Steele Clayton and his wife Ksea’s long-awaited vision for their restaurant Steele Barrel BBQ will finally come to fruition as the local food truck establishment has opened indoor seating for customers and will soon introduce monthly reservation dinners.
Clayton said the project to introduce indoor dining wrapped up several weeks back after the establishment obtained city approval to allow customers to sit indoors. He said as long as the food truck is up and running, customers will be allowed to sit and eat indoors after placing their orders outside.
“We’re just working out what that model looks like for us. The process with the city wasn’t bad either. I’ve always had great interactions with the city. I know, historically, sometimes there’ve been people that’ve expressed frustrations,” Clayton said. “I think I’ve always been gracious with all of my interactions. I had zero problems with them. Everything was a good experience. It’s all what you make it.”
He added that Steele Barrel BBQ needed to obtain construction permits to allow customers to be seated indoors, and the restaurant also had to update the health department on the restaurant’s infrastructure.
“A lot of that fell on our shoulders, and it was difficult and why it took so long. This was not a ready-to-use building in my opinion,” Clayton said. “We feel like the indoor seating upgrades have exceeded our expectations on what the finished outlook is. I think it’s going to be a great spot for people to come in and eat some barbecue inside to get away from the weather. In the summertime, it will be an extension of the space we already have going on the patio.”
Steele Barrel BBQ will also soon begin offering monthly reservation-only dinners at the restaurant. Clayton anticipates the first reservation dinner at Steele Barrel Barbecue to be on Valentine’s Day 2025.
“We’d like to start doing that once, maybe twice a month, where we start having reservation nights for people. We want it to be a higher end, inside dining experience,” Clayton said. “I think it will be a great opportunity for people to see the space and see what it can be used for. It will also be an opportunity for people to see what we can showcase outside of barbecue, which I’m excited for.”
Steele Barrel BBQ, located at 1506 W. Yelm Ave., is open 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. Wednesdays; 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Thursdays and Sundays; and 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Friday and Saturdays.
“Come join the space if we’re open for business and it’s not reserved. People are welcome to sit inside. They’ll still order from the truck, and the team is still good about bringing it in,” Clayton said. “We’re working on a system so that people can order from our menu through an app, but for now our team will bring the food inside to our customers.”
