Several months ago, after casually opining to SLM about the popularity of BBQ in STL, Bud Starr decided to take the next step.
Back in August, Bud Starr posted a teaser sign in the lobby of Starr’s Wine and Spirits at 1135 S. Big Bend in Richmond Heights. Apparently, the wine store owner was ready to jump into the Kingsford-hot BBQ biz, except for one detail: the smoker. (Should you, dear reader, be considering a similar foray into the land of blue smoke, keep in mind delivery time for an Ole Hickory smoker–considered to be the best on the market–is months rather than weeks, an exercise Starr described as “order one and hold your breath.” Pappy’s, Bogart’s, and Adam’s Smokehouse all use Ole Hickory’s.)
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The smoker just arrived, the sign (above) went up this week, and Bud’s Smokehouse & Grill opened for business very softly on Friday.
The restaurant occupies a 1400 SF event space inside the wine store, an area originally allocated to the lucrative-but-erratic dinner parties hosted by local pharmaceutical reps. During a particularly slow period in 2009, Starr decided to switch gears and open a restaurant instead, Bar Oliver (Bud’s given name). (Read SLM’s First Look here.) Several other concepts followed (all of them chronicled in the pages of Relish) but Starr was quick to note that “this one is all mine. If for some reason it’s not successful, you can blame me.”
Starr does know a thing or two about smoking, however: for the last 20 years, he’s used a cold smoker to cure trout and salmon, both mainstays in the store’s refrigerated case.
Joining him in the venture is Antonio Taylor, a pitmaster hailing from Memphis, Tennessee. While waiting on the smoker, the duo developed five BBQ sauces and several signature rubs, spiced “on the lighter side,” which according to Starr makes for a better pairing with wine. One thing that sets this place apart is the wine: customers can browse the adjacent shop and purchase a bottle and crack it open in the restaurant. Corkage is $8.50 for bottles priced under $25 and free for bottles above $25.
The menu runs the usual BBQ gamut but with a few surprises: the chicken is all free-range, the other meats are primarily hormone free (as are the other meats sold there), and there’s even an option of a local, Missouri-raised rack of ribs, something the big guys can’t offer.
The large kitchen allows for sidebars like a Smokehouse Chef Salad, several types of burgers, a Philly steak and Philly turkey, and off-menu options: last evening there was a sole and lobster dish (that sold well, according to Starr); today it’s a pulled pork stir fry.
Notable as well is the superior onion roll used for the burgers and sandwiches that’s made in house.
Starr thinks of his place as “more upscale barbeque.” The menu (below) bears this out.
Prices run from $6.95 for a pulled pork sandwich (fries or housemade sweet potato fries are .99 extra) to $20.95 for a slab of baby backs, to $31.95 for the aforementioned Missouri ribs.
I sampled the cole slaw and an order of baked beans, both clearly homemade, both above average. The slaw was creamy with mini-chunks of apple and the beans were firm, mild, and contained bits of brisket, a far cry from the thick, dark, and often cloying notes of other barbeque-sauce-added baked beans.
The 80-seat interior (left) feels more like a prior iteration rather than a barbeque joint, and is a work in progress, according to Starr. The chandeliers and sconces look like they could have been lifted from the Dana Thomas House; the tables are large and the seats are comfy…this is no splinters-in-the-ass-from-the-picnic-table type of place. The day of our visit, there was discussion of which type of butcher paper would work best on those tables and where to find the best roadhouse tchotchkes.
Perhaps the most unique feature of the new operation is that Starr is offering tasting portions of the legendary and peerless Pappy Van Winkle bourbon…”an especially good pairing,” says Starr, who has squirreled away several bottles for that unknown occasion.
That occasion is here, the time is now, and a dram of rare bourbon is calling your name.
Bud’s Smokehouse & Grill is open for lunch and dinner, 11:15 a.m.- 8:00 p.m. on Tuesday – Thursday and 11:30 a.m. – 9:00 p.m. on Friday – Saturday.
In other news at Starr’s, John Nash (founder of the Wine Merchant) is now fully entrenched and the force behind a weekly e-newsletter noting wine specials, classes, and events. Friday’s edition announced four selections of 2013 Beaujolais Nouveau ($8.99-$15.99, released on Thursday), Saturday’s tasting specials, and even included a 20%-off coupon to the shop’s “newly expanded cheese department,” another addition since Nash came aboard.
