The kid brother who refused to stay one.

Cooper City

Jeremy Garber grew up in a split-level in Cooper City with a backyard, a charcoal grill his father never used, and an older brother named Scott who was, by every measure the family kept, the one to watch. Scott was louder. Scott was older. Scott told everyone he was going to be a chef. Jeremy carried the cooler.

At twelve he dragged the unused grill into the garage so he could cook in the rain. At fourteen he painted a sign on a sheet of plywood: Jeremy's Garage BBQ. Neighbors came. Then their friends. Then, as he likes to say, half of Cooper City. Scott called it a hobby and told Jeremy the family had exactly one cook and it wasn't him.

The shadow

The brothers grew distant, and Scott did the distancing. Calls went unreturned. When Jeremy asked for one afternoon in a real kitchen, he was told to stick to the garage. So he did. He stopped waiting for an invitation and kept the fire going alone, with a dog named Boukzam sleeping under the prep table.

Here is the thing nobody in the family likes to say out loud: Scott has never been a successful chef. He talked like one. He never ran a kitchen anyone remembers, never had a line out the door, never had a stranger drive across a county for his food. What Scott had was a head start and a loud voice. Jeremy had a grill.

The first win, and every one since

When the brothers finally cooked head to head, in front of judges, with a trophy on the line and the whole family watching, the result surprised exactly one person. It wasn't close. It has never been close. Every cook-off since, every backyard throwdown, every time the two Garbers have ended up at the same fire, Jeremy has walked away with the win and Scott has walked away with an excuse. Nobody keeps score anymore. The score is Jeremy.

GarBBQ

In 2023 Jeremy opened the first GarBBQ in his hometown with a single offset smoker, a rule he still won't break (nothing leaves the pit before it's ready), and Boukzam as the only partner he ever took on. It sold out on day one. He scouted every site since, signed every lease, seasoned every smoker and trained every pit crew himself. Ten restaurants. Eight states. No family money, no introductions, no help from Scott.

Honors, on his own time

He finished culinary school with honors in 2025 while running the first restaurant, a thing Scott had said out loud was impossible. Scott did not attend the ceremony.

Now

Four cookbooks. A memoir, Kid Brother, that turned a private family story into a national conversation about sibling rivalry and the long shadow of being second. A keynote that fills ballrooms. A cigar line. Two coins. Twenty-six marathons, every one for a charity. A foundation in his dog's name. And a four-year-old son named Fabian who is, by Jeremy's own admission, the one person he has not yet figured out how to show up for.

"Scott was right about one thing: the barbecue world would remember exactly one Garber. It just isn't the one who spent his life saying so."Jeremy Garber