Great news! Fans of The Smoke Pit can now get their fix at all Northampton Saints home rugby matches
Fans of The Smoke Pit can now get their burger fix at all Northampton Saints home rugby matches, following the opening of the redeveloped Fan Village at Franklin’s Gardens.
James Ingram founded The Smoke Pit and Hops and Chops alongside his late brother Matt, and they also launched chicken restaurant Mission Chicken in the former Buddies USA site in Dychurch Lane.
The Smoke Pit, a barbecue meat restaurant in The Ridings, was their first and opened in January 2015. Three years later, in March 2018, they broadened their horizons and opened modern meat chophouse Hops and Chops on Kent Road.
The latest development for The Smoke Pit is that their signature burgers and fries are now a staple offering at Franklin’s Garden’s Fan Village, and James spoke to the Chronicle & Echo about how the opportunity came about.
“They redeveloped their whole fanzone area, which has neat and tidy shipping container units with vendors in,” said James. “Catering company Peppermint are the new holders of the Saints hospitality side of things, they put out a tender and we got it.”
The Smoke Pit’s first experience at Franklin’s Gardens was an open training session with the players, in which fans were invited to purchase a ticket to watch them in action.
James continued: “It was a soft run for us and we were super busy. It was humbling and really nice to have people say they’re happy to see us there.”
James hopes the collaboration will be mutually beneficial – as fans of The Smoke Pit will come to watch the Saints, and Saints fans will come to try out their restaurant if they have not already.
When asked how business has been for The Smoke Pit during 2026, James said: “Incredibly hard. There’s not the same cash coming in as what’s going out and we’re trying to keep up. I’ve been saying we’re at rock bottom for four years and we need to get out of this rut.”
The biggest challenge faced is the increase in costs, including fuel, electricity, food, wages and national insurance contributions – and James said no one truly understands what businesses are facing as it is not spoken about out of fear of coming across negatively.
The business owner says it is no secret that things are not calming down, particularly for the hospitality industry, but there is hope that large rises will not be seen over the course of the next year.
Concluding on what Saints fans can expect from The Smoke Pit at the Fan Village, James said there are meat and vegetarian burgers, fries and their delicious mac and cheese croquettes.