Mike’s BBQ is being sold as founder Mike Strauss considers a move to the Philippines

Mike’s BBQ, which Mike Strauss started in 2015 as a pop-up with a mobile smoker before opening a sit-down restaurant in South Philadelphia three years later, is being sold.

Daniel Grobman, 24, who has been smoking meats since he was 14, will get the keys to the award-winning eatery July 1.

Strauss, 54, is staying on through the summer to help with the transition but says his future could go any number of ways. Four years ago, he and his wife, Eylonah, bought a home in the Philippines, where she is from. He said they may move there, or he may do something new here; he also is a partner in Sidecar Bar & Grill, also in South Philadelphia.

Grobman and Strauss said the transition at Mike’s, 1703 S. 11th St., would be seamless — though Grobman said he would open the shop on July 4 because “it’s the biggest barbecue day of the year.”

Initially, Grobman will keep the name, most of the menu, and the Thursday-to-Sunday hours. Eventually, he said, he intends to expand capacity and open seven days.

Strauss’ rib and brisket work have won praise from the Food Network, Food & Wine, and The Inquirer. Herr’s, the snack food company, even turned Strauss’ Korean barbecue wings into a chip flavor.

He said the business had not been for sale when a mutual friend approached him.

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After Grobman’s attempt to buy another restaurant fell through, he mentioned to the friend that he would be interested in talking to Strauss. The two hit it off, and the Strausses sat down to consider the offer. “I thought, ‘Maybe this is the right time to sell, since things are going so well,’” Mike Strauss said. “Someone can come in and do very well here.”

He agreed to pass the torch.

What helped cinch the deal was Grobman’s commitment to retaining the entire staff while staying active in the community. Strauss has always been a charitable sort — even flying to Poland on his own dime to help feed Ukrainian refugees after the Russian invasion.

Grobman, who turns 25 next month, got into barbecue while a student at the Haverford School, when his mother gave him a small Traeger electric pellet smoker for Hanukkah. In high school, he worked at Deke’s Bar-B-Que as a prep cook, and spent a summer working as a pit master at Bridgeport Rib House. At Drexel University, while studying entrepreneurship, he worked at Fette Sau and Deke’s. During COVID-19, he launched his own business called Danny D’s BBQ, where he cooked out of his backyard on seven grills for friends and neighbors. “At that point, I knew I was opening a restaurant or purchasing one,” he said.

Grobman plans to add his own specialties to the menu, including a brisket sandwich called “The Fat Cook,” which includes point brisket (the fatty part); his own baked beans recipe; and his coleslaw.