DBA Barbecue will close on Sunday, Feb. 25, after 15 years in Virginia-Highland. The decision to close the beloved barbecue restaurant, however, wasn’t easy for owner Matt Coggin, but necessary.
As Coggin puts it, he’s trading running one big restaurant for operating two smaller locations. It also allows his mother the chance to retire from the business she was never supposed to be involved with in the first place.
“It comes down to a life change. I’ve been a one-man show for 15 years with help from my family. It’s hard to run three restaurants. Something had to give.” Coggin says. “During the pandemic, we did a lot of takeout here. I was the one at the curb giving out orders and greeting customers. I realized how much I enjoy the hospitality side of this business. It reenergized me going forward.”
His mother’s well-being was the other reason behind Coggin’s decision to close in Virginia-Highland. His mother can walk to the restaurant from her home in the neighborhood and has become its unofficial CFO.
“She told me, ‘I just want to be your mom again,’” says Coggin. “She always wanted to help me out. This gives her the excuse to step back and not feel pulled to walk down the street to see what she can do for me. We are a very tight family.”
The closure of DBA in Virginia-Highland now frees Coggin up to throw all of his energy behind two new barbecue ventures in Atlanta. This includes expanding hours to seven days a week at DBA in Buckhead starting Feb. 26 and opening DBA Tacos & BBQ in April, Coggin’s upcoming fast-casual restaurant headed to Clarkston.
Many of the Virginia-Highland restaurant’s most popular menu items will be served in Buckhead and Clarkston, including ribs, wings, brisket, pork, andouille sausage, and smoked chicken. Pastrami will be added at both locations, along with burnt ends and salads like the brisket wedge and smoked Cobb.
The Clarkston location took over a former Taco Bell and KFC on East Ponce de Leon Avenue. This location prompted Coggin to incorporate a quick-service model and menu and to utilize the existing drive-thru window. While dine-in service will be available, Coggin is priming the Clarkston restaurant for takeout.
In addition to traditional barbecue plates and sandwiches, the menu in Clarkston will offer a selection of street tacos using DBA’s smoked meats. There will be halal beef options, a barbacoa taco, and a cochinita pibil taco made with boneless smoked pork butt. All tacos will come dressed in pico, diced onions, radishes, and lime. House-made mojo sauce, avocado crema, and pickled red onions will garnish the cochinita pibil taco. Look for a vegetarian taco, too, as well as beer, wine, and a small list of cocktails in Clarkston.
“I became hooked on hospitality at an early age and threw parties at my parents’ house. I’d be the one walking around asking people if they needed anything,” Coggin says. “With these two restaurants, I can get back to my hospitality roots and we can really focus on what we do best and that’s our smoked meats and sides.”
