WEST POINT — Lifelong city native and restaurateur Matt Livingston has added yet another dining location to the main strip of downtown West Point.

American Smokehouse, sitting snugly between Momma Goldberg’s Deli and Joe’s Tex Mex on West 3rd Avenue opens its doors today, bringing new culinary options to citizens of the greater Valley area.

“It’s a big city restaurant with a small-town feel,” Livingston said. “When people see smokehouse, they might think it’s a barbecue restaurant. It’s not barbecue, it’s not a steakhouse, it’s a smokehouse where we smoke everything we have from our ribeyes, our filets, our shrimp, our lobster, everything.”

With two in-house, wood-burning smokers, Livingston said he hopes that American Smokehouse, or ASH, will bring an “upscale” environment that any diner could enjoy.

“One of the main questions is ‘Can we afford it?” he said. “Absolutely anybody can afford it. It’s family friendly. We are high-end food, high-end customer service and a high-end bar, but we aren’t high-end prices.”

To ensure the quality of service and food in the early days of being open, Livingston said, the restaurant will operate on a reservation-only policy.

“We are limiting out numbers so that we don’t get bombarded opening night and then get a bunch of bad reviews saying that the wait times are too long,” Livingston explained. “People here are critics. You’ve got one time to make it right, and if it’s not right then you’ve basically lost that business.”

Some people in the area have already had a taste of ASH, as the Greater Valley Area Chamber of Commerce held an event on Friday, Oct. 26.

“We are happy to have ASH as a new member of the chamber,” said marketing and events manager Carrie Royster.

“We think it will be a good addition to downtown West Point and the Area as a whole.”

Livingston shares these sentiments, hoping that ASH will further add to the development of the city.

“I was born and raised in West Point and I’ve seen a lot of changes here,” he said. “I’ve seen it in its prime, and I’ve seen it with tumbleweeds coming down the road. It has really risen back up to be what it is now, and I want it to be a destination that brings people in … I want West Point to be that city where people come to us instead of us coming to them.”

ASH can be found on Facebook and Instagram @EatatASH.