A month after declaring that his restaurant was closed due to a fire and other hazards, owner Matt Horn announced the reopening of Horn Barbecue. The acclaimed eatery will now open its doors at 464 8th Street in downtown Oakland, just a short walk from the BART station. The reopening marks a new chapter for Horn Barbecue, which has faced legal troubles and financial challenges in recent months. The move to a new location will take Horn Barbecue away from its old home in West Oakland, where Horn owns two other restaurants, Matty’s Old Fashioned and Kowbird. The reopening of the barbecue site resolves a messy saga that began last fall when the Mandela Parkway location mysteriously caught fire, just days after Horn had publicized that the building had been tagged by graffiti. The reopening also coincides with another resolution for Horn. Last week, he signed a new legal agreement with his former business partner, David Kim, who had sued him for $167,000 in allegedly unpaid wages. Under the new agreement, Horn will make regular payments to Kim. Horn also owes an $83,000 settlement to his former meat distributor over allegations of unpaid invoices, and he was ordered by a court last month to pay $64,000 to Cooks Company Produce, a San Francisco-based distributor that had sought damages from Horn over a contract dispute. Horn has received financial support from a GoFundMe campaign that raised $130,000 after last year’s fire, and $100,000 in federal COVID-19 relief money from Alameda County.
Horn Barbecue Finds New Home After Fire, Legal Woes
