New owners change local Virginia Barbeque outpost to Lakeside Barbeque

Co-owners Jarrett Douma and Chris Strattman (Mike Platania photo)

With new owners at the helm, a Lakeside barbecue joint has been renamed for its namesake neighborhood. 

The longtime Virginia Barbeque location at 6920 Lakeside Ave. has been rebranded to Lakeside Barbeque as part of its sale to Jarrett Douma and Chris Strattman.

The restaurant initially opened about 10 years ago as a franchise of the Virginia Barbeque chain, serving Virginia- and North Carolina-style barbecue next to Final Gravity Brewing Co. 

Douma, a local residential real estate investor who got his start in the neighborhood, said discussions with the restaurant’s previous owners, Hallie and Don Booth, started when he’d come in to get the lunch special. 

“(The Booths) said, ‘Hey, we know you’re pretty active in the area, do you know anybody that wants to buy this place?’” Douma said. “I said, ‘Well, if you send me the numbers, I might be interested.’ They sent me the numbers and the rest is history.”

The deal closed Aug. 30 for $64,000, Douma said. It included the restaurant’s lease, book of business and equipment. 

Douma said it’s his first time in the restaurant industry, and that he brought in Strattman, a local industry veteran, as a co-owner and general manager to oversee the day-to-day operations. 

“You can come into a restaurant and shadow, do all the due diligence and the precursory things, but you don’t really understand until you’re in it every day and realizing how many moving pieces there are in a restaurant,” Douma said. “I’ve had a lot of fun learning it and Chris has been a huge help.”

Though it started as a franchise, Douma said the restaurant became independent after the Virginia Barbeque franchise system collapsed a few years ago. 

Aside from the name change and some minor interior renovations, Douma said they don’t plan to change much at Lakeside Barbeque. They are, however, looking to expand the restaurant’s catering operation, and may look to expand their footprint. 

“We see this as an opportunity where we could expand this business to multiple locations down the line,” Douma said. “I think it could turn into a pretty decent-sized chain if we figure it out.”

Douma said he thinks Lakeside’s reputation as a dining neighborhood is on the rise, in part thanks to recent arrivals like Revel Market and Bar and established haunts like Hobnob and SB’s Lakeside Love Shack. 

“There’s a lot of great options to eat over here and it seems like we’re starting to get noticed a little bit,” he said. “A lot of people have said they’ve never been here before and they’re definitely going to be back.”