MONEY

Area barbecue eatery adds new location in Lancaster

Jeff Barron

LANCASTER – Greg Miles said he opened the newest location of 7 Miles Smokehouse in Lancaster recently because city residents visiting his Chillicothe and Circleville locations wanted one there.

That includes Stacey Underwood and Kathy LeVeck, who were eating lunch a little over a week ago shortly after the business opened for its first day at 732 N. Memorial Drive.

"I'm so excited," Underwood said. "I've been waiting for this. They were trying to come several months ago, and it just didn't work out that time. It was disappointing then, but I'm so glad they're here now. Obviously, the food is just delicious, but they give you great portions. And I love that it's a family-owned business, and I like to try to support local."

Miles owns the business with his wife and five children, thus the 7 Miles Smokehouse name.

The restaurant features giant sandwiches named The Destroyer, The Mad Dog and The Messy Pig, among others, along with several side dishes. Miles said his food is competition-worthy and cooked only with fire and wood. He also offers catering.

"If anybody's watched any of the recent shows that are on the Food Network and that sort of stuff, 'BBQ Pitmasters' and so on, those are the techniques that we use every day," he said. "There's a number of barbecue places across the country that utilize those techniques, but not very many."

Miles said some other barbecue restaurants use a gas-chambered smoker with racks that rotate, which he said makes the meat overly smoked.

"There's actually a lot of people that can't eat that meat because it gives them indigestion and acid reflux and that kind of thing," he said. "So by just using wood and fire, which is what you'll only see in a competition, there's no gas, there's no electric. It's just wood and fire, that's it."

Miles opened his first restaurant about 31/2 years ago in Circleville before opening one in Chillicothe.

Miles was open only on Friday and Saturday in Circleville in those early days and making about $30 to $50 a day.

"I wanted the food to do the talking, so I never advertised," he said. "And within six months, I was doing it six days a week, and within seven or eight months, I had people pleading with me to open one in Chillicothe. They were driving up from Chillicothe to Circleville, so we opened one in Chillicothe."

Miles said he also wants to open locations in Portsmouth and Columbus.

"We're trying to do everything like you would experience at the Columbus Jazz and Ribs Fest or if you went to a barbecue competition," he said. "That's what we try to do every day. That will drive our success as people tell other people about it. People will go out in the community and say, 'Hey man, that food's really good there. You need to go try it.' "