Barbecue restaurant that moved ‘home’ to replace Fairfield tavern in 2016 has closed

A Butler County restaurant that touted its “low and slow” wood-smoked barbecue has closed.

Butt Shack BBQ & Grill, 500 Wessel Drive in Fairfield, shut its doors earlier this month. The restaurant took its name from the shoulder of a pig, referred to as Boston butt or pork butt.

Andy Castle, a 1995 Fairfield High School graduate, started Butt Shack in Hamilton County’s New Baltimore in 2012, then moved to Greenhills in 2013 and Fairfield in late 2016, replacing Symmes Tavern, which closed a few months earlier.

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"The opportunity to move our low and slow smoked BBQ restaurant from Greenhills to our hometown in Fairfield was a dream come true, which makes today bittersweet," Castle said in a message posted to the restaurant's website and its Facebook page. "With a heavy heart, we sadly announce that Butt Shack BBQ & Grill is closed. We'd like to thank our staff, our family and countless others that supported us. It's been our pleasure to serve this community."

We reached out to Castle to ask why he shut down the restaurant but have not yet received a response.

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