint, took a job to learn kitchens.

"I'm bringing French techniques to barbecue," said Luecht, who was classically trained as a chef at Kendall College in Chicago. "He's bringing the Kansas City influence."

Together, the two are serving what they jokingly call "Michigan-style" barbecue.

"Everyone was asking what style we were doing," Luecht said. "We had to explain that we're doing a little bit of this, a little bit of that."

"We're bringing a Northern influence to some of these Southern classics," he said. "Michigan doesn't really have a style."

For example: In the South, cornbread is made without sugar. In Michigan, folks tend to see that as bland, said Luecht, so Two Scotts is serving a sweet cornbread. Two Scotts is also making a variety of sauces: Vinegar-based, smoke-based, tomato-based and mustard-based, he said. They are smoking with applewood from the Fruit Ridge.

"Anyone who is a barbecue fan will find something to like on the menu."

Renovations to the former root beer stand include the addition of a walk-in cooler and Southern Pride 500 rotisserie smoker, both installed on the building exterior with kitchen access to maximize space in a small building.

Only the shell of the former root beer stand remains after the roughly $300,000 project, which is been about two years in the making.

Hartmann and Luecht collaborated with Mitten Brewing Co. across the street on some ingredients and building materials. Mitten beer is being used in some sauces and Two Scotts meats are being used on some Mitten pizzas. Also, wood flooring from the brewery renovations were made into interior table surfaces at Two Scotts.

The two landed on the former root beer stand after searching around town for locations. One day, while sharing a beer at the Mitten, they looked out the window at the vacant building across the street and said, "What about that?"

The eatery has added some destination appeal to a corner that's likely to be further bolstered when Long Road Distillery, directly across the street from Two Scotts, opens this spring next to Chicago Style Gyro.

"We like the atmosphere and the exciting businesses over here" on the West Side, said Luecht. "The people are down to earth. It totally worked out for the best. We didn't have our eyes on the West Side from the beginning, but we couldn't be happier."

Garret Ellison covers business, government, environment and breaking news for MLive/The Grand Rapids Press. Email him at gellison@mlive.com or follow on Twitter & Instagram

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