St. Louis Eats

odysseyroc wrote:

Triple Threat wrote:

STL - as I said in another post, my wife is from STL. Her friends are in O'Fallon, check this place out. Both times we went there I had their brisket, it was awesome. Cool place to go in general.

http://www.ethylssmokehouse.com/

I recently moved from Los Angeles to O'fallon and so far Ethyl's is the best I've had since I've been here.

Hey it's good to know that I'm not out of touch with good bbq tastes. We're going back down there for Easter, I'm going to try to pull some strings to get us out there.

Just got back home from our St. Louis trip. All went well. We went to Soulard in the early morning so Fat Toney's was still closed. My wife saw her favorite fruit and veggie vendors, and we stopped by the spice shop. Made it to Super Smoker's last night. I had some chicken and ribs and the wife had some chopped pork and brisket. I was a little disappointed, though. The people are still nice as can be. But, the ribs were dry and the chicken did not have a very good "smoky" taste. I'll have to try it again the next time to see if this was just a bad night or a sign that things have deteriorated. I always give a place a second try for less than ideal food, but I'll never do it for bad service. I get bad service once and that is it for me.

It's been confirmed. Over Easter weekend we're going to Ethyl's in O'Fallon. Since none of my wife's friends down there can ever decide on a place to go; I told her to make the call - BRISKET AT ETHYL'S!

That sounds great. Let us know how it is. I have never been there. Too bad about Super Smoker's. That's too bad. I think SR joined their MIM competition team.

i just had the brisket at ethyls on saturday, and i am smoking one today. take that for what it is.

I like a place i dont know the name of. just a roadside place off 70 & Jennings Station

Hey I'm glad you enjoyed Ethyls! And I'm also glad I can contribute some good Q suggestions!

I was just informed by my wife that due to the cold weather expected this weekend we will NOT be going to Ethyl's!! The reason, everyone was planning on bringing their kids because they have a huge outdoor play area, so the kids could run around while the adults eat, drink, converse.... But now with the weather someone said having everyone inside at Ethyl's wont work...

oh well, maybe I can suggest to the wife that we take her folks out for dinner and go there.

Hello Folks!
I am glad this tread still active. I am one of the writers for http://www.stlbbq.com We are doing our best to compile a list of all BBQ places in the area within driving distance (day trips). If anyone of you know of places not listed on the website please let us know so we can add it to our data base. We are trying to bring awarness about The BBQ in our area. If anyone will like to contribute with info, pics or recipes we gladly appreciated.

Wow, there's a couple of places on that list that is really stretching it calling them BBQ places. But, neat site. I guess I'll have to make it my mission to try each one . Better yet, I'll just try a few and see how that goes.

Welcome to the board stlbbq!

The same goes for us... If you would like to contribute any info, pics or recipes we gladly appreciated it. Think of this board as the "Gateway" to backyard barbecue.

As many of us, BBQ is my passion and I live to shear it with everyone. I love to try new recipes and make few of my own, off course I love to eat it. With my ethnic background and my travels as a pilot to few countries, I discovered ingredients that other wise I never use on a traditional cooking. I am looking forward to shear my recipes in the near future.

We decided to start St. Louis BBQ.com because living in the St. Louis area the BBQ wasn't well defined. I called the NY vs Chicago pizza syndrome. Many people know what the difference are on those two and are proud of it, but St. Louis been one of the largest consumption cities of BBQ, unless you are an aficionado, common consumers are at a lost. To our surprise researching BBQ restaurants in the area we have found well over 100's. And again common consumer doesn’t believe they are that many. As some of them may look like a strech calling them a BBQ restaurants, few still entering at least their only BBQ dish on some competitions. If you guys and gals visit any of this and have some particulars worth adding it to our site or any local event, we appreciated.

Keep On Grilling!!

Alex

Well our trip to St. Louis this past weekend didn't provide the BBQ sampling I was hoping for. We didn't make it to Ethyl's in O'Fallon. But to break up the drive on the way down, we had a quick bite at the Smokey Bones in Springfield, IL. This way my first visit to a Smokey Bones. Wife and I had the combo sampler; pulled pork, brisket, and chicken. The one and only pulled pork that I've made was better than theirs, and their brisket didn't have much taste at all w/o the sauce. My wife had the chicken and said it was ok. And $5 for a small skillet of corn bread that tasted like yellow cake was disappointing as well. While I wasn't impressed, I'd go back and give it a second try, the ribs on the table next to us looked good.

Hey stlbbq, there is a place nestled between I-40 and the Chesterfield Mall, I think it was called the Smokehouse or something like that. Nice large looking place from the outside. Worth checking out for your list. Maybe next time down I can check it out.

On the drive home Monday evening we wanted to stop in downtown STL for a bite before getting on the road. While winding thru the streets on our way to the Landing, we smelled the most incredible BBQ smell wafting thru the air. We looped around the block a few times but couldn't locate it, then we made our way down to the Landing and settled on the Old Spaghetti Factory (the kid loves pasta with red sauce!). Would have loved to have found that bbq aroma though!

Sorry for the BBQ disappointment, I hope next time you can give it another try. I hope my site eventually serves as a travel guide for folks like you to pre plan their trip. I have try Smokey bones in O’Malley, IL and my experience was quiet different than yours. I got the same platter and my food was quiet exquisite. I go there any time. The brisket was slimly dry for my style but tasty. Is sad to said, but in some chain restaurants you can get some inconsistency on their cooking. The only restaurant that I found that do a decent job in consistency is Crackle Barrel (non BBQ) and off course the robot fast foods franchises. That smell it could be almost any restaurant in the area, I know one of a good one just south of the landing is Fat Toney's BBQ in 9th Street. Check my directory for more info.

Thanks for the story and information!

On the drive home Monday evening we wanted to stop in downtown STL for a bite before getting on the road. While winding thru the streets on our way to the Landing, we smelled the most incredible BBQ smell wafting thru the air. We looped around the block a few times but couldn't locate it, then we made our way down to the Landing and settled on the Old Spaghetti Factory (the kid loves pasta with red sauce!). Would have loved to have found that bbq aroma though!

Triple Threat:

I would bet anything that aroma was coming from Smoki O's. It is an AWESOME barbecue restaurant. It is mostly take-out. There is absolutely no ambiance. But, the barbecue is awesome. It is located just north of the landing on N. Broadway. Ironically, it is just a few blocks south of the Maull's factory. I believe Smoki O's got a mention in BBQ USA. It definetly got mentioned in Mike Mills', Peace, Love and Barbecue. I highly recommend it next time you are in town. Don't let the appearance or the neighborhood scare you off!

Hmmm, that looks pretty far north. I picked up on the scent just as we turned left (north) near Tony's, made a right and faced the Arch, then BAM, it smelled so good. Think the smellums could make it that far south? I'll have to check it out regardless! Thanks for the info.

Question, when it comes to that good Q aroma, where exactly is the smells coming from? It doesn't smell look wood, and it doesn't smell like any particular meat.... is it just all the aromas combined to make that incredible smell? You know which smell I'm talking about!

This thread made me realize that there is no reason I haven't eaten at Fat Toney's. I work downtown and Soulard is just a few blocks away. So, Friday afternoon I went to Fat Toney's. Based on my experience, I will likely be back.

The first thing that struck me is how customer friendly it is. Pictures all over the place of Fat Toney with famous people and not-so-famous people.

I ordered the two-meat sampler, which came with two sides for about $10. I got the chicken and pork, with sides of slaw and beans. The pork was good. Not great, but it was definetly good. The chicken was very unique. Part was pulled with white meat chopped. The chicken had excellent flavor. Both were served on a piece of white bread with sauce included.

The sauce was sugar based tomato sauce and he had two variations. One was mild and smoky, and the other was hotter. I am partial to vinegar based sauces as opposed to sugar and tomatoe. That having been said, it was good for that style of sauce. There was a small condiment bar included where you could get your own pickles, onions, etc.

The slaw was vinegar based and slightly sweet. I prefer that to creamy style. I really liked the slaw. The beans were also good.

All in all, a very good experience. I recommend it. The food was good and the prices were fair.