Durk's Bar-B-Q, from the folks behind Downcity cocktail bar The Eddy and Tallulah's Taqueria, is already stoking the fires on social media for an anticipated January 2017 opening.

Today I bring you tidings of great joy. Soon a new barbecue restaurant will open its doors in Providence.

This comes as no surprise to those who follow local social media. That is the way some savvy businesses create buzz before even a morsel of food is served. So that's how it began with but a few Instagram posts from Durk's Bar•B•Q, which will open in January at 275 Thayer St. on College Hill.

It comes from the team that owns and operates The Eddy, Downcity's compact cocktail bar, which celebrates its fourth anniversary this month. Steve Durkee is the Durk's in the name and the owner of both the Eddy and the new barbecue spot, but he wants all the attention focused on his general manager, Jay Carr, and menu and barbecue consultant chef Jake Rojas.

Carr opened The Eddy and now looks forward to bringing his hospitality to Durk's, which will serve both lunch and dinner.

Rojas is proprietor of Tallulah's Taqueria, a restaurant 146 Ives St., in Providence, and a catering company that also operates seasonal taco carts. Rojas and wife, Kelly Ann, also ran Tallulah's on Thames, an elegant Newport restaurant, until September, when they closed to focus on the taco and catering businesses. The couple also welcomed their first child, son Cortez, born in August.

I visited with Carr and Rojas at a pop-up barbecue dinner they held a few weeks ago to introduce Durk's. It was at the Eddy, which was designed by Libby Slader, who is also working on the look of Durk's.

But back to the food. Rojas is a barbecue master with brisket his specialty, but don't discount his ribs, pinto beans or perfect coleslaw. We all know that some barbecue can be so sweet that it distracts from the meat. Rojas doesn't let that happen. Both his meats and beans are prepared so that their natural flavor shines through. His coleslaw was crunchy and fresh and had a nice acidic finish that I found cleansed the palate in the same way a good Sauvignon blanc does.

"I think you need different flavors on the plate," Rojas said while cooking in the small kitchen at the Eddy. "We worked hard on the flavors and gave the Tallulah treatment to the barbecue."

And he succeeded.

Now we have to wait for Durk's• to open to enjoy more of the tender ribs and brisket. Did I mention the smoked sausage?

"I don't think people are ready for what's going to happen there," said Carr, expressing his enthusiasm for the food. There is a smoker at the new restaurant, naturally, that came from Missouri, barbecue country.

In the kitchen will be chef de cuisine Brandon Teachout, who has worked for and been training with Rojas, whose role is limited to consultant at this point.

Carr said the idea has been smoking for a while. It took off when they found the perfect space at the former site of the Shark Bar and Grille on Thayer Street. (Shark was at the heart of former House Speaker Gordon Fox's downfall on a charge that he was bribed to secure a liquor license for the spot.)

Carr said Rojas' food is so beloved that it was a no-brainer to involve him in the menu. But Carr isn't forgetting his bartending roots and has put together a bar with more than 100 American whiskeys, which will be served in flights and cocktails.

There will also be 14 tap lines, which will include ciders, American and German beers.

Noting the College Hill location, Carr said that sandwiches and small plates will be priced to be affordable to students. Drinks will start at $7-$8 for cocktails on tap.

The menu will offer meats by the half pound. There will be no takeout when the doors first open. Carr wants service to be seamless before introducing food to go.

The restaurant will seat 70 or 80 and the bar will have 14 stools. Patrick Cull will be bar manager.

You can follow the progress of the restaurant on Facebook at Durk's Bar • B • Q and on Instagram at durksbbq.

— gciampa@providencejournal.com

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On Twitter: @gailciampa