Ms. Piggie's

Oh my. It's in a strip mall - not a good sign.

Well, don't let looks fool you. The BBQ here is excellent. Only Steve, Megan & I made it, but everyone was glad they did.

Located just west of the Federal Records Center (10612 Page). The place is short on seating (maybe a dozen) but long on taste and hospitality. I had some seriously tangy rib tips and the best fries served up so far. The whole shebang was moderately priced ($10 with a soda) as well.

Before you go be sure to check out their website and print off a 10% off coupon.

They do take credit cards but be warned they are closed on Mondays.

This place will be moving on to the next round.

Phil's

Phil's has been an institution in St. Louis (Affton really) since before I moved here twenty-some years ago. John Goodman's mom worked there for Pete's sake.

A pack of us headed down to 9205 Gravois for a long lunch. I had the pulled pork which was good, stick-to-your ribs BBQ with tasty sauce. The sides left a lot to be desired but the service was excellent. Overall a pretty good value. The consensus was - it had Mama's Coal Pot beat so it moves on to the loser's bracket at least.

Phil's, if you don't know, has indoor dining, takes credit cards, in short, has all the modern BBQ conveniences.

Method to the Madness

It's become clear we're going to have about three dozen joints to check out so we'll need some method to this madness. You can't remember if this week's place beat a joint from three month's ago so here's what we're going to do:

• Restaurants will be judged against the surrounding week's entries only.
• If a joint beats the places on both weeks surrounding it, it advances to the next round
• If a joint only beats one place, it goes into the loser's bracket and one place from the loser's bracket can advance to the next round

Momma's Coal Pot

I'd been here before and had had some pretty good Q, so about six of us went to check it out:

Though they open at 11:00, they were still boarded up at 11:20 and we had to rouse them. Let me explain that this is a stall at the University City farmer's market in the parking lot that runs behind the stores from Saleem's to Cicero's.

After getting the son to come out and take our orders, we sidled up to the picnic tables (again - no indoor seating, cash only) to wait . . . and wait . . . and wait . . .

. . . for what was eventually mediocre barbecue. No one was very impressed. I had the half chicken and it was OK but Red's is in no danger of losing its lead.

Red the BBQ Man

Pure BBQ Heaven!!

We took a group this time and ended up at Red the Bar B Que Man (6185 Bermuda Dr). In a parking lot without much around, the only seating is on picnic table in the line of fire (or at least smoke). It took a while to get the order but man! was it worth it.

I ordered the rib tips on got a solid cubic foot of tips - so many the Styrofoam 'to go' box wouldn't come close to shutting. All this for about $8. Good thing we picked Thursday as they are only open Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. Bring cash too - they don't take plastic.

If you are within twenty miles of this place on a Saturday afternoon, you owe it to yourself to stop by. The place is about a mile north of 70 on the left. It'll be hard to beat.