3106 Olive Street Saint Louis MO 63103

It was 11:36 on a cool Monday morning when my brother and I found our way to the crowded parking lot of Pappy’s. The lot was filling with patrons entering and exiting the restaurant, a few rubbing their stomachs as they walked to their vehicles. Jay had been praising this place for weeks after trying it during his recent trip to St. Louis and after years of listening to friends and family, throughout the Midwest, saying that “this” place or “that” place is the best barbecue restaurant, I was a little lukewarm. Nevertheless, I could not deny the ravenous hunger which had been building for hours – bagels are rarely ever sufficient sustenance for the morning.

We entered through the doorway and were greeted with dozens of men and women chatting and laughing amongst themselves while devouring the meat of their choice. The line was fairly small, which paled in comparison with the lines shown in the many videos of Pappy’s (later, we found out that Mondays are usually the slower days for them), but with a few people in front of us, we had enough time to make a decision. The menu lists a few of the common fare found at any decent barbecue establishment. There are lunch specials, with your choice of meat and sides, a stuffed potato of massive proportions (from what I hear), and, among many other options, The “Adam” Bomb, which is in memory of Adam Richman from The Travel Channel’s Man vs. Food. Despite the variety and the rarity with which I eat ribs, I had to listen to the acclaim and, after chatting with a beer-toting patron while we were in line, the food was ordered and being delivered to our table.

The half rack of ribs greeted me on a large slice of white bread, accompanied by the standard fare of potato salad and coleslaw, both of which were great (the slaw was probably the best slaw I have had, though I do not eat coleslaw regularly). Also, with the ribs, I ordered the pulled chicken, which was nothing more than a mound of pulled white meat. The chicken didn’t look like much and one can only expect so much from chicken, but the chicken was quite succulent and flavorful with strong hints of smoke which was more than enough on its own, but only improved with the multiple choice options of sauce(Sweet Baby Jane’s was the winning flavor of the table). As for the ribs, the bones slid off of the meat with no trouble; this is the expectation, of course, and Pappy’s Smokehouse lived up to it. The meat was sweet and tender with a little tanginess behind the flavor. The ribs are smoked with an apple and cherry wood combination and the great care involved is easy to see.

Despite the number of great barbecue restaurants I have had the luxury of enjoying, Pappy’s is by far at the top of my list and they deserve the acclaim they have received. Everything we had was great. Well, perhaps that is too generous to say. After all, the bread got no attention from us at all.
Cost: $-$$

Don’t miss: The ribs

3106 Olive Street
Saint Louis MO 63103

314-535-4340

www.pappyssmokehouse.com