DOWAGIAC — Downtown Dowagiac is heating up with the addition of a new BBQ restaurant.

Rose and Jack Maiuri, of Dowagiac, recently opened Smoke Signal BBQ, located at Front and Commercial streets in Dowagiac, behind Underwood Shoes. The restaurant serves traditional BBQ items such as ribs, bratwurst, pulled pork and chicken, all for carry out. The restaurant is open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays, from noon to 8 p.m. Saturdays and from noon to 6 p.m. Sundays.

The restaurant will be hosting a grand opening event from 4 to 6 p.m. Thursday. The event will feature a Pokagon ceremony and a ribbon cutting ceremony. The restaurant will have food specials to celebrate the event.

“We have good food and we are very happy to be here,” Rose said.

Jack, who spent the majority of his career as a machinist, said he was inspired to open Smoke Signal BBQ after deciding to wanted to change careers. He and Rose then spent years waiting on the right location to open up in Dowagiac, and then months fixing up the space once it became available.

“I love to cook, I always have. It comes second nature,” Jack said, taking a brief rest from cooking. “When I was in California, I would have parties and I was always the guy cooking the meats. Things just kind of progressed this way and I’ve always loved smoked meats. … So, here we are.”

Jack said that he does not follow a BBQ style for any particular region in America, instead he takes his own spin on things and develops his own flavors. He added that he uses his background as machinist to take a scientific, exact approach with his cooking.

“I take a very technical approach to food, which may seem ridiculous to some, but it works for me,” he said. “It works for our business.”

Jack and Rose have known each other since they were young, with Rose calling them “grade school sweethearts.” The couple lost touch after Jack moved away in middle school, but the couple reconnected as adults in California and have been together for eight years. Now that the couple has opened Smoke Signal BBQ in Dowagiac, Rose is calling it their next adventure.

“We had a BBQ business in California, where we just did farmers markets,” she said. “This is our first brick and mortar place, where we can keep all our recipes. … We are really excited.”

Though the restaurant is open now, Rose said renovations to the storefront are not complete. Eventually, the couple plans to add some seating and make the space more open. Specifically, Rose has a vision of displaying and selling Pokagon art in one corner of the space and adding signs out front of the storefront to draw attention to the restaurant.

“We have big plans,” she said. “We are even open to expanding the menu. … As business grows, we want to grow with it.”

The next time someone is walking downtown, Jack and Rose said they hope that person will smell the food cooking and stop by and try some of it out.

“We are proud of what we are doing here and we are happy to be here in Dowagiac,” Jack said. “We hope everyone else will love it too.