Closing: Popular West Palm BBQ restaurant learns A/C vital to luring diners in extreme heat

Eddie Ritz, Palm Beach Post
Updated ·2 min read

WEST PALM BEACH — It was hard to beat the heat. Troy's Barbecue has closed just shy of its second anniversary at The Peach on Georgia Avenue. Opened in September 2021, it abruptly closed in late July, with owner Anthony Barber blaming a very slow summer, and this year's extreme heat and humidity as contributing factors.

Though customers lauded the building Troy's operated out of at The Peach as having a great vibe, it was also old and did not have air-conditioning. In cooler months, staff just threw open the large doors to the outside. But this summer featured days of stifling, record-breaking heat and little breeze.

Barber said not being able to offer customers a respite from the heat, really hurt sales at the restaurant.

"When people in South Florida have a choice between air-conditioning and no air-conditioning, they're going to pick air-conditioning," Barber said.

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To make his point, he said that earlier in the summer, a close friend was picking some people up at Palm Beach International Airport, and called to say that he was taking them to the Troy's location in Boynton Beach. Barber said that when he asked why not just bring them over to Troy's at The Peach, the friend cited the lack of air-conditioning.

The cost to install air-conditioning at The Peach would have been astronomical, Barber said.

Though their business was too slow at The Peach, the Boynton Beach restaurant has been unbelievably busy this summer, Barber said.

Barber expects to be back in West Palm Beach in the not-so-distant future, and said meanwhile, Troy's will be offering its barbecue at a new Rodney Mayo spot on Clematis Street. (Mayo owns the Subculture Group, which operates a couple dozen dining and entertainment spots in the region.)

That spot, called The Hacienda, will be a few doors west of Mayo's Respectable Street and is slated to open sometime in 2024.

Troy's Barbecue restaurant in West Palm Beach closes

Troy's Barbecue at The Peach in West Palm Beach has closed. They are still, however, open in Boynton Beach and their food truck is available for events.
Troy's Barbecue at The Peach in West Palm Beach has closed. They are still, however, open in Boynton Beach and their food truck is available for events.

Still want Troy's Barbecue? You can head to Boynton Beach:

What: Troy's Barbecue

Where: 1920 Federal Hwy., Boynton Beach

Information: bbqtroys.com

Eddie Ritz is a journalist at The Palm Beach Post, part of the USA TODAY Florida Network. You can reach him at eritz@pbpost.com. Help support our journalism. Subscribe today.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Troy's BBQ restaurant in West Palm closes due to slow summer, bad A/C