Pappy's Smokehouse - St.Louis, Missouri

During our recent travels we decided to check out a few BBQ places along the way. The first place we visited was Pappy's Smokehouse in St. Louis. Being a fan of St. Louis style ribs (dry rubbed) I was really looking forward to giving this place a try.

 

Pappy's is a very popular place for BBQ in St. Louis. Knowing that and knowing that people start lining up early, we made our way there as soon as they opened for lunch. Even though we were early there was still a line of people waiting to order.

The menu is chalked on a couple of boards that hang over the register. We went in knowing what we wanted but took a moment to look things over in case anything else sounded good. In the end we ordered a combo plate with brisket and a hot link and a rib dinner.

Ribs, sweet potato fries and fried corn on the cob

First the ribs. They were great. Not to spoil future posts but these were easily the best ribs we had the whole trip. Perfectly cooked, meaty, tender without being too soft. Just really fantastic. And that corn on the cob, it's fried! I had to try it. Frying gave the corn a sweet, nutty flavor. Odd but good. The rest of the meal was rounded out with some tasty sweet potato fries. All in all very good.
 

Brisket and hot link combo

Next up was the brisket and hot link. This sadly was not quite the hit that the ribs were. I'm not sure how well you can see the brisket in this picture but it was not at all what we were expecting. Again, not to spoil anything, but the best brisket of the trip was found in MN. But we'll save that for a future post. The sides were very good. The coleslaw was unusual and reminded me more of kraut than coleslaw but in a good way. I'm not usually a fan but I enjoyed this version a lot.

Tasty, tasty brisket

While we were enjoying lunch one of the owners (John Matthews, wonderful customer service attitude) was walking through the dining room asking people how they were enjoying things. We mentioned that we loved the ribs but that the brisket wasn't what we were expecting. He asked why and we mentioned both cut and trim. Well no sooner did we mention that he went back to the kitchen and delivered a new order of brisket to our table. This order was EXACTLY what we expected. Beautiful smoke, fat cap in place, great flavor. Sadly we were told that most diners aren't interested in the fattier cut and that's why they serve the leaner cut as the default. Such a shame. I can't believe that people are so worried about a little fat that they prefer something dry and less flavorful. Fine by me. That leaves the good stuff for us.

Overall our visit to Pappy's Smokehouse was pretty great. If our travels take us back to St. Louis you can be sure we'll be in line at Pappy's for those wonderful ribs and a pile of that succulent brisket.

Happy dining!