Longtime Miami resident and co-founder of downtown Miami’s popular Sparky’s Roadside Barbecue Kevin Kehoe has died at 56.

A New York native, Kehoe received his diploma from the Culinary Institute of America and worked in New York City Restaurants. In 2010, he and Hans Seitz founded Sparky’s in the midst of the recession, when downtown buildings were barely occupied. But their cheerful restaurant soon became a popular lunch spot for downtown Miami workers. Sparky’s was featured on Michael Simon’s Burgers, Brews and ‘Que on the Cooking Channel recently featured Sparky’s and Food Paradise on Travel Channel.

Seitz says he admired Kehoe’s ability to “get almost anyone to like him,” he said in a social media post. “He had this magnetic way about him that just captured people’s affection.”

A memorial service will be held later. Donations can be made in his memory at Diveheart.