Local chefs and restaurateurs Brian Rainey, left, and Gavin St. Denis opened the YS Smokehouse on Nov. 1, 2024 in the building that previously housed Calypso Grill. Rainey closed Calypso last month after six years of serving Caribbean cuisine. (Photo by Reilly Dixon)
YS Smokehouse closes, Sunrise goes strong
- Published: September 15, 2025
After about 10 months of serving up saucy and smoky Americana fare in the southern reaches of the village, Yellow Springs Smokehouse cut its final brisket earlier in September.
The restaurant closed up shop on Sunday, Sept. 7, and the building, located at 1535 Xenia Ave., is now for sale.
Local restaurateur and Smokehouse co-owner Brian Rainey spoke with the News earlier this week and cited a few reasons for the eatery’s closure — namely not enough regular business and a desire to renew his focus on his other Yellow Springs restaurant, Sunrise Cafe.
“It’s tough out there for small businesses,” Rainey said. “It’s been a lot of spinning my tires and 15-hour days, just to get [the YS Smokehouse] into the black. And that never happened.”
The Smokehouse opened last November and served dine-in and carry-out Southern-inspired dishes, including pulled pork, wings, macaroni and cheese, collard greens and boiled peanuts. Rainey and co-owner Gavin St. Denis brought the barbeque joint to life after Rainey closed his previous concept, the Caribbean-geared Calypso Grill, after six years of operations.
At the time of the Smokehouse’s closure, it had eight employees — a devoted “skeleton crew” of mostly village residents, Rainey said. Now, St. Denis is off to work at Warped Wing Brewing in Dayton.
“I feel like we really tried,” Rainey said. “I gave it my best shot and the locals gave it their best shot — and I’m grateful for that.”
Amid these changes and closures at 1535 Xenia Ave., the sun hasn’t stopped shining on the downtown Sunrise Cafe, Rainey reported.
“I guess there’s some relief after about eight years of trying,” Rainey said of vying to make a second Yellow Springs restaurant work. “Now, I’m really looking forward to pouring my soul back into Sunrise — giving it the attention that it deserves and needs.”
He continued: “This is mostly me realizing I should be nurturing Sunrise, and working smarter and not harder at this point.”
Rainey — an employee at the time — and his family purchased Sunrise in 2004 from Jonathan Brown, and became the fourth owner of the downtown restaurant since it opened in 1948 as Dick & Tom’s.
Although Rainey split his time between the Smokehouse — previously Calypso — and Sunrise, he said the latter has been doing better than ever with expanded hours, a reliable cast of staffers and a broadened “breakfast-all-day” menu; business is better than it was before the COVID-19 dip in 2020 and 2021, Rainey said.
“I’m just so blessed with Sunrise and my staff,” he said.
Even with just one restaurant to run, Rainey still has his work cut out for him in the immediate days ahead. He’s selling the Smokehouse for $500,000 — just the building and the liquor license, Rainey said — and as he’s getting that space up to snuff, it’s full-blown paw paw season at Sunrise: that means a lot of pies and pancakes from Ohio’s only native fruit.
“We’re scooping so many paw paws over here,” Rainey laughed.
With the Smokehouse building up for sale, Rainey offered a word to the wise for any would-be buyer.
“You better be ready to advertise,” he said. “People tend to forget that it’s down there. You don’t have the downtown foot traffic. You need to have a plan to get people there, and not just assume that good food will bring folks through the doors.”
To Rainey’s point, businesses tend to rotate not infrequently at 1535 Xenia Ave. In the last two decades, it traded hands among Kentucky Fried Chicken, then CJ’s Southern Cooking, Drive-Thru Buffet, Doña Margarota’s, and lastly Calypso Grill and the YS Smokehouse.
“It’s not a typical Yellow Springs restaurant location,” Rainey admitted.
Once relieved of the building, Rainey said he’s looking forward to spending more time with his kids, getting a bit more rest at night and reigniting his focus on “the details” of Sunrise operations.
“Because I’m so blessed with this amazing crew, I don’t have to be in the trenches, putting food on plates and putting out ‘fires’ every day,” he said. “I can run the business like it’s supposed to be run.”
As for the future: “Sunrise is going to be here forever, as far as I’m concerned,” Rainey added.
Sunrise Cafe is open seven days a week, 7:30 a.m.–9 p.m., at 259 Xenia Ave.
One Response to “YS Smokehouse closes, Sunrise goes strong”
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The restaurant business is a grind; I’m sorry to see the Smokehouse go. Both the Calypso Grill and the Smokehouse served terrific food. Here’s wishing Brian continued success at Sunrise and the extra time with family.