Hi, I’m Max McGarity, owner and operator of Smoked On Chai BBQ. You may not know this about me, but I was born right here in Columbus, Ohio and raised Jewish. I attended Columbus Jewish Day School (CJDS) as one of the members of its very first graduating class. I had my Bar Mitzvah at Beth Tikvah synagogue in 2003 and continue to celebrate the Jewish holidays with my family year after year.

Although it feels as if I’ve been wandering the desert for 40 years… for the last 10+ years I’ve been successfully creating a high volume craft barbecue, catering and restaurant company. Over the last 5+ years of building Smoked on High, I have dipped my Jewish toes into kosher BBQ — working alongside Buckeye Kosher and Torat Emet synagogue to provide kosher BBQ for their pop-ups and festivals. At these events over the years, I saw that there is a high demand and severe lack of options of not only kosher barbecue, but kosher food in general. It’s an untapped, under appreciated market, and the Jewish community needs strong local companies to provide quick and easy kosher food options for them. I decided I could be the one to fulfill this prophecy! My partnership with Torat Emet shows that I’m dedicated to my Jewish community, and I want to not only continue to provide a reliable, delicious, consistent kosher option, but grow with the kosher food community as well.

Everything will be smoked and produced on site at the synagogue to assure no corners are cut. Our mission is to create authentic Texas style kosher barbecue with a Midwest twist. Although the kosher community is the focus, this BBQ can be for anyone and everyone! Why be a Goy Boy, when you can be a Chai Guy?!