In the heart of Old Town Poway – brothers Jeremy and Joshua, and Jeremy’s wife Mckenzie – are bringing their take on BBQ to North County San Diego at Smokin J’s BBQ.
From brisket to pork belly, it’s all smoked in house, in the back of the restaurant, where Jeremy works his magic – whipping up his smoked meat creations that take several hours, even days, before they hit your plate.
“The process involves multiple people spanning 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. There’s a lot more to figure out than just the recipe. With smoking brisket and pork shoulder, you get the meat trimmed in the morning, you get it on at 4 p.m., someone’s watching it until 2:30 a.m., someone comes in at 3:30/4 a.m. and starts wrapping it, figuring out when it needs to come off, getting the ribs and chicken on – it’s a continual process of getting stuff on and off and finding 30 minutes to clear the smoker off and clean it every day,” said Jeremy George, co-owner of Smokin J’s BBQ.
The dream to open up a restaurant started early for Jeremy.
“Even in second grade, I was bragging about making the best microwaved nachos in town,” Jeremy said. “I’ve wanted to open a restaurant since I can remember. It’s been a lifelong dream.”
Jeremy George, co-owner of Smoking J’s BBQ
But like all dreams – there are twists and turns along the journey – and after spending a few years at a finance job after college, Jeremy finally decided to start on the journey to open a restaurant. And as fate would have it – the first job he could find after leaving his finance gig was a job at a BBQ joint, falling in love with BBQ food in the process.
“That was just a place that was hiring. It wasn’t because I necessarily wanted to do BBQ, but then when I started working for him, I realized this is a beautiful way to cook food and really fell in love with it,” said Jeremy.
That was the spark that Jeremy needed to get his BBQ business going — there was just one problem, he needed a BBQ smoker. That’s where his brother Josh came in.
“I was living in Australia and I got a call from my brother randomly saying, ‘Hey, I want to start a BBQ business, can you lend me money for a smoker?’ I didn’t even think twice about it . I was like ‘Yeah, sure.’ I trusted him immediately, I had eaten his food my entire life and knew he knew what it was doing, it seemed like a no brainer,” said Joshua George, co-owner of Smokin J’s BBQ. “As things happen, it started out as a loan and then a few weeks later he called me and said, ‘What if I give you ownership in the company and I don’t have to pay you back right away. And, that’s how I became one of the owners of Smokin J’s,” he added.
At the time, Josh was touring the world as a professional athlete, pursuing a career as a wheelchair racer, even competing in a handful of Paralympic Games. Shortly after that call – he moved to San Diego as Jeremy was getting successful in his mobile BBQ business. Now – they’re running their BBQ joint in Old Town Poway and another space in Miramar, with a downtown location on the way.
So, what should you try on the menu? Obviously everything — but here’s what Josh recommends: “When we started, I loved the ribs… but the brisket has gotten so freakin’ good. I love the brisket.”
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