The original Noble Sandwich Co. location at 12233 RM 620 N., Ste. 105, Austin, closed Dec. 24 to make way for a new restaurant. Noble Sandwich Co. owners and chefs John Bates and Brandon Martinez are converting the location into Interstellar BBQ. Bates said the new restaurant is expected to open by the end of January.

The only other Noble Sandwich Co. location at 4805 Burnet Rd., Austin, will remain open, Bates said. Interstellar BBQ will offer small-batch, craft barbecue, including brisket, jalapeno popper sausage, pork ribs and more.

“Small-batch style barbecue you cook once a day,” Bates said. “It gets all of your attention. You’re not overloading your smokers. You’re going to...truly just focus more on quality not quantity.”

Bates said he and Martinez started Interstellar BBQ as a pop-up series during the summer of 2018, selling food at breweries and other locations in the Austin area. Bates said after getting a good response from customers, he and Martinez decided to open up a permanent location.

“We’re both still fairly young and we’ve always wanted to have other types of restaurants,” Bates said. “We opened up Noble with the intention of turning it into something special, but also with the intention that it wasn’t going to be our only project.”

512-382-6248. www.instagram.com/interstellarbbq