Jordan Strauss / Invision / AP
NBA player Stephen Curry and Ayesha Curry arrive at the ESPYS at the Microsoft Theater on Wednesday, July 12, 2017, in Los Angeles.
Friday, Jan. 3, 2020 | 2 a.m.
Opening a restaurant is a gamble for most people, but Ayesha Curry's new International Smoke location appears to be a good bet.
She and Warriors star/husband Steph went to Las Vegas just before the end of the year to open her International Smoke location inside the MGM Grand. The Warriors played in San Antonio Tuesday night, but Steph has been recovering from a broken hand.
It's the fourth location of her multicultural barbecue collaboration with James Beard Award-winning chef Michael Mina, adding to San Francisco, Del Mar, Calif., and Miami restaurants.
The chain has grown quickly, with the three current locations outside of San Francisco all opening in 2019. Its San Francisco menu reflects a variety of flavors — St. Louis-style ribs can be served with American barbecue, Vietnamese lemongrass or Korean sesame-gochujang chili sauce.
A Houston location closed earlier this year after opening in summer of 2018. Before that spot even opened, its Yelp page was littered with negative reviews from — you guessed it — angry Rockets fans.
On OpenTable, the San Francisco restaurant is rated 4.5 stars. On Yelp it sits at 3.5, but most recent reviews are positive.
That middling rating didn't stop Barack Obama, John Legend and Chrissy Teigen from popping in last year on Presidents' Day.
It's just the most recent of Ayesha Curry's efforts in cuisine — she and Mina have released a cookbook together, and she's appeared in or produced several cooking shows, from "Ayesha's Homemade" on Food Network to "The Great American Baking Show" on ABC.
