There’s a new place to hang out in Brookhaven.

Happy hour is 4-7 p.m. Three pool tables are placed prominently in the main room. There’s an Internet Jukebox, and live music starts Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. The new Log Cabin Smokehouse restaurant at 990 Old Hwy 51 has been open since Oct. 2, but Friday night they had their official grand opening and costume party.

Owner Scott Fuller says getting the place opened has been a challenge. He bought the property back in November 2009.

“It took me almost six years to get it where I could open it,” Fuller said. “I’ve basically been doing everything on a very limited budget.”

Fuller was an architect, structural engineer, and general contractor for over 40 years, but after cooking for parties grew into a genuine passion, he decided he had to open a restaurant.

“Ever feasible hoop that had to be jumped through, I jumped through it, because this was a dream and I made it come through,” Fuller said.

Fuller describes his food as true southern barbecue. There are some deep fried items on his menu by popular demand, including a dish he calls deep fried potato salad that he said people love, but Fuller said he really prefers smoking his food.

“All the food that we make is made to order,” Fuller said. “You order a hamburger, it’s made right then. It’s not sitting in a warmer waiting for it to be ordered. My pork, it’s smoked anywhere from 14 to 16 hours depending on the size of the meat when it goes in there,” he said. “It’s hand-pulled, so we pull all the fat out of it and everything, so it’s nice and lean. You don’t get a big old fatty sandwich when you get it. My ribs are all smoked until they fall off the bone. I’ve had people that don’t have teeth eat my ribs. All my sauces, they’re hand-made. It’s all original. You can’t go anywhere else and eat my food, unless I’m catering the place.”

On Nov. 21, Log Cabin Smokehouse plans to host a charity chili cook off. Entry for chili is $40, and there will also be salsa and dip contests at $10. Proceeds will go to the Wounded Warriors Project. The chili contest will have first, second, and third place prizes. Fuller said you don’t need to be a professional cook to enter.

“I don’t care if they’re 12 years old, if they know how to cook chili, they can enter.”