17th Street Bar and Grill - Murphysboro, IL

For years now, I have been into barbecue.  Eating barbecue, but also smoking it myself.  Several years ago, I found myself at the bookstore and a new book caught my eye called Peace, Love and BBQ.  I flipped through the pages and saw that the author was from southern Illinois.  My family is from southern Illinois and at the time I was living far away from home in South Dakota so the prospect of a book about barbecue and my homeland sounded great so I snatched it up.  I immediately read the book cover to cover and found it to be full of great recipes, wonderful stories and lot's of barbecue folklore.  The book is part cookbook, part memoir and part survey of the greatest barbecue restaurants across the country.  The book not only motivated me to take my smoking to the next level, but to also begin my journey as a professional barbecue competitor. 

Fast forward to September of 2010, and I set foot in Murphysboro, Illinois, with my barbecue team, Thin Blue BBQ, to compete in Mike Mills' own contest.  The annual Praise the Lard contest attracts a great deal of competition.  Some of the best teams in the country show up and as a newer competition team, we just hoped to be respectable.  To our amazement we got 2nd place in ribs!  The highlight of the weekend was getting to shake the hand of the man behind the contest and the book that inspired me, Mike Mills.

Two weeks ago, I found myself in Murphysboro and I headed to 17th Street Bar and Grill for some lunch.  I immediately ordered my favorite appetizer, pimento cheese and hot links.  The cheese is so cold and creamy, while the hot links are smoky with just the right amount of spice.  I can't get enough of it.

For my entree, I had a delicious serviing of perfectly smoked beef brisket.  My favorite part of the meal though were the sides.  I got my meal with coleslaw and hush puppies.  Two sides that I remember fondly from childhood.  And coleslaw in southern Illinois means that it has vinegar on it instead of mayo.  the crispness of the cabbage paired with the tart vinegar flavor is unbelievable.

While I was dining, I asked the server if Mills was at the restaurant that day and she said that he is usually in the office across the street when he was in town.  After my meal, I thought I would take the chance and head over to see if he was in.  To my fortune he was.  And I had the chance to talk barbecue and competitions with my personal idol for over a half an hour.  Mills was so generous with his time and so friendly.  It is easy to see how he has achieved such success when he is so personable and approachable.  The cap to my visit was a picture that I will always cherish.

Betty's Burgers - Santa Cruz, CA

Back in February, work took me to California for a week and one day I found myself in Santa Cruz over the lunch hour and I was looking for somewhere to land for a meal.  As we drove down to the beachfront to check out the Pacific Ocean for a minute, we passed a burger joint, Betty's Burgers, just a few blocks from the beach.  A sign proclaiming their burgers as the best burgers in Santa Cruz and so I thought it was time to check it out.

Betty's has a small indoor seating area and a larger outdoor seating area.  It was a perfect afternoon for dining al fresco so I went in to order before dining outside.  Like many fast casual restaurants, you order at the counter and then find your seat and a server brings the food out when it is ready.  The menu had a wide range of burgers and fair prices by California standards.  One of the best things about the menu is that everything is fresh.  Fresh veggies, fresh buns, fresh cut fries, and fresh, never frozen meat.  I also found it funny that they referred to all of their sauces and condiments as lube on the menu.  Burgers range in price from just under $5 to nearly $7.

After scanning the menu, I settled on the Mad Mex burger.  The Mad Mex is a 1/2 pound burger topped with pepper jack cheese, lettuce, tomato, chipolte lube, and fresh guacamole.  The thought of a burger with fresh guacamole in California was just irresistable.  I finished my order with some fries and a soda.  Then I found a seat outside and anxiously awaited the arrival of my lunch.  While I was waiting, my mouth watered continually as I saw other diners receive their meals and smelled the wonderful aroma of fresh ground beef sizzling on the grill.

After was seemed like an eternity (but was really only like 8-10 minutes), my meal arrived.  And it looked spectacular.  The burger was nice and very juicy.  About 5 napkins juicy.  The guacamole and all of the veggies on board were indeed fresh and delicious.  Perhaps the only downside to the meal was that the fries were unimpressive.  They were pretty thin and crispy, which I like but they were unseasoned and just not inspiring.

Overall, though I would say that Betty's Burgers would get my vote for best burger in Santa Cruz.  Take a look at this and see for yourself.

Shell's Coastal Cuisine Food Truck - St. Louis, MO

The street food truck phenomenon is sweeping the nation and St. Louis is starting to get in on the craze.  Within the past 18 months, St. Louis went from having no food trucks to having a dozen trucks on the street today.  The trucks mainly serve the downtown and Central West End areas with some exceptions.  While I was in town, I made it my mission to find a food truck and test out the St. Louis food truck market.  That's when I hit my first roadblock.  I wanted to find a truck for dinner and I learned that none of the trucks in St. Louis have dinner service.  So it took a little strategy to work out my schedule, but I was able to make it work.  The next big concern was deciding which truck to frequent.  After some diligent menu research, I settled on Shell's Coastal Cuisine.

Shell's Coastal Cuisine started in May of 2011 as the brainchild of chef-owner, Shelley McMahan and it brings a menu based on Carribbean influences to St. Louis.  McMahan, a graduate of Le Cordon Bleu's St. Louis school, has a number of fellow graduates helping her staff the truck.

On Wednesday, I found the truck serving lunch on the campus of Wells Fargo Advisors.  The truck has a fresh, beach theme and as I approached I could hear island music playing from the truck.  It was incredibly hot the day I went to eat there and despite the heat, the staff was very friendly.  McMahan took my order and unfortunately I didn't arrive in time to get the Blue Heaven's Shrimp Melt.  I was momentarily sad since that is the menu item that made my mouth water when I did my research.  However, the smell of steak on the flat top grill inside the truck made up my mind for me.  I ordered the steak tacos and sweet potato chips as a side.

My food was served quickly and I chose to have my tacos on corn tortillas.  The truck offers both corn and flour tortillas.  They also provide a number of different hot sauces.  After setting myself up, I took my first bite and was immediately pleased.  The tortillas were soft and warm and the steak was juicy with a nice crust on the outside.  The sweet potato chips were crispy and the sweetness of the chips were well balanced by the dusting of salt.  The chips were $2 and the two tacos were $7.50.  With a soda, my total bill was $11 and I was delightfully full.

Overall, my first St. Louis food truck experience was a positive one.  My hope would be that over time the trucks will begin serving dinner and so on subsequent trips I can explore more of the food trucks in the evening when I visit St. Louis.  For now I was glad to share a meal and some conversation with McMahan and her staff.  You can see their passion in the design of the truck, the ambiance (yes a food truck can have ambiance), and the food they carefully prepare.

Even my co-worker enjoyed his meal.

Bigelo's Bistro - Edwardsville, IL

This Tuesday while I was getting ready for a meeting in downtown Edwardsville for work, I sought out a spot to grab some lunch.  As usual, I looked for a chance to dine at a local restaurant.  I stumbled on Bigelo's Cafe.  It was convenient for me because it was right across the street from where my meeting would be and it had a nice, modern look to the restaurant.  Once inside, the decor was modern and nice.  The restaurant seats about 50 at a time around tables and at the bar.  When I came in at about 12:30 pm. there were not many seats available, which I always take as a good sign.

A server greeted us as she walked by and told us to find a seat anywhere.  I selected a small table toward the back so I could watch the service.  Our server came by quickly and took our drink order and our food order a short time after that.  I chose a BLT sandwich and a Greek salad for the side.  My co-worker ordered a club sandwich and the same Greek salad.  The menu was full of affordable items.  The BLT was $7.69 and I was able to add the side salad for $2.50 more.

The salads were delivered quickly and were delicious. The serving was generous and would equal a full-size salad at many other restaurants. The lettuce was crisp and the tangy dressing was well balanced against the salty flavor of the black olives and generous helping of feta cheese.  Things were off to a good start and as soon as I finished the salad, my sandwich arrived.  The BLT was delicious.  It was made on Texas toast, which had been grilled on the flattop grill.  It had a crunch to the outside of the bread with a soft, sweet interior.  The bacon was crisp, but not brittle and the sandwich had the right amount of mayonnaise, lettuce and juicy tomatoes.

The only downside was that my co-worker ordered a club sandwich, yet he received a BLT like me.  Our server was attentive and kind, but during a busy lunch rush I think the problem arose because the servers don't write down their orders.  More and more restaurants seem to be adopting this model, but I always like to see someone write down my order.

Overall, I had a great meal and a good experience at Bigelo's.  The decor was nice, the staff was friendly, and the food was great.  They have a nice selection of beers and wines there as well and I saw a flyer for an upcoming 5-course dinner they were having as a special event.  For more information, find them at www.bigelosbistro.com.

The Journey Begins

I love food.  I am comfortable saying that.  Food is a wonderful thing and our country has so many different styles of food to offer.  Whenever I travel, I always look to find great local food.  I avoid fast food and skip the chains.  Instead, I seek out the locals.  The places where the owners and employees pour their heart and soul into each dish.  Places where families make their living and build their future on the success of their business.  Those are the places where great food can be found.


When I find these places, I get more than a meal.  I get to see someone's passion in their menu, their dishes, the ambiance, and the staff.  Sometimes places hit the mark and other times I am left looking for more.  But I wouldn't trade the experience for anything.  So after being on this journey for some time, I thought it was only prudent that I let others in on my experiences.  What you will find in this blog is the humble opinion of one man.  While I do have some culinary experience and training, I am not Anthony Bourdain or Rachel Ray or Guy Fieri.  Everything I eat isn't the most amazing thing ever and I will gladly let you know.  I will give you the stories behind the food and the places I visit. 

Are you ready for the adventure?  If so then follow along and try to keep up.  I think you will find a lot of good food along the way.