Greater Newburyport's Barbecue Week, Mapped Night by Night

Beach season is over, and Greater Newburyport's barbecue options have grown. Smoke on the Water opened at Salisbury Beach this year and is still serving Tuesday through Sunday in October. Metzy's in Newburyport held its grand reopening on October 1 under the tagline "New Look – New BBQ." Low & Slow Southern Kitchen + Tap in Amesbury has moved its opening from a June target to October. Add Scarlet Fire BBQ inside Barewolf Brewing and Rusty Can in Byfield, and the area now has more smoked meat than most weeknights can use.

With this many places, the useful question has changed. Each kitchen keeps its own days and hours and runs its own specials, so the day of the week is what narrows the list. Monday lunch has one confirmed option. By Saturday you have your pick.

The week, laid out

These are the posted hours for the four spots with published schedules, as of early October 2026.

The grid shows three things. Metzy's is the only one of the four open at lunchtime all seven days. Rusty Can lists 9 p.m. "or Last Call" as its closing time Monday through Saturday, which makes it the only one of the four serving after 8 p.m. on Monday through Wednesday. Sunday evening is thinner than it looks, because Scarlet Fire closes at 5 p.m. Before you drive anywhere, check the restaurant's own page. Hours change in the off-season, and none of these places has posted a winter schedule.

Monday lunch runs through Boston Way

Until Rusty Can opens at 3 p.m., Metzy's is the only one of these four serving on a Monday. The Boston Way restaurant also has more going on this year than a simple refresh. Erik Metzdorf founded Metzy's as a food truck in 2014. In 2026 the truck marks its 12th year and the Cantina its 10th, and The Town Common reported that the October 1 reopening was planned as a celebration from 4 to 8 p.m.

The relaunch adds barbecue to the restaurant's Mexican menu. The August 2026 menu includes smoked short rib barbacoa in burritos and tacos, along with pork belly that is smoked, then fried, and served in tacos. The restaurant takes reservations online, which makes it easier to plan a weeknight table for a group than at a counter-service smokehouse.

Mike Doyle, a longtime Newburyport resident whom The Town Common identifies as an advisor, described the reopened Metzy's as a place for "lunch, meeting friends for dinner to watch a game, celebrating a milestone, planning a company event or having our truck come to you." That list lines up with the posted hours. Metzy's opens at 11 a.m. every day, so it covers the lunches and early-week dinners the other spots skip.

On Tuesday, Salisbury opens too.

Tuesday through Sunday, Salisbury Beach cooks on a rotation

Smoke on the Water is built on Central Texas counter service, and the restaurant's site says so directly: "The barbecue you grew up with in New England? This ain't that." Founder and owner Chris LaBella opened it at 34 Bridge Road with co-founder and pitmaster Chris Newberry, who is also operations director at Big Pig. Northshore Magazine reported that the kitchen runs two purple MM2000 pits and two 1,000-gallon Bison offset smokers, all built in Texas.

The sources describe the wood a little differently. The homepage says the meat is smoked with post oak from Texas. The restaurant's Craft page describes a custom blend that includes post oak and native species. If you want to know what's in the firebox, ask. The Craft page says guests can see the pits and ask staff for a smokehouse tour.

The regular menu centers on the Dino beef rib, which the restaurant calls its showstopper. Prime brisket, St. Louis ribs, pork belly burnt ends, turkey, and pulled pork round out the list. The weekly specials are what tie Smoke on the Water to particular days. Its posts from the first week of October show the pattern:

• Thursday: Prime Rib Thursday, slow-smoked prime rib with two sides and au jus for $32.
• Friday, Oct. 2: smoked bratwurst at $10 a link, or $12 as a sub with peppers and onions.
• Saturday: Texas Twinkies, which are jalapeños stuffed with brisket and cream cheese, wrapped in bacon, and smoked. The post says they're available "while they're on the menu."
• Sunday, Oct. 4: wings that are smoked, then fried, then tossed in Buffalo, Carolina Gold, Sweet & Tangy BBQ, or Maple Bourbon, or served plain.

New sides were added on October 1, so the menu is still being updated after Labor Day.

The current schedule also differs from the original plan. Before opening, the Daily News reported plans to serve seven days a week. The restaurant now lists itself as open Tuesday through Sunday, so it isn't an option on Mondays. Smoke on the Water hasn't announced plans for winter, so treat the October schedule as current, not as a promise for January.

Amesbury's barbecue is mostly evenings, and a second room is on the way

In Amesbury, barbecue right now means Scarlet Fire BBQ inside Barewolf Brewing on Oakland Street. It serves dine-in and takeout Wednesday through Sunday. On weekdays it opens at 4 p.m., and on weekends it opens at noon. Because it runs inside a brewery, it's more of an after-work dinner with a pint than a lunch stop.

The next addition is a few streets away at 11 Elm Street. Low & Slow Southern Kitchen + Tap is led by Chef Gidi Goldberg, who co-owns it with Eitan Goldberg. In April, WhatNow reported a mid-to-late June 2026 opening target. As of October 5, the restaurant's homepage says "We are opening in October!" without naming a day, so the opening isn't confirmed yet.

The posted menu puts barbecue next to Southern comfort food. Its Smokehaus Q section lists chopped brisket and Carolina pulled pork in sandwiches and platters, and the menu also includes bourbon-marinated steak tips. Upstairs is the 1874 Bourbon Room, which the restaurant promotes as a speakeasy-style room for cocktails and bourbon that can also be booked for private events. Once it opens and posts hours, the Amesbury columns in the grid above will change. That will matter most early in the week, when Scarlet Fire is closed.

Byfield sells it by the pound

Rusty Can at 6 Fruit Street in Byfield covers Monday evening, and its lunch hours Tuesday through Saturday overlap with Metzy's and Smoke on the Water. It doesn't take reservations and seats guests first come, first served. It advertises pit-smoked meats by the plate or by the pound. Buying by the pound matters more as the season moves indoors. A plate feeds you at the table. A pound of smoked meat feeds a Sunday football crowd or a family dinner at home.

When the barbecue comes to you

Every spot in this post also has a way to feed a group, which is useful for the parties, office lunches, and holiday gatherings that fill the fall. Each one handles it a little differently:

1. Metzy's offers dine-in, private parties, catering, and its food truck, and says it will bring the truck to you.
2. Smoke on the Water takes catering orders online through its site.
3. Low & Slow already offers event catering on its site, under the heading "Bring Smokehouse Favorites To Your Gathering." Its upstairs Bourbon Room is set up for private events.
4. Rusty Can sells smoked meat by the pound in Byfield and takes large orders through a catering form on its site. Large-order pickup windows are narrower than its dining hours. On Mondays, for example, pickup runs only from 3 to 5 p.m.
5. Scarlet Fire BBQ has online ordering for takeout, linked from Barewolf's page.

For a fall gathering, the day still sets the options. For a Monday office lunch, you'd call Boston Way. For a Monday dinner, Byfield is also open. For a Thursday dinner, Salisbury has prime rib. For a Saturday crowd, you can choose from any of them, plus Byfield by the pound.

If you're planning this fall around a gathering at a new house, or getting a house ready to sell before the holidays, Douglas Danzey and the team can walk you through the timeline and the numbers. Schedule a call.