Was craving bbq, but it was a Sunday and all of the longstanding bbq places in Marion were closed…read moreand it was a blessing in disguise. This places is the best bbq in town! Never had oxtails before, but so glad we tried them based on other reviews because they are delicious. The sides are generous. The brisket was great and the fried catfish was probably the cleanest tasting I've ever had and spiced to perfection.

First time visiting this place today...food was SO good! Very fresh and super tasty. The vibe was…read morefun - made me feel like I was in NOLA - fun signage and southern music. And the staff were very friendly and seemed to be enjoying themselves. I can't wait to go back and try more things on the menu!

Popped in for Thurs lunch favoring Pat's with fewer but better ratings and less expensive option in…read moreMurphysboro. First time...so went withh the sampler at $18 and most of their meats are included except the pork steak (makes sense to me since that's usually a separate feature in these parts along with Kentucky). It was three of us and we were given the heads up that the sampler can feed two. Figured we could start with that and order more. The order was a very generous helping of two large rib tips, two pork rib bones, two wing pieces, and pulled chicken, pork, and chopped brisket. Our choice of two sides were slaw and mac & cheese. Three buns were thrown in given the three of us in the party (thanks for the flex). Local bottled Big Muddy root beer is the same $1.50 as the can sodas in the case and it is made with honey and cane sugar. Of the things I tried, I thought the rib tips were excellent - smoked pink and moist - got a meaty piece with only a small piece of cartilage. The chopped brisket isn't my thing - I prefer sliced. My daughter said the ribs were great (figured would be as good as the tips). The wings I believe were smoked too rather than grilled and the taste from the rub/marinade wasn't something I was familiar with. Tender and not dry. Pulled pork and chicken were solid. We still had leftovers - so I'll get my chance to try the ribs and focus on the flavor of the wing. Will have to get the pork steak next time and order plates next time focusing on our faves. Roomy dining area with some tables near the windows. It was getting warm out there so having plenty of indoor seating on a quieter Thursday lunch was welcome over overflow seating outside at the covered picnic tables.

I live in the Midwest, in a small city. Our BBQ places are easy to find: look for a big, shouty…read moresign; the owner's $120,000 extended F250 taking up a space right in front of the door; and an ambiance that includes corrugated steel walls, self-consciously Texas-y lamps over closely huddled booths, and servers all wearing the same hat and shirt. Oh - and the food is usually fine, except no fried okra. Pat's is not in a city. It's outside a small southern Illinois town. Pretty far outside, in fact, which is where true BBQ is supposed to be located. The parking lot is gravel. The only pickups there belong to customers, and their worth is more in the range of $12,000, except to their owners, who use them as trucks. And the sign is a sign. It tells you where you are. Oh, wait - there are BBQ competition trophies in the entryway. Stand and marvel. There are more inside. Marvel more. Because other than these and some pics of family and locals and celebrities I didn't recognize on the walls, that's about it for decoration. Stare at the menu, menu board and signs. Pay attention to the happy person behind the counter when she tells you what they're out of, because the best BBQ places are out of something you want. Note the teasing banter between local customers and the kitchen staff, because everyone knows someone back there. And order. We got the pulled pork plate. My sister got potato salad and green beans. I got the fries. I got the local(?) root beer. They don't do fried okra, but this IS the Midwest. It all came to our table in a reasonable amount of time. The BBQ sauce came in a cup on the side. Ketchup was brought to us. So why only four stars? Everything was perfect, right? And prizewinning? Yeah, but BBQ is personal. Everyone has an opinion. I lived in northern Alabama, which styles itself as BBQ Country. As does Texas and Kansas City and Memphis and everywhere. Pat's, much beloved by regulars for its mild smokiness, juicy juicy soft texture and other features, seemed a bit too mild and even soggy to me. I know - I have no taste. And it was good. Just not five stars great. And not enough sauce in the container, though I could have gotten up to ask for more. And the potato salad was fine and the fries a little too starchy, but only a little. That said, the beans were the wonderful dark green juicy soft salty ones that are too ... wonderful. Get those. The root beer, brewed with honey, y'all, was the best ever. Get that, too. The dessert was what they were out of, dang it! Overall the experience was just great. Someplace to go back to. And you should go there.

Championship barbecue for sure! Loved it!!!!!!!…read more Off of Ina whether you're heading to St. Louis or you're heading to Florida try it

Road snack! Pit stop for BBQ right off the highway. Wish I could be more enthused…read more We pulled in around lunch time, there were a couple of people seated. To the left of the door was a window opening to the back with a woman standing there with a baby on her hip, we were looking around to see where to go and she let us know to head to the second window to the back. Upon arriving at the second window, there was a young man standing there. He didn't greet us, didn't smile, just stood there. I indicated it was our first time in and asked a question about the menu, he responded with the answer and then just continued to stand there. I was very uncomfortable so just ordered a sampler with nothing else. For the three options, i chose pulled pork, brisket, and 2 ribs. The food came out right away but no comments or anything. We saw the BBQ sauce area and I took a couple of options in condiment cups with no lids available. grabbed some napkins as we would continue our road trip and eat in the car. I am never a big fan of pulled pork; I have my favorite and compare all to it. This had more flavor than most I have had but it was really dry for being ordered early in the day. The brisket was tender and the fat attached gave flavor. The ribs were fine, also dry. This was a pit stop on our road trip because we love BBQ, this just wasn't for us.

We have been to a lot of BBQ restaurants. This one is very good. Waited in line for 1/2 hour on a…read moreFriday evening memorial weekend. Took about 15 minutes after we ordered. Some tables inside and a big pavilion outside. The menu has a lot of options and they have great specials. I feel the price was good. All of the meats were great! So flavorful and tender. The jalapeño sausage was also very good. The sides were not the plain old salads and I assume made in-house. The potato salad sweet and creamy. The slaw has apple slivers in it to give it a sweet crunch. The beans had a little spice to them. The bread pudding is good with no shortage on sweetness.

Passing through town and found this place with good reviews. So glad we stopped in. Meat portions…read moreare generous and prices good. Turkey was very juicy which is hard to do. The pulled pork had very good flavor.we thought the sides we got were a bit lacking. Mac and cheese was ok. Not as creamy smooth as I prefer but still had good flavor. Creamed corn was a little too creamy and very sweet. Not our taste preference. All in all I definitely would go here again and you should too! Side note the bathrooms were very clean!

Great food. Great price…read more Just passing through on a road trip and took a chance. Well worth the few minutes off the interstate. Chicken was cooked perfectly, seasoned just right and perfectly moist. Burger was thick and had a great smoked favor. Would stop here again when we're passing through.

Fresh food with large portions! The ribs were cooked perfectly can get them with bbq sauce on them…read moreor on the side. The chicken was juicy with just the right amount of crisp.

The BBQ was amazing (we tried baby backs, brisket, burnt ends), prices reasonable, and staff very…read morefriendly and helpful!

We enjoyed the fall off the bone ribs and smoked chicken! We got delivery and had excellent serviceread more

Great barbecue sandwich and fried catfish. They seem to have a very busy drive thru. Every time…read morewe are in town we stop and get our fill of good barbecue. We even ordered a large amount to go for a family dinner and everything was great.

Place had a foul odor to start with. I had a pork steak, probably would have been better the day…read moreit was cooked. Would give 1 star but wife said her pulled pork sandwich was ok.

Awesome! Had a large reservation of 17 on a Saturday night…read more They texted to remind me. Got to restaurant and had a great waiting area with peanuts (husband's favorite)! Got sat at table and we were lucky enough to get Shannon, the BEST server ever! She is sweet, courteous and patient! Very organized with a group this big!! Thank you very much Shannon for doing such a great job--you are TOP NOTCH! Food was great , salad bar was amazing, good time!! Kretzer's is our "to go" place for lunch or dinner.

We come here every so often and have always liked the food. Today we get here early about 4 pm to…read morebeat the rush. The dinning room wasn't very full but when they seated us they took us to what used to be a patio. Now it's enclosed and there is a bar a stage and plenty of seating. My problem was the fans that were blowing made it difficult to have a conversation with my wife across the table. I told the server it was almost too noisy and was having a hard time hearing him talk. He said he'd talk louder. That didn't really fix the problem. Not real sure why we were seated in this area because the dinning room had plenty of space. We had a little trouble communicating our order because of the noise. As I stated a couple times to our server. I communicated I have trouble hearing in areas like this and he just kept talking louder. Anyway we finally got our food ordered and went for a salad in the next room. My wife even commented on the empty tables and asked my why I thought they put us in that big room. Idk? So we get our salad and it was good. Kretzers had a decent salad bar. One of the reasons we like the place. I ordered a 12oz ribeye rare with a baked potato. Wife got chicken strips with gravy and mashed potatoes and gravy. When the food arrived everything looked good and the server said some things that I have no idea what. Even the wife didn't know. I go to open the butter for my pita and it's not butter. It's an oil whip. I do not eat fake butter. It's harmful. To find out they have no butter in the place. So I tell my server of the situation and looks at me like he has no idea what to do. Turns and walks away. So I eat my steak and stare at the baked potato. I am a recent cancer survivor and have no ability to make saliva. So I needed the butter to make the potato edible. Or even gravy or something. I told the server but I don't think he heard me correctly or didn't know what to do. It was so loud with the stupid fans. So while I do recommend Kretzers and like their steaks and crab legs and salad bar. I don't recommend their new addition to dine in. And if you want real butter bring your own. I was a little disappointed with our experience this time around.

Well, it had been quite a while since my last visit to Pappy's, and it's safe to say the food is…read morestill incredible! I went with two coworkers last week and we got there around 11:45am. The line wasn't too long, but I did notice it's set up a little differently than I remember. They now use more of the building, so the line runs down the hallway and loops into the restaurant, with two ordering counters available. While you're waiting, they have menus to look at and even a QR code if you'd rather pull it up on your phone. We ended up waiting about 10 minutes before ordering. Once we got to the counter, everything moved quickly. The staff member helped us right away and let us know they'd bring the food out to our table, which I was glad hasn't changed. One thing I did notice is that the original ordering/dining area is no longer open for seating, it looks like it's now used for staff and possibly catering/to-go orders. They have their drink station available for self-service and offer sodas and sweet and unsweet tea options as well as water. Luckily, there's still plenty of seating in the newer dining area, plus a good number of outdoor tables if you want to sit at a picnic table and enjoy the weather. Within a few minutes, we heard our names called and our food came out fast. And honestly, it was just as good as ever. I was especially happy with the sweet potato fries, and even though applesauce isn't anything fancy, it's kind of the perfect side for me at Pappy's. I ended up eating about half of my meal and boxing the rest up for dinner later, which is always a win. Overall, such a great spot, and I'm really glad it's so close to work. Definitely still a fan and will keep going back.

Went on a road trip recently, and spent a few days in St. Louis. Since St. Louis has a whole style…read moreof rib named after it, I had to try and seek out the best in town. My research brought me here to Pappy's. I'm very glad it did. Ambiance starts with a line out the door, literally. You slowly shuffle down a long hallway full of Pappy's memorabilia. Then you make it to the ordering counter, order, and find a table. The dining room is huge, plenty of tables, with a full complement of sauces on each table. The service people at the counter were friendly, and so were the people delivering the food. The food came out quick and hot and delicious. We had baked beans and potato salad for sides, and they were pretty solid. Nothing show-stealing, but no complaints about them whatsoever. And of course, we got the ribs. Tender, juicy, a nice bite and chew, a decent bark, just a really wonderful rib. Better than any St. Louis style rib I've ever had back home in Florida. Other states, hard to say, the jury's out, but in that moment, I was eating a five-star rib. So good. We also got a 1/4 pound of the Burnt Ends. Usually, burnt ends are the king of meats, but I think we've entered the phase of America, where they're just another variety of meat and not necessarily upper echelon anymore. That being said, these were pretty ok. Should have gotten more ribs. Overall, Pappy's was pretty wow. Great local spot with a lot of pride and history, excellent ribs, I will definitely try to come back next time I'm in town.

Excellent BBQ! Place was busy at lunchtime when I visited. Took a few minutes to obtain my to-go…read moreorder, but worth the wait.

Some of the best food I've had in along time. I especially like the bbq. If you like smoked, this…read moreis for you. ALL the sides are delicious and his magic dust on the fresh fries are to die for!