NORTH SMITHFIELD – A family restaurant famous for its unique barn-style environment and laid-back fare will be moving this year.
And the news means that after 50 years of dominating the corner of Route 146-A and Greenville Road with casual dining, all members of the Branchaud family are ready to move on.
The Beef Barn will relocate to Homestead Gardens on Industrial Drive in North Smithfield in 2020.
The business was opened 1969 by family patriarch Normand Branchaud, a well-known local entrepreneur who ran multiple establishments in and around town, including The Village Haven.
Branchaud leased the prominent corner lot from the Valliere family, constructing a barn to serve up roast beef, hamburgers, fries and pastrami sandwiches.
His ex-wife Rolande eventually took over operations, and their son Marc Branchaud joined her in running the restaurant after graduating college.
Marc re-opened a second Beef Barn location in Bellingham, Mass. in 2015, in another barn-style structure built by his father. That restaurant was operated as a Beef Barn for two years in the 1970s, but had been sold, and for years housed Vercelli’s Restaurant.
On Saturday, Nov. 16, Marc and his sister Michelle, who also helps to run the original Greenville Road location, announced the move to Homestead Gardens.
It is the second major move announced in 2019 by members of the family that have fed area residents for decades.
Their father Normand had opened Coffee & Cream in the neighboring lot in 1991. Son Jonathan Branchaud eventually took over that breakfast spot, which was destroyed by a fire in 2017.
Earlier this year, Jonathan and wife Heather announced that they would be moving to Slatersville Plaza, and a grand opening is scheduled this week, on Monday, Nov. 18.
The fire spared the Beef Barn, but demolition is still needed on the property, and parking issues and congestion have plagued the once shared parking lot.
Now it seems, one of North Smithfield’s favorite lunch and dinner joints is ready to follow suit, and leave the busy corner.
“We believe moving to this six-acre parcel will be a perfect fit for our new home,” Marc and Michelle announced this week.
The announcement pointed to the physical limitations of the current location, and the drawbacks of renovating on leased land.
The new location will be built on the former Homestead Gardens property.
“Our plan is to keep as much originality of the ‘Barn’ with a little more elbow room,” the siblings noted. “This rustic setting will allow us to not only increase our seating capacity but also provide outdoor seasonal seating, and ample parking.”
The Branchauds said that beer and wine will also be served at the new location.
The restaurant is expected to open in late summer of 2020 at 200 Industrial Drive, approximately two miles away.
“Our goal will always be to provide fresh quality food at affordable prices,” said the Branchauds.
In the meantime, the Beef Barn will remain open seven days a week at the current location.
