Rochester BBQ Fans Get Hopeful Update After John Hardy’s Fire

One of Rochester's favorite "hole in the wall" restaurants, John Hardy's Bar-B-Q, suffered a unfortunate fire on Wednesday, January 14th, 2026. Due to the fire, this restaurant has been temporarily closed ever since. But this week, we had a little glimmer of good news from the owners.

A Bit Of Good News About John Hardy's Bar-B-Q in Rochester, Minnesota

When the Rochester Fire Department arrived on scene on January 14th, it was reported that heavy smoke was coming from the roof line on the back side of the building. According to the story written by KROC-AM News, RFD arrived just before 9:30 p.m. and found heavy fire inside of the doorway. Thankfully, no one was inside the restaurant at the time of the fire. The report also indicated that the kitchen area suffered heavy fire and smoke damage.

On Monday, a bit of good news was shared by John Hardy's Bar-B-Q on their Facebook page:

We Will Be Back
While our North location is temporarily closed, we appreciate your support at our South location. We'll be back soon. Updates to follow.

As soon as our Townsquare Media team hears more, we will share that local news update on our free app.

Until that re-opening date happens, please remember to support local. You can find the address and a link to get directions to the South John Hardy's Bar-B-Q location below.