BBQ Trail: Go on a Culinary Adventure

In the Western Region, Beast Craft BBQ Co. in Belleville stays busy from the minute they open until the meat is gone. The busy counter-serve nook has a few tables and does a heavy carryout business. They serve generous BBQ plates & sandwiches, plus house made sauces, delicious sides and craft beers. Pit Master and Owner David Sandusky left the fine dining world to open Beast. He has earned several honors and won a lot of awards, including “Best BBQ in Illinois” by Food & Wine Magazine, and named one of the “Top 33 BBQ Joints in America” by Thrillist.

A few miles south in Millstadt, Smokin K’s BBQ & More offers quality, affordable food to go along with friendly, pleasant and efficient service. Their signature items include pastrami, pulled pork, ribs and brisket along with homemade sides such as potato salad, slaw and macn-cheese. Top it off with one of their unique desserts! Smokin K’s is registered with the Kansas City Barbeque Society and has won numerous awards over the years at BBQ competitions throughout the country.

Donna and Terry Reinhardt have enjoyed cooking for many years. Donna grew up in the kitchen with her mother and grandmother, and Terry, who has always loved to BBQ, started doing it professionally in 2009. In 2013, the duo joined forces when Terry asked his friend and coworker, Donna, to help him with a competition.

Since then, they have participated in and won numerous competitions, catered parties and events, and even got married. They wanted to create a place where they could combine their love of food, friends, and family (as well as good drinks) - and thus, The Burnt End in Red Bud was born!

Word on the street is that Anthony Hass and Brandon Bauza were backyard barbecue aficionados whose friends and families encouraged them to open a restaurant. So they did! They rehabbed a downtown Waterloo building next door to the Stubborn German Brewery and opened Shorty’s Smokehouse. “We wanted our place to serve barbecue like the old school butcher shops used to do,” Anthony said. Their best sellers are brisket, turkey and ribs. Patrons can dine in, or get a tray of food to take next door to the brewery. Shorty’s also sells their brisket to the Hopskeller Brewery for their pizza, and sells pork rinds and pulled pork to other outlets in the area. Anthony says they “spread the wealth” and have a chance for folks who haven’t been to their restaurant to sample the food.

Wicked Smoke BBQ in Waterloo is a favorite with locals, but has also impressed out-of-towners who stumbled on the place while visiting. Adam B. posted this review, “I’m spoiled with ribs as my dad’s recipe is my favorite and I rarely find some that come close. The ribs here were cooked perfectly and the rub and sauce was top notch. The fried okra was also cooked perfectly and seasoned with something magical. My daughter had the Wicked Fries and couldn’t say enough about the pulled pork and the taste of the fries themselves.” Adam lives 9 hours away, or he’d be there all the time!

A Fine Swine BBQ restaurant & catering company has two locations in ILLINOISouth’s Central Region – in New Baden and at Governors Run Golf Club in Carlyle. They feature their championship BBQ from the 2015 Illinois State Champion BBQ team. Pitmaster, David Stidham, says, “We are very proud to serve our community fresh, championship quality barbecue with our traditionally authentic low & slow methods

and techniques. Great BBQ starts with the highest quality meats. All of our premium meats are delivered to us FRESH never frozen, allowing us to serve you our very best BBQ each and every day.” Delicious sides and their signature sauces make it a special experience. The list of awards Fine Swine has won includes several

Illinois State Champion trophies, Illinois Brisket Champion and 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016 Grand Championship Sauce in 18 States across the US, just to name a few.

Open for lunch, dinner and drinks, Deep South BBQ in Mc- Leansboro has attracted a very faithful following. Comments like, “[I] eat here at least a few times a month. Great food and atmosphere! Haven’t been disappointed yet,” show why this is a really popular place. Every day the menu includes BBQ nachos, pulled pork and pizza. Thursday’s are for wings, Friday’s for fish and Saturday nights are baby back ribs. Call for daily specials.

Backyard BBQ is the place in the Eastern Region to get delicious food, fast friendly service, a large selection of smoked meats, homemade sides and an assortment of desserts. Drinks include milk shakes or a cold beer! This is a family restaurant with kids’ menus and something everyone will enjoy. Parking is available in the back and there’s a drive-up window also. Large orders are great for your family get-togethers.

BEAST CRAFT BBQ CO. 20 S Belt W, Belleville 618-257-9000; beastcraftbbq.com; FB

SMOKIN’ K’S BBQ 548 East Washington, Millstadt 618- 476-1777; smokinksbbq.com; FB

WICKED SMOKE BBQ 951 N Illinois Rt 3, Waterloo 618-939-2271, FB

SHORTY’S SMOKEHOUSE 121 S Main St., Waterloo FB; shortyssmokehousebbq.com

THE BURNT END 101 E Market St, Red Bud 618-282-2271; theburntendbbq. com; FB

A FINE SWINE 23 W Hanover St, New Baden 618- 588-5141; afineswine.com; FB

GOVERNORS RUN GOLF COURSE 3300 Governors Dr., Carlyle 618-594-4585; FB

DEEP SOUTH BBQ 300 S Marshall Ave, McLeansboro 618- 643-HAWG (4294), FB

BACKYARD BBQ 220 N Haughton Hwy, Greenup 217-923-5100; FB