“I lived in the Oregon District when I went to the University of Dayton” AJ told me. “I loved the food here and ate here several times a week. I knew the family that owned the place, and when they gave me the chance to buy it I bought it with my brother Brendan in May, 2019.”

A J Bauer co-owner of Smokin Bbq

“Before buying this place I sold restaurant equipment. That gave me a look at the operations of all kind of restaurants, but this is the first time I’ve operated one. This place has been voted “Dayton Best BBQ” so we didn’t want to change the food at all. We kept almost all of the employees and kept the recipes the same except for making the Mac and Cheese a little cheesier.” (I tried it – delicious).

“When the pandemic hit we stayed open for carry out orders, but business was down. Lunch has always been our busiest time, but no one was eating lunch downtown. Our other busy time was late at night on weekends when people stopped by after being at the bars. That died too. Fortunately, our dinner business boomed. That gave us enough business so that we haven’t needed to lay off any of our employees.”