In Business: Smokey Jake’s BBQ Bringing in Customers from Aitkin and Beyond

Memorial Day marks the unofficial start of barbecue season. Americans all around the country began firing up the smokers and grills this weekend, but if you’re not a grillmaster yourself, a barbecue restaurant is the next best thing.

Established in 2018 in Southern California, Smokey Jake’s BBQ has become a favorite for visitors and locals alike in Aitkin. Jake Schanz spent two decades in the Marine Corps and would regularly host backyard barbecues with his fellow veterans. He was convinced to bring his barbecue into the office, and people could not get enough.

“Turned into catering the office once a month, then it escalated to once a week, and then the orders went from 10 people to like 30 people,” explained Smokey Jake’s BBQ owner Jake Schanz. “Orders continued to grow and grow, and I was like, ‘You know what? We got something here.'”

Catering the office turned into running a tent operation at breweries and other events. That turned into a food truck, and then during COVID, Schanz and his family decided to move back to central Minnesota and brought the food truck with them. They found a home in Aitkin, continued with the food truck success, and decided a restaurant was the next step.

In the summer of 2022, the restaurant was open. In Schanz’s eyes, the quick growth is down to one simple reason.

“Just putting up high quality food, we put our heart and soul in every sandwich,” he stated. “We smoke fresh daily, and we put up food that we would want to receive. Everybody is just amazed at the size of portions. And we’re going for that ‘wow’ factor every single time in.”

In a barbecue restaurant, there has to be smoke, and when there’s smoke, there’s fire. Smokey Jake’s has been spreading like wildfire, with customers not only being coming from the area, but all over the United States.

“We hung this up September of last fall,” said Schanz as he pointed to a map of the U.S. “And to date, we have seven states that have yet to be pinned. So we had customers from all over the country. And then we even have a world map that we have a few different countries that are represented.”

Running a restaurant is hard work, but when you have a loyal customer base that has given so much support, it makes that hard work worth it.

“It just touches us that, you know, what you’re putting your heart and soul into, it lands with the person on the other side,” Schanz added. “It just, it’s like a warm hug.”

In a normal week, Smokey Jake’s will go through 500 pounds of meat and 50 racks of ribs. The restaurant is open Wednesday through Saturday.