Smo-King Pit Barbecue

Yet another surprising mall joint, Smo-King Pit Barbecue was one of my favorite restaurants in Peoria. It's located in Northwoods Mall in the otherwise deserted hallway down from the equally deserted Sears.
Smo-King Pit first opened in Peoria Heights in 1997 under the name Citchen's Cafe. They moved to the mall (2200 War Memorial Drive) just a few yrs ago. Despite their location, all the meat is slow cooked over a hickory wood fire pit. They claim to have "award-winning" ribs, but who doesn't claim that?














The inside of the restaurant is very cute and woodsy. You can almost forget you're in a subpar mall. The workers seem to be a tight knit family and are always very polite and appreciative of their patrons... even this tattooed hoodrat.

















The menu is typical of a barbecue joint. Ribs, briskets, pork, you know...meat. I would usually get the pulled pork platter- a sandwich with two sides for 8.99. They pile the meat on a relatively generic bun. But the bun is just a background player. The generous portion of pulled pork is juicy, smoky, and topped with a thick midwest-style bbq sauce which they make in the restaurant. You can buy a bottle for $5.99



























Richie usually orders the brisket, but on this particular visit, chose the ribs.














Four bones and two sides for $6.99- a cheap way to satisfy your craving for ribs without sacrificing your taste buds. As for the sides, the baked beans are a little runny for my tastes, but I must say that their green beans are outstanding. Salty and spicy with bits of bacon, probably laden with sodium, about as unhealthy as one can make green beans. God, that looks good.

















And apparently, it was, as evidenced by this picture of Richie gnawing on the bone.

They are also known for their homemade cheesecakes, which I, for some reason beyond me, never tried. They have 28 flavors, but rotate 4-5 daily.

Next time you find yourself at Northwoods, I beg you to forgo Charley's Subs and whatever smelly pizza buffet occupies a corner in the food court, and take a stroll down towards Sears. Take a left turn at the mattress store that somehow stays afloat, and walk towards the big (inanimate) pig. Finally, suffer through the contemporary praise music and enjoy your barbecue.

Ribfest

It's been awhile since our last post, we've been busy eating at home and Red Robin, which is not a local greasy joint, but is especially delicious.
A couple weekends ago was Ribfest in downtown Davenport. They had a bunch of different BBQ vendors and some bands played on a stage. I guess Blue Oyster Cult played. Very exciting.














So we hit up a couple of the traveling vendors that were 'international award winners.' Check out the flames! Remember: after the fire, after all the rain, I will be the flame.














Richie got a chopped beef brisket sandwich and hot italian sausage. I got barbecue nachos.














Looks good right? Apparently Richie wasn't impressed. so he moved on to the sausage. hehe















So this one tasted about as good as it looks. Another disappointing wiener














Barbecue nachos! bbq pork, sauce, and nacho cheese on a salty bed of tortilla chips. Sounds like a wonderful idea. Why isn't this available on every ballpark menu in the United States?

I found out why later. didn't even get half way through this one...

So now on to the best !

Jim's Rib Haven is a local bbq restaurant in Rock Island, IL. They had a small booth there so I got me some RIBZ.














These were delicious and "fall off the bone" (as they say). Not bad for ribs cooked under a tent in downtown Davenport. The sauce is more sweet than spicy. They have even been featured on the Food Network, so you know it's good. I full expect Guy Fieri and his douchebag hair to roll into town to visit this place. And I expect us to visit the actual restaurant in the near future (531 24th St Rock Island).