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Mike's BBQ to get a South Philly restaurant

It will take over the former South Philly Barbacoa on 11th Street just off Morris.

Michael Strauss of Mike’s BBQ at his smoker outside El Bar on July 7.
Michael Strauss of Mike’s BBQ at his smoker outside El Bar on July 7.Read moreMICHAEL KLEIN / Staff

Michael Strauss, co-owner of South Philly's Taproom on 19th, is getting a brick-and-mortar home for his well-regarded mobile smoked-meat project, Mike's BBQ.

He just signed a lease for 1703 S. 11th St., just off 11th and Morris Streets near Passyunk Square.

Before last weekend, it housed South Philly Barbacoa. (Barbacoa > Barbecue, in other words.)

Strauss tells me that the storefront Mike's BBQ – which he hopes to launch between mid-September and early October – will be open three or four days a week, maybe four or five hours a day. "We're going to do a limited amount of barbecue until we sell out," he said. The mobile operation, which caters events and private functions, will continue.

Strauss also says he and Pete Fry will continue ownership of Taproom on 19th. "I have good management there, a good chef there," he said. "They can keep an eye on that, as well. My focus right now, personally, is the barbecue."

For mobile, he does brisket, ribs, and pork in his stick-burning, 84-inch Lang smoker.

He may change things up for the restaurant.