One of the main features of Georgia boys BBQ’s new joint in Frederick — the Smokehouse — is behind the scenes, in the kitchen. It’s the massive Southern Pride XLR-1600 smoker that co-owners Nick Reckinger and Matt Alexander shipped here from Arkansas.

“It’s the biggest production smoker ever made,” Reckinger said. “You could do 12 succulent pigs at once.”

The Smokehouse, at 141 Fifth St. in Frederick, officially opens Thursday, Jan. 30. Those used to the boys’ original shack at 237 Collyer St. in Longmont will be in for a big surprise.

“We can fit our entire old place in the kitchen” of the new facility, Reckinger said.

The 9,300-square-foot building, built in 1930, most recently housed D’Agostino’s Mugg N’ Pye, which closed last year after a lengthy run.

Georgia boys BBQ Smokehouse Location: 141 Fifth St., Frederick Hours: 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday; 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday Phone: 303-833-3140 Website: georgiaboysbbqcompany.com

Father and son John and Jason Hepp grew up coming to the building for all sorts of occasions, as they are related to the D’Agostino family. When the D’Agostinos decided to close down the restaurant last year, the Hepps bought it, unsure exactly what they would do with it. Their banker connected the commercial developers with the Georgia boys and both sides quickly realized it was a match.

Reckinger said he and Alexander had been looking around for a second location for some time but were not familiar with the Carbon Valley. What they found, he said — in the area and in the building itself — was a pleasant surprise.

“We were struck by how many subdivisions there are,” he said. “There’s been a lot of building going on out here.”

Jason Hepp said that while there are a lot of rooftops, the dining selection in the Carbon Valley is fairly limited. He has no doubt his new tenants will succeed in their new location.

“To me, this was more than just a business deal,” Jason Hepp said. “It was like, ‘What can we do for the community?’ And these guys are a really good fit.”

Reckinger and Alexander grew up in Georgia and went to college together, but lost track of each other until about five years ago. Through social media, they discovered they both had moved to Boulder to be closer to Colorado’s world-class skiing.

Soon enough, they found themselves laid off from their respective jobs and in 2011 opened the original Georgia boys BBQ, recreating the barbecue joint-atmosphere — and authentic recipes — they had grown up with. Their Longmont restaurant was an instant hit, and today draws patrons from up and down the Front Range.

The much-bigger layout of the Mugg N’ Pye allows for two different restaurant concepts. One will be familiar to current customers, where the food is ordered at the counter and there is limited seating.

The back room, however, allows for full-on, sit-down dining, and the boys are expanding the menu, adding steaks, Shrimp n’ Grits and the half-chicken platter — an unbreaded, dry-rubbed, smoked and fried half-chicken.

When they open, they’ll start with the counter service, then add the sit-down ordering once the wait staff gets up to speed, Reckinger said. They will have 22 beers on tap — most of them from local craft brewers — and about 25 employees at the beginning. That number will likely expand as the warm weather rolls in, he said.

“We want to be really involved in the community,” Reckinger said. “The farmers market goes on every Thursday, the park’s right there …

“We really get to live out some of our restaurant fantasies here.”

Tony Kindelspire can be reached at 303-684-5291 or at tkindelspire@times-call.com.