JeffB wrote:waderoberts wrote:(BTW3: "Southern" Pride's HQ is in Marion, IL!?)
If you've ever been to Marion, you would not find it odd at all. It's Southern, all right, and also in the middle of a very robust part of the BBQ belt that includes Owensboro, KY, to the Northeast.
Bill Rice, the old editor of the Chicago Tribune (then called) Food Guide, did an article back in October of 1993 about his journey around southern Illinois' Barbecue Belt.
I saved the article and, nearly ten years later, Mrs. Roadhouse and I decided to retrace his steps as much as possible coupled with a camping trip in the heart of the Shawnee National Forest (the restuarants in the article, with a few exceptions, create a virtual ring around the forest). We had five days of 'Que at both lunch and dinner with hours of hiking and driving around some of the best scenery our state has to offer filling in the non eating hours.
We started our trip in Marion with
Pulley's BBQ on old Route 13 (quite possibly the least memorable of the trip) and
Triple E Bar-B-Que on Route 13 East (the best we had on our trip, and the only spot we visited more than once). By the way these are the full addresses offered both in the article and on the restaurant's carry-out menu.
Over the course of the next few days, we sampled grease in Murphysboro at the reknowned
17th Street Bar and Grill (three time Grand Champions at Memphis in May; the 'Que was good but not great-certainly not Grand Champion Great), and at
Brown's BBQ House (better than 17th Street but not nearly as well known) on the outskirts of town on the way in from Carbondale.
We went south and followed the trail along the Ohio River, chowing down lunch in an umremembered joint in Metropolis, followed by a late aftenoon snack at
Darrell Shemwell's Barbecue in Cairo.
We worked our way up north to Jonesboro where we dined at the frozen in time
Dixie Bar-B-Que. Next up was a trip to Vienna (that' VIE-as-in-"eye"-enna, y'all) for some pulled pork at
Southern Bar-B-Que Restaurant.
We finished up the trip by stopping in Mt. Vernon on our way back to Chicago for a bite at
Buddy's B-B-Q (never could find it and folks around town seemed to think it was closed) and
King Barbacoa.
The King had recently died and the store was being run by his Queen and two Princesses. We explained how we came to be in their neck of the woods and they remembered Bill Rice and the interview he had done with their father. We showed them the saved article which included a picture of the King standing proudly, hands on hips in front of his domain. At the sight of their Dad, the girls all laughed that laugh that is amusement, sadness and fond memory all rolled into one. They thanked us for sharing the picture and for taking the time to visit.
We headed back home via a slight detour through Olney, Illinois to visit the white squirrels (Mrs. Roadhouse is a nature nut and a cute animal freak).
We managed to visit only about half of the places mentioned in the article; time and our full bellies were limiting factors. If you are of an outdoors, adventuresome nature this is a great trip full of excellent Barbecue you otherwise wouldn't even know existed in our state and some amazing scenery. Oh, did I mention we went in mid October as the leaves were turning? Beautiful stuff!
Buddy