Pappy's Smokehouse

Pappy's was founded by Mike Emerson, a longtime St. Louis-area resident who developed his BBQ obsession over decades of competitive barbecue events and home smoking experiments. Emerson partnered with pitmaster Skip Steele, who had spent years working in BBQ kitchens in Memphis and Kansas City before moving to St. Louis. The two opened Pappy's Smokehouse in 2008 in a small Midtown storefront with a Southern Pride smoker and a plan to serve dry-rubbed Memphis-style ribs as the centerpiece of the menu.

The restaurant achieved unexpected success almost immediately. By late 2008 — within months of opening — Pappy's had developed local cult status; St. Louis food media coverage was substantial; lines began forming before opening time on weekends. National food media discovered Pappy's by 2010 and the cascade of best-of-America rankings began that decade. Pappy's has been included on the Travel Channel's Best Sandwich in America series, on the Food Network's Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives, in Bon Appétit's American BBQ rankings, and on numerous best-of lists across the 2010s and 2020s.

Mike Emerson sold his stake in the business in the mid-2010s; pitmaster Skip Steele continues to oversee the kitchen and the smoking program. The restaurant has maintained remarkable consistency across nearly two decades of operation, which is unusual for nationally acclaimed BBQ joints (many fade after the founder departs). Pappy's has opened a small handful of sister restaurants in suburban St. Louis but the original Midtown location remains the flagship and the place that most BBQ pilgrims target.

Pappy's signature menu item is the dry-rubbed pork ribs — full-slab St. Louis-cut spareribs, smoked overnight with hickory and apple wood, dry-rubbed with a proprietary seasoning blend, and served without sauce (sauce is available on the side but the kitchen genuinely intends the ribs to be eaten with the dry rub as the dominant flavor). The Memphis-style execution distinguishes Pappy's from the heavier-sauced Kansas City style and the more sparse Texas style; the dry rub is the primary flavor delivery system, and the smoked meat itself carries the experience.

A full slab of pork ribs runs about $30-35 and serves two adults generously or three modestly. The half-slab option ($18-22) is the standard single-person order. Ribs come with two sides included in the price; the recommended choices are the baked beans (genuinely excellent — slow-cooked with brisket trimmings) and the slaw (Memphis-style mayonnaise-based, balancing the rich rib meat).

Beyond the ribs, the brisket and pulled pork are also serious. The brisket is sliced to order and served by the pound or in a sandwich; the rendered fat cap is left on the slices, which is the proper Texas-Memphis hybrid approach. Pulled pork is shoulder smoked overnight and pulled to order; it works particularly well in sandwich form with the house slaw piled on top. The smoked sausage (typically a hot link variant) is a strong choice for visitors who want to sample multiple meats without ordering full portions.

Pappy's sides are the standard Memphis-Texas hybrid offerings done with serious attention. The baked beans are slow-cooked with brisket trimmings and a sweet-smoky sauce; they consistently earn praise from visitors as among the best baked beans in the country, full stop. The slaw is Memphis-style mayonnaise-based and provides essential acidic balance to the rich smoked meats. The potato salad is mustard-and-mayonnaise mixed with chopped pickle and is competent without being remarkable. The fried corn on the cob — a side dish that's surprisingly not common in other BBQ joints — is a Pappy's specialty: full ears of corn battered, fried, and seasoned, served with a knife to slice the kernels off if you prefer.

Sweet potato fries are the fried side option for visitors who want something other than baked beans or potato salad; they're competent but not the main draw. The smoked corn (different from the fried corn) is a third corn option — roasted with the kernels on the cob and seasoned simply. The greens (collards stewed with smoked turkey) are a recent addition and well-executed.

The banana pudding is the singular dessert and is genuinely cult-worthy. Made with vanilla wafers, fresh bananas, vanilla pudding, and whipped cream — a classic Southern banana pudding executed without shortcuts. The Bunyan combo platter is the marquee choice for first-time visitors who want to sample multiple meats — a half-slab of ribs, brisket, pulled pork, two sides, and bread runs $35-45 and easily feeds two adults with leftovers.

Pappy's daily meat supply is finite — the kitchen smokes a specific quantity of ribs, brisket, pulled pork, and other meats each day and closes when the supply runs out. Sell-out timing varies but is genuinely an everyday occurrence; Tuesday through Thursday lunches typically have full menu availability through 1pm or 2pm, but ribs frequently sell out by 4pm or 5pm. Friday and Saturday lunches see longer lines and faster sell-outs; weekend ribs sometimes sell out by 2pm. Sunday is closed.

The standard advice for first-time visitors: arrive before 10:30am for opening (a 10-15 minute wait is normal even at opening time on weekdays), or come for late lunch around 12:30-1pm when the lunch rush is winding down but the ribs are typically still available. The genuinely worst time is 5pm-6pm on Friday or Saturday — the ribs are likely sold out and the remaining meats (brisket, pulled pork) may have shorter waits or sell-out announcements happening in real time.

Lines at peak times can be 30-45 minutes outside, especially in summer when downtown St. Louis is busy. The ordering process is counter service: walk to the front, order meat by the pound or by full/half-slab and select sides, pay, and find a table. Plates are delivered to your table by staff. Self-bus your table when finished. The system handles volume efficiently but the experience is genuinely casual — this is not a sit-down white-tablecloth meal, and weekday business attire isn't unusual but is also not expected.

Pappy's is the natural lunch anchor for any St. Louis day. The classic plan: morning visit to the Gateway Arch (3-4 hours, tram ride and underground museum), 1pm late lunch at Pappy's, afternoon visit to City Museum or Ted Drewes Frozen Custard, evening at a downtown hotel before continuing west on Route 66 toward Pacific, Cuba, and Springfield the following morning. Pappy's is about 10 minutes by car from the Gateway Arch and 15 minutes from the Chain of Rocks Bridge.

For visitors who only have time for one BBQ meal in St. Louis, Pappy's is the obvious choice — the consensus best ribs in the city, with a level of national reputation that puts it on most every-traveler best-of list. Crown Candy Kitchen and Ted Drewes are excellent supplementary stops for different food experiences (1913 soda fountain and Route 66 frozen custard respectively) but neither competes with Pappy's for serious dinner anchoring.

For Route 66 travelers continuing west, Pappy's is the standard pre-departure lunch — the Mother Road heads roughly southwest from St. Louis along I-44 toward Pacific (35 miles), Cuba (75 miles), Rolla (105 miles), and eventually Springfield (200 miles). A late lunch at Pappy's followed by a 1:30pm departure produces an afternoon drive to Cuba (the natural overnight stop for travelers spending their second Missouri night outside St. Louis) or Springfield (the more ambitious destination for road-trippers willing to drive 200 miles in an afternoon).