Glens Falls Business Journal
By Rod Bacon
Foodies in the Glens Falls area have a new choice in the plethora of culinary options.
On October 23, Fire Mission Smokehouse & Taproom opened at 126 Glen Street, specializing in Texas-style barbecue.
The restaurant is owned by United States Marine Corps veterans Kris and Heather March and business partner Justin Prescott, who is a veteran of the United States Army.
A Connecticut native, Kris March served first as an infantryman and later an explosive ordinance disposal technician in the Marines from 1997 to 2016, retiring with the rank of staff sergeant. He was deployed multiple times to Iraq and Afghanistan before postings stateside. One of these was Quantico, Virginia, where he met Heather.
A field radio operator, she had been posted in Okinawa, Japan, prior to being assigned to Quantico.
The couple had several postings in the U.S., the longest of which was in San Diego, California.
Heather grew up in Fort Ann, which drew the them to the area when they retired from the Marines.
Prescott served in the Army from 2004-2011, with postings at Fort Drum, New York, and Fort Sill, Oklahoma. He was deployed twice to Iraq, once for 12 months and again for 15 months. He also did a six-month tour with United States Central Command (CENTCOM) in Qatar for Operation Enduring Freedom, where he planned and coordinated air assets for units in Afghanistan.
In his first deployment he was a fire support specialist controlling mortars, artillery, rockets, fixed wing, rotary wing, and unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) assets. His second deployment was to the prison in Basrah, Iraq, where he served as a counterintelligence NCO.
He retired with the rank of staff sergeant.
The Marches also own Slickfin Brewing Co. in Ft. Edward and Prescott operated Carnivore Brothers BBQ and Catering, a food truck in business since 2022. Prescott curtailed operation of the food truck when he committed to partner with the Marches in their latest undertaking.
“When I decided to do this I went all in,” he said. “I still have the food truck and if it rolls out in the spring it will be under the Fire Mission flag.”
Prescott was born in Saratoga Springs but moved as a child to Texas, where he became familiar with Southwestern barbecue. When he was discharged from the Army he decided to settle in the Adirondacks.
He does not have formal culinary training but said he has been cooking all his life.
“I started the food truck as a side gig during Covid and it grew from there,” he said.
Like the Marches’ other enterprise, the restaurant’s name is rooted in military jargon and Kris March used an analogy to explain how they came up with it.
“Fire mission is a term used when calling for support … mortars, artillery, navel guns,” he said. “We came up with the idea because each of us has a direct connection to the different jobs within a fire mission. Justin is a forward observer, Heather is communications, and during combat I called for fire regularly.”
The logo for the restaurant combines elements of barbecue with military images. A fierce wild boar wearing a beret and communication headphones is superimposed over a bomb, meat cleaver, and vintage artillery cannon. Smoke and fire hover in the background.
The name for Slickfin Brewing Co. also came from military parlance.
According to March, a slickfin is a type of bomb fin. As an explosive ordinance disposal technician he noted that the term is used extensively among those who do that work.
He and Heather were discussing names for the brewery they planned to open and she liked that one.
The restaurant, formerly the home of Play With Your Food, is located across from the Glens Falls Civic Center and next to The Park Theater.
The barbecue menu features a la carte meats that include brisket, pulled pork, sausage, turkey breast, burnt ends, and beef ribs, in addition to Payload Nachos and Cluster Spuds. For those willing to share a meal there are Pitmaster Plates with names like Texas Two Step, Lonestar Sampler, and The Rio Grande. These can feed from 1-6 diners.
The tavern menu features a variety of sandwiches and burgers accompanied by sides and desserts. There is also a kids’ menu.
They have a temporary liquor license allowing them to serve cocktails and beer from Slickfin Brewing Co. In keeping with the theme of the restaurant, the cocktails have names channeling the Southwest: Lasso Lemonade, The Gunslinger, Cowgirl Kiss, Prickly Cactus, The Wrangler, Buffalo Sunrise, and Barn Dance.
Cider and wine will be available soon.
The restaurant can accommodate 148 patrons in the seating areas and bar. Between kitchen personnel, waitstaff, bartenders, and cocktail servers it employs 16 people.
Hours are 3 p.m.-10 p.m., Wednesday through Saturday. March noted that these hours are flexible to accommodate people attending a hockey game or other downtown event who might want to stop in for a late-night drink or snack.
Slickfin Brewery opened in March 2019 in a building that had been empty for 15 years. Renovations, which took a year, were done by the Marches, family members, and friends. In addition to beautification projects they built a walk-in cooler and bar from scratch and installed new tile. They did hire Barlow Electric of Middle Granville to install the wiring.
Financing for the building’s $115,000 purchase price was secured through the Lake Champlain-Lake George Regional Planning Board.
They also purchased the building next door, which they tore down and created a beer garden overlooking the Hudson River.
While no food is served at the brewery, patrons can bring their own to enjoy with their brews. They also coordinate with Amy Stumvoll, whose nickname is Stumpy and is the owner of Stumpy’s Pizzeria, to provide comfort food.
March started brewing beer as a hobby in his house in 2012, tutored by a friend who had been doing it for years. In 2017 he took a course at Schenectady County Community College to hone his craft. Finally, his hobby outgrew his house and he decided he had to go to the next level.
Slickfin Brewery has a six-barrel system, three half-barrel tanks, six-barrel bright tanks in the walk-in, and a small canning line.
They strive to have 10 beers on tap at all times, many of which have unique names. For example, patrons can order Piss Missile It’s A Golf Thing lager, Before I Had Status IPA, Nightshade porter, Fortress amber, and Iron Sights lager, among others.
The brewery is located at 147 Broadway in Fort Edward. Hours are Tuesday, 4 p.m.-8 p.m.; Wednesday and Thursday, 4 p.m.-9 p.m.; Friday 2 p.m.-9 p.m.; and Saturday, 2 p.m.-10 p.m.; closed Sunday and Monday.
For more information about Slickfin Brewing Co. go to slickfinbrewing.com.
To peruse the offerings at Fire Mission Smokehouse & Taproom, Google Fire Mission Smokehouse & Taproom, which will take you to their Facebook page.