The barbecue of Michigan

This will be the first installment of a series of posts on the barbecue of Michigan. I will keep it updated as I try out bbq places from across the state. This first installment will focus on a couple bbq places in the middle of the state along 127 from Lansing to the Clare area.

Meat Southern BBQ and Carnivore Cuising - Lansing, MI

Meat recently opened in Lansing's Old Town neighborhood and after receiving a postive report from my parents about it, I decided to check it out on a recent trip up north.



The chopped brisket sandwich was fantastic. Plenty of bits of bark, a nice and smoky flavor. The toasted sourdough(?) worked well too, a nice change of pace from the standard white bun.



The pulled pork, while not quite as smoky as the brisket, was great as well. It was topped with a tangy vinegar slaw and slices of raw jalepeno.

The fries are fried in pig lard, which is a plus in my book. They were not the crispy, twice-fried variety though. They were more like boardwalk/carnival fries - fresh cut and fried once and are a little more soft and potato-y. I enjoyed them.

Sure Shot BBQ - Mt. Pleasant, MI

Sure Shot is located on the main drag (Mission St.) in Mt. Pleasant just north of CMU's campus.



The pulled pork was serviceable, not great but solid. There were no signs of any smoke ring or bark, but was still decently smoky and tender.


The ribs were solid as well. They developed a little bit of bark and had a nice hint of smoke. They appeared to be hit with a sauce towards the end of their trip on the smoker, which glazed up nicely.


They did a little bit of a twist on the mac and cheese. It wasn't topped with breadcrumbs, but rather crumbled Cheez-Its. That shouldn't work, but I cant' deny that I enjoyed it - a nice salty crunch in every bite.

Smokey Bones BBQ - Sears, MI

Smokey Bones is located at the coner of US-10 and US-66. If you're traveling west towards Ludington or north towards Kalkaska, you could do a lot worse than Smokey Bones.





The pulled pork was doused with the housemade sweet bbq sauce, which was a little too sweet for my taste. The pulled pork was almost too tender - possibly from sitting in some sort of braising liquid to keep it warm? The brisket on the other hand was fantastic. Perfectly barky and lots of smoke flavor. Nice and tender, no signs of any remaining connective tissue.



I have a more complete write up on my blog Great Lakes, Better Food if you want to read more.

Anyone know of any good bbq spots in Michigan that are worth checking out (other than Slow's)? I've got a few more reviews in the hopper that I'll get up soon.

Thanks for the post and pics! Meat Southern speaks to me; will have to try it out. Red Arrow Road House in Union Pier had very good Twin Anchors-style candied ribs with local cherries on our last visit, and the owners mentioned that they do occasionally (and plan to, more often) use their outdoor offset smoker more, but time will have to tell on that one.

BigT wrote:Anyone know of any good bbq spots in Michigan that are worth checking out (other than Slow's)?

The old Benton Harbor BBQ thread might still have useful information. It's been a while since I visited but I thought Piggin' n' Grinnin' in Benton Harbor was pretty decent.

Charlie's Piggin' n' Grinnin'
136 Territorial Rd
Benton Harbor MI
269-934-7675
http://www.piggin-n-grinnin.com/

Thanks! I will keep those spots in mind. I had Piggin-n-Grinnin on my radar from my days when I lived in Chicago and would travel back to MI fairly often. I will have to check it out next time I head to Chicago now that I live in Michigan.

While we're talking about southwest Michigan, I did go to Ranch House Ribs just south of South Haven a few weeks ago. I talked about it in this thread.



Ranch House Ribs
23090 M-140
South Haven, MI 49090