Latin American BBQ Joint Lechon Smokehouse Opens In Former Bobby Q’s Spot in Norwalk

BBQ, Latin American style. Brisket, ribs, homemade chorizo, a crispy chicharron, esquites, yellow rice + lechon, garlic tostones, abuelita’s mac + cheese.

There’s a new resident at The Waypointe and they’re likely the only ones allowed to smoke indoors.

But this “new neighbor” doesn’t occupy an apartment, they took over the Merwin Street space that was created for Bobby Q’s Cue & Co. that was vacant since 2021 after owner Bob LeRose sadly passed away.

Almost two years later, a new tenant arrived, and they’re planning to continue smoking and serving BBQ, only with a Latin twist.

The former Bobby Q’s space looks a bit different these days.

Lechon Smokehouse, owned by Richard Camos, and his friend since childhood, Mike Estrada, opened their doors very quietly at the end of June.

“We grew up together in Bellerose, Queens, then he (Camos) moved to North Carolina in his mid-20s,” Estrada says. “He opened a bunch of pizzerias, bars, restaurant, and breweries in the Raleigh-Durham area, His aunt in Queens is sick, she has cancer, so he comes here to help her out. On one of his visits, a real estate agent (Nina Becker) he knows and does business with down there said she had a place in Norwalk, so we took a ride out here to see it. We kept it kinda BBQ because of the place that was here before.”

Lechon Smokehouse’s Cubano uses the restaurant’s namesake protein, a Puerto Rican style lechon that’s seasoned and marinated, rests for two days, then gets smoked for five hours before it’s finished in the oven. On the Cuban sandwich, plenty of tender, flavorful pork is nestled between thin slices of griddled ham, Swiss cheese, pickles, and mustard.

What you can expect from the still low key Lechon Smokehouse is a blend of American BBQ like brisket, and fall-off-the-bone saucy ribs, alongside Latin American BBQ like Puerto Rican style lechon (the restaurant’s namesake and one of its signatures) and Argentinian chorizo that’s ground and stuffed in-house before it spends 3-4 hours in the smoker and finished in the oven before it hits your platter.

In addition to the BBQ, Lechon also has plenty of Latin American staples like massive, overstuffed Venezuelan arepas, fusion tacos, Colombian empanadas, Puerto Rican yellow rice topped with lechon, a Cuban sandwich that also uses that same melt-in-your-mouth pork, and a crunchy, porky half pound chicharrón.

Arepas range from straight up Latin American flavor combinations and some are Latin American-American BBQ fusion. Pictured is a vegetarian option consisting of sweet plantains, black beans, queso, and aji sauce.

Early on, golden brown empanadas (available in beef or chicken) served with aji sauce have been popular Estrada tells us.

What you might see coming up after Lechon’s soft phase ends is anyone’s guess, but Estrada—an executive sous chef in his own right who’s been a North Shore University Hospital in Manhasset for over 25 years—described it as a “little bit of everything.”

“My family is from Barranquilla, Colombia, he’s Argentinian, there’s some Dominican food here, Puerto Rican, and most of our staff is Latin American; our cook and bartender are both from Colombia,” he says. “Richard’s wife is heavily involved in helping us plan everything out, and he’s up here weekly. I do some of the day-to-day and I still work at the hospital where we cook for upwards of 1000 patients a day and make everything fresh and from scratch.”

Estrada also teased that they’ll soon have an official grand opening (date TBD) complete with a ribbon cutting ceremony, and that Lechon plans to do similar events that they held in the restaurant’s soft opening like DJ nights and celebrating Latin American holidays.

“We’ve gotten some initial buzz despite the quiet opening,” he says. “Some influencers randomly stopped in and there were a few news articles. Lots of people that live in the apartments here of all ages have been in. We’re not pushing it yet. I want the kitchen and staff to have everything down pat. Get some more staff. We want to do it the right way. Eventually, happy hour with drink specials and bar food, wings. We’ll make it super cheap.”

11 Merwin Street; Norwalk
203.299.1313; Instagram @eat_lechon