Pig City BBQ began in the summer of 1986 as...... a chicken roast. In an attempt to create better smoked chicken than a local establishment (Clark's Family BBQ), I purchased a water based "torpedo" smoker and smoked my first chicken. I smoked it for about 6 hours.

If you smoke a chicken for 6 hours, you'll find out, as I did, you shouldn't smoke a chicken more than two hours . While the color was a perfect golden brown, it tasted like a charcoal bricket. From those humble and ill-fated beginnings sprang forth BBQ perfection. A 20 year BBQ odyssey that involved over 2100 smokings of beef, pork, whole hogs, ribs, chickens and assorted fruits and vegetables.

In the spring of 1987, I discovered that the tree in my front yard (that was ruining the paint on all of my cars) was a black cherry tree. Late in the spring of 1987 (blessed with an abundance of newly cut cherry wood) I began discovering the art of smoking with fruit woods. 

What I learned over those 20 years was that if you want to smother something with smoke...use hickory or mesquite. If you want to gently enhance the natural flavors of meats and spices, you want to use fruit woods. Many BBQ'rs smoke with apple, and they have great success! However, my friends and family became addicted to the extra sweetness that cherry delivers.

In early 2005, I began to put recipes and processes together to deliver this ultimate taste in BBQ to the public. I was blessed with the support of my business partner, Jeremy Molsberger, and my good friends in St. Louis, Bruce Morton and Terry Black (Super Smokers BBQ). With their help and support, and the incredible smoking technology delivered by Fast Eddy and Cookshack, I am able to deliver perfect BBQ day in and day out at Pig City BBQ.

Finally, Jeremy and I decided to not only deliver the best BBQ, but accompany it with the best side items (all made fresh in the store), the best service (all Pig City restaurants will be full service), the best desserts (also made fresh daily), and SIX of the most dynamic and time tested sauces available in any BBQ restaurant, anywhere (THANK YOU TERRY!).

We hope you will stop in and spend some time with us. We have some really cold beer (about 30 different brands), a really fun, family oriented environmet, a large patio overlooking our pond and fountain, and some really great food.

Hope to see ya soon.

JP