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The Barbecue Bros Holiday Gift Guide 2016

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Here’s some gift ideas for the barbecue lover in your life. The bolded items are the ones I can personally recommend. Feel free to add or suggest any other gift ideas in the comments below and I’ll update the post through the holidays.

–Monk

See our 2015 gift guide here
See our 2014 gift guide here
See our 2013 gift guide here

Books

Apparel

Other

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Linkdown: 12/14/16

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– John Shelton Reed expands on his Hillary/Midwood vs Trump/Stamey’s theory though I must admit I hate to see Midwood Smokehouse get dragged into this

– Grant’s latest barbecue joints includes a visit to the Atlanta outpost of B’s Cracklin’ Barbecue which looks awesome

Now, let’s step aside from talking about this restaurant and the trip and let’s look at the big picture. Four months in Tennessee and the barbecue that I’ve found has been a few pretty good places, a bunch of so-so ones, and a handful of unspeakable disappointments. Nine hours in Georgia and one, two, three, that’s a hat trick, three barbecue meals better than any that I’ve had since moving. Now, next week, I’ll tell you about a very good place we’ve found in Chattanooga, by far my favorite in the city. But as much as I enjoyed it, it is still not anywhere close to being as good as Cleve Edmunds, or Heavy’s, or B’s. My search continues.

– Grant’s other recent reviews: Heavy’s Bar-B-Q in Crawfordville, GA and Old Plantation Bar-Be-Que in Chattanooga, TN

– Q-4-Fun reviews Texas-style joint The Beast in Paris (France  not Texas) and had “the best beef rib [he’s] ever had” (again, France not Texas)

– In case you need some barbecue book recommendations for gifts, the BBQ Hub has you covered:

– Kathleen Purvis, ladies and gentlemen

BBQ Saloon – St. Louis, MO

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Name: BBQ Saloon
Date: 11/29/16
Address: 4900 Laclede Ave, St. Louis, MO 63108
Order: Pulled pork barbecue sandwich with southern corn bread and a beer (link to menu)
Price: ~$18

Monk: Unlike Speedy, I don’t travel that much for work and thus haven’t had nearly the same opportunity to try barbecue around the country. However, I recently found myself in St Louis and while I wish I could have revisited Pappy’s Smokehouse (visited pre-blog), Sugarfire Smoke House (which Speedy liked), or Bogart’s Smokehouse downtown (which Johnny Fugitt ranked #12 in his book) but those were a little too far away for the little over an hour of free time I had. Instead, in the Central West End neighborhood where I was staying there was a somewhat promising looking joint within walking distance – BBQ Saloon.

As I walk up from my nearby hotel, the first thing I notice is the large smoker on the sidewalk going full blast at dinner time; it was hard to miss honestly. Interestingly, I later confirmed that all meat is smoked in that smoker on the sidewalk in front of the restaurant.

At the bar, I ordered a pulled pork sandwich with a honey topped cornbread. The pork was coarsely pulled chunks full of flavor and smoke. The sturdy bun was a nice touch even if was a little unwieldy to eat as a sandwich.

The southern corn bread was brushed with honey but even still not quite as sweet as i’d like.

I would definitely go back to BBQ Saloon (particularly if I was able to check out the extensive whiskey list – checking in at over 520 strong), but if I find myself in St. Louis again I hope to check out some of the other joints on my list first. And also pork steaks – the St. Louis barbecue specialty that I have yet to try.

Ratings:
Atmosphere – 3 hogs
Pork – 3.5 hogs
Sides – 3 hogs
Overall – 3 hogs
The BBQ Saloon Menu, Reviews, Photos, Location and Info - Zomato