The members of a family-owned restaurant in Ramsey are bringing their love for southern barbecue for all of New Jersey to enjoy.

The Farella brothers first started the Brothers Smokehouse BBQ & Soul restaurant nearly 20 years ago.

“Our journey in barbecue started in 2008 with a small takeout place, about 1,200 square feet. A very small menu where we just concentrated on our major BBQ influences,” one of the brothers said.

They say their influences are majority from eastern North Carolina barbecue food and their mother’s own cooking and hospitality.

“And our mother was always in the service of cooking for large groups of people. When we were growing up, she actually cooked for our parochial school,” they said.

The Farellas are half Black and half Italian and say that food has always played an important part in their family, which is why they wanted to start a restaurant.

“We kind of got a family meeting together. We spoke about it and it was a way to kind of keep our family legacy alive by serving our family’s food on a plate,” they said.

Brothers Smokehouse BBQ & Soul is located at 900 Route 17 North in Ramsey.