In 2013, Carey Bringle opened Peg Leg Porker in Nashville, which quickly became one of the most acclaimed barbecue restaurants in the U.S. In 2021, Carey launched Bringle’s Smoking Oasis, a Nashville restaurant offering Southwest-style cuisine. He installed an A. O. Smith Cyclone Flex commercial water heater to deliver uninterrupted hot water to meet the restaurant’s high demand.
After launching Peg Leg Porker in 2013, Carey opened Bringle’s Smoking Oasis in 2021. The restaurant serves Southwest-style favorites like smoked brisket, beef ribs and homemade side dishes like Mexican street corn.
Bringle’s Smoking Oasis is a 2,800-square-foot facility that has outdoor seating for 300 and indoor seating for 40. The restaurant runs the dish pit continuously during operating hours, so there’s a large need for uninterrupted hot water. The restaurant could not function without it.
Bringle-owned restaurants have had issues with inconsistent hot water in the past, so Carey Bringle met with an A. O. Smith representative and installing contractor Larry Summers to discuss the hot water needs of the Smoking Oasis. The new restaurant needed a reliable water heater that could provide large amounts of hot water throughout the day while accommodating for the increased need during peak dining hours. They agreed that installing one unit would be optimal to meet the kitchen’s space constraints — and the A. O. Smith Cyclone Flex was the ideal product for delivering water heating efficiency and proven reliability.
The addition of the Cyclone Flex model comes at a critical time as the water heating industry prepares to comply with the 2026 Department of Energy (DOE) regulatory requirements for commercial water heating. The majority of the Cyclone family, including the Cyclone Flex unit, is already compliant with the regulations, providing facilities with various units to suit their commercial water heating needs.
The Cyclone Flex models feature AiQ Adaptive Gas Technology, which identifies if there is a flame, and the type of flame (natural or LP), then automatically adjusts the unit’s parameters for optimal combustion control. This model is nearly unaffected by scale build-up because the burner is on top, and the innovative helical coil heat exchanger is located well above the bottom of the tank. The Cyclone Flex unit has titanium-powered anodes that work in all water conditions and never need to be replaced. Additionally, the Cyclone Flex was designed to give contractors a direct vent option, which is particularly important in a restaurant application where a kitchen often experiences issues with negative air flow.
Bringle can now easily adjust his unit’s settings using the new seven-inch touch display, and he is guaranteed peace of mind thanks to the unit’s integrated leak detection. The unit is installed in a low-traffic area to keep it out of the way of the busy kitchen, so it’s crucial that Bringle can be alerted immediately to a leak, even after business hours or during off-peak times. The display also provides detailed information on errors rather than difficult-to-understand codes. Plus, with over-the-air updates for connected units, Bringle can rest assured that his unit will always be up to date.
“We wanted something that had the ability to keep up with the restaurant’s high demand for hot water—and the Cyclone Flex has done a great job,” says Bringle. “The unit delivers great efficiency and provides continuous hot water. It has worked like a charm.”
