Michelin-Approved Burgers Are Set to Take Over a Very Visible Highway 1 Space

For anyone who drives the chunk of Highway 1 between Half Moon Bay and San Francisco with any kind of frequency, the defunct Monster Chef space is almost a local landmark. Chef Danny Li closed his El Granada all-you-can-eat sushi buffet business in 2020, Outback Steakhouse-ish Flavor the tenant before that.

Now Wyatt Fields has taken the lease and will move his Michelin Guide-approved Breakwater Barbecue to the dormant space and put a big smoker behind the glass inside.

His Texas-style barbecue outfit has lived in an iconic yellow building a few blocks away for the same five years this Highway 1 space has stayed quiet, but Fields says the stars aligned for Breakwater to decamp. In that half a decade, Breakwater was listed as one of six barbecue destinations in California by Michelin as well as one of the best hamburgers in the state. This move means those semi-smashed brisket burgers will be all the closer to the highway; the grand opening for the butcher counter and restaurant is Thursday, May 8 with rolling soft hours in the meantime. “Barbecue by the beach,” Fields says, “and bringing it for the hometown.”

Breakwater Barbecue

While the familiar items fans have come to love will make the hop, things will operate a little differently at this larger ___location. There are two menus: smoked meat market and coastal country kitchen. The former is butcher, barbecue favorites. The latter is tacos, sandwiches, just-baked cornbread, salads, and sides. Unlike most barbecue spots that close once they sell out, this means Fields can pivot to the latter exclusively until closing at 8 p.m. New items include a foray into smoked fish; Fields says he’s been on a “deep dive” into local black cod from the boats in the harbor lately. A smoked salmon, sold as a tray with appetizers, from Hidden Fjord joins the offerings, as well. Smoked turkey, beef ribs, and handmade flour tortillas will be in the rotation much more consistently here. There’s a beer and wine license for the space, too, meaning local pours on tap.

Breakwater Barbecue

Fields grew up on the Peninsula and cut his teeth in the Bay’s cooking scene. In 2014 he launched Native Catering, after stints in San Francisco at the Pacific Coast Meat Company, 15 Romolo, Pacific Union Club SF, and now-closed John Collins. Then he took a barbecue course at Berkeley’s Kitchen on Fire and everything changed.

In 2020 he launched Breakwater in a former brewery, the name a nod to the Princeton Jetty surf spot. “It was like a cafe space,” Fields says. “It wasn’t conducive to growth.”

It was just a week later that COVID shut down his dine-in business, but Breakwater rose to the occasion and became a fast favorite for to-go butchered meats and house-made sausages, alongside those brisket plates and burgers. Now his fare can be found at Levi’s Stadium, in addition to the new ___location, which is across the way from chef Carlos Altamirano’s tremendous La Costanera.

The new space will go for that same “coastal country” feel, a historical homage to the Ocean Shore Railroad station that sat on the same lot. The hope is to run seven days a week down the road, though that smoked meat menu will remain Thursday through Sunday.

Breakwater Barbecue (10151 Cabrillo Highway, El Granada) will open Thursday, May 8, from 11:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday through Sunday.

Breakwater Barbecue