Smokin J’s BBQ was founded in 2016, when Jeremy called his brother Josh with an offer: ownership in the new company he was starting in exchange for the cash to buy his first custom smoker.
Jeremy’s love for BBQ began while attending school in St. Louis and spending his weekends sampling the BBQ offerings across the Midwest. Having just left his job in finance to follow his culinary passion, Jeremy relentlessly hauled his smoker and his girlfriend, Mckenzie, all over town fighting grease fires and BBQ skeptics who didn’t believe they could get “real” bbq in San Diego.
While not truly abiding by a regional style of cuisine, Jeremy and Kenz began building a following on the strength of their food and sheer grit. They were joined by Jeremy’s brother Joshua in the summer of 2018. In the final years of his athletic career, Joshua, a five-time Paralympic medalist and six-time world champion in wheelchair racing, moved to San Diego to take a more active role in the company he invested in. With the two brothers united under the cause of bringing the best possible BBQ to SoCal, Jeremy’s lifelong dream of opening a restaurant has finally been realized.
