A Barbecue Restaurant Closes at Town Square

Barbecue restaurant Pot Liquor has shuttered at Town Square, for a surprising and unpredicted reason.

While rumors circulated that the restaurant planned to close before the end of last year, the Southern Nevada Health District pulled the plug on the space for “non-payment of permit fees” in 2017-2018 on Jan. 22. The restaurant phone number is no longer accepting incoming calls.

Pot Liquor has yet to address the forced closure, making no mention on its website, social media pages, or still active Grubhub account. Town Square also still includes the 6,622-square-foot corner restaurant on its own website. It remains unclear if the shut down will become permanent. The restaurant was last visited by the health district on Dec. 22, passing a re-inspection with a C grade.

Launched in 2014 as Pot Liquor CAS, an abbreviation of “Contemporary American Smokehouse,” owners Flip Arbelaez and Doug Bell changed the name to Pot Liquor Smokehouse Barbecue in June of last year. Peach, mesquite and cherry woods smoked the meats for up to 12 hours inside the “Big Hank” smoker.

Doug Bell, 37, the chef behind the Southern-style cuisine, unexpectedly died last September.

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