Knowing that the winter months are the slow season for barbecue in St. Louis, the owners of Bogart’s Smokehouse announced in September that the restaurant would be closing for the uncertain winter ahead and would reopen in the spring. As planned, Bogart’s will reopen on March 30, offering limited indoor and outdoor seating.
The restaurant is part of the Pappy’s Smokehouse family, which includes the flagship Pappy’s, Dalie’s Smokehouse, Southern (also closed for the winter), and Pappy’s St. Peters, which opened in October. The owners are John Matthews, Michael Macchi, Brian Scoggins, and Niki Puto. (Founders Mike Emerson and Skip Steele sold their interests in 2018.) Matthews predicted (correctly, as it turned out) that the St. Peter’s store would do a gangbusters business from opening day, so several Bogart’s staffers made the daily trip west to ensure that the first few months ran smoothly.
Find the best food in St. Louis
Subscribe to the St. Louis Dining In and Dining Out newsletters to stay up-to-date on the local restaurant and culinary scene.
When the doors reopen at Bogart’s on March 30, the hours will be 10:30 a.m.–4 p.m. (or until sold out) Tuesday through Saturday. When warm weather returns, Friday and Saturday hours may be extended. “Even if the demand is there, we still have to be able to staff those extra shifts,” Puto notes, referring to the labor shortage in the dining industry since the onset of the pandemic. “We’d open the midtown Pappy’s seven days a week if we had the staff to do it.”
In honor of its 10th anniversary, Bogart’s will celebrate in a variety of ways, including contests and giveaways on social media, a special anniversary package (1 free pound of smoked and torched wings with the purchase of $100 or more in food, available Fridays and Saturday while wing supplies last), and selling limited-edition 10th anniversary T-shirts.
When Bogart’s reopens, the entire menu will also be available. “We haven’t been able to run our full menu since early last year,” says Puto. Options will include smoked tri-tip, pastrami, Cuban sandwiches, wings on weekends, and the return of the Sausage Fatty (thick slices of smoked breakfast sausage). Frozen grab-and-go items (such as ribs, pulled pork, and pit baked beans) will also be available in vacuum-sealed packages.
And to capitalize on traffic from the nearby Soulard Farmers’ Market, Bogart’s will be opening at 9:30 a.m. on Saturday mornings, when the conversation starter will be a house-made Bloody Mary garnished with a sausage fatty mini-biscuit.
Over the years, Bogart’s has received numerous national accolades, including Zagat’s “The Ultimate Guide to American Regional Barbecue.” Two days ago, Travioso named Bogart’s one of its “50 Best Barbecue Joints In America,” along with Beast Craft BBQ, Pappy’s, and The Shaved Duck.
In 2020, the pandemic spawned other opportunities for the lauded smokehouse. Ribs and other favorites were sold through Market Wagon St. Louis, a service that delivers products to homes, businesses, or a central pickup site. Bogart’s also offered bacon-wrapped hams and smoked turkeys for the holiday season and is doing so again for Easter in early April (with orders placed by March 29). Sister restaurant Dalie’s will offer the same items (with orders placed by March 26).
“We couldn’t believe that people drove from as far as Minnesota just to pick up our hams and turkeys during the holidays,” Puto says. “One woman from Iowa who picked up a turkey said she’d do it again and then come back down when we reopened.”
