Gympie Bunker Smokehouse shock Christmas closure

A regional Qld barbecue chef who suddenly closed his well-loved restaurant at Christmas opens up on how last year’s drought combined with the soaring cost-of-living has only made it harder for local, boutique restaurants to keep their doors open.

A regional Qld BBQ chef who suddenly closed his well-loved restaurant at Christmas opens up on how last year’s drought combined with the soaring cost-of-living has only made it harder for local, boutique restaurants to keep their doors open.Â

For a well-known Gympie barbecue chef and entrepreneur duo, the holiday season, usually the most profitable time for hospitality, has been marred by the reluctant closure of their much-loved smokehouse.

The Commercial Hotel on Reef and Channon St in Gympie has been home to the Bunker Smokehouse since 2020, run by long-time smoked meat hospitality entrepreneurs Jarrod Dan and Lauren Langley, also known as Beauty and the Beard. 

Despite the restaurant weathering pandemics and floods, it has fallen victim to soaring cost-of-living prices coupled with the dry weather affecting farmers.

“Gympie is a lot more rural than people realise and we’ve been on a steady decline all year,” Mr Dan said.

“We’ve had this massive drought period and people can’t sell cattle, they’re worried about feeding their cattle and we lose out.

“At the end of the day, we just had to make the decision for us and it hurts me. Anyone who knows me knows my whole identity is wrapped in this place.”

Jarrod Dan, who suddenly closed his well-loved restaurant at Christmas opens up on how last year’s drought combined with the soaring cost-of-living has only made it harder for local, boutique restaurants to keep their doors open.

The closure of the restaurant came as a sudden shock to the community with no official announcement or notice given, besides a “Closed from Christmas Day” on their holiday hours post.

The Bunker Smokehouse at 10 Toes Brewing in Buderim, however, showed openings into 2024.

Mr Dan said he held off on announcing it as he did not want to create pity and just wanted to focus on moving forward.

“Last year was tough for a lot of hospitality,” he said.

He said most hospitality businesses banked on breaking even during the December period and it came in too late this year.

“When you lose that amount in hospitality, the amount of effort that you put in, you find it really hard to get the energy to come back and do it again,” he said.

With the lease ending in January 2024, the couple weighed up their options and decided to make the reluctant decision to close down.

But for Beauty and the Beard it is far from over.

Mr Dan said he took courage from the “amazing town of camaraderie” and he recalled his favourite memory of the Bunker feeding volunteers during the 2022 floods, helping out with donations, and a big thank you event in the weeks following the disaster.

He said he was still looking for a chance to open again in Gympie but wanted to go in a wholesale direction, smoking meat for events and venues.

The boutique smokehouse is the third restaurant in the region to fall victim to what seems like a sudden closure trend, leaving disappointed patrons speculating over the reasons, with Mr Dan the only business owner willing to comment on it.

Woolooga Longyard owners Caz and Matthew Crane closed the doors on their business in a sudden announcement on November 30, 2023. Picture: Elizabeth Neil

The first shock closure was Woolooga Longyard two weeks after the property was put on the market, when they posted on their Facebook page informing patrons on November 30, 2023 of the closure and saying it was not “an easy decision” and “family and health is the most important thing in the world”.

The Emmett family who ran Quay Carlo Rainbow Beach announced its permanent closure on January 1, 2024, despite reports in mid-December it had closed.

A little over a fortnight later, Quay Carlo Rainbow Beach closed their doors and did not reopen, with patrons taking to social media on December 16, 2023, saying the closed sign was up and they were unable to call through for bookings.

An update on their Facebook page appeared on New Year’s Day and confirmed they had been “forced to permanently close”.

“The landlord of the premises unfortunately decided to terminate our lease at very short notice just before the festive season,” the update stated.

Gympie Times reached out to both business owners for comment but did not receive responses.

Originally published as Gympie Bunker Smokehouse shock Christmas closure