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Owners David and Meggan Sandusky bring their special talents to BEAST – David mans the smoker, Meggan manages the house
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A plate of bright green organic kale roasted with garlic, smoky pit beans, fresh kielbasa and chicken with deeply browned skin that clings to the moist meat with a hint of smokiness.
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Kale at its best
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Pan-roasted Brussels sprouts with pork belly.
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The hand-written menu board rises above the counter where customers place orders for house specialties and sides that change with the day and with the season.
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The dining room is simply finished with repurposed wood in muted colors and corrugated galvanized steel wainscoting on the walls. Meggan Sandusky and her mother-in-law covered the top half with wood. David Sandusky and his father pop-riveted every bit of corrugated steel.
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The restaurant features an extensive list of craft beers listed on a chalkboard in the dining room.
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Ski-brand fountain drinks, crafted by Excel Bottling Co. in nearby Breese, Ill.
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A new concept in an old town: BEAST Craft BBQ Co. sign rises up on Belt Avenue, aka Highway 13, in Belleville, Ill.
For David Sandusky, a great day at BEAST Craft BBQ Co. starts with the surprised and satisfied looks he sees on customer’s faces when they get their food. “People choose to come here and spend their money with us. Our job is to give them good value and great food. You’ll see signs here that say, "All Killer, no Filler." The question I don’t understand from customers is "What’s good here?" If it’s not great, it’s not on the menu that day,” Sandusky says.
So, what’s terrific on the menu? For starters, consider the chicken, not the usual suspect at a BBQ joint. BEAST delivers a tender bird, both the white and the dark meat. The skin hugs the meat close and thin, nearly blackened with minimal fat and maximum taste. Slightly smoky, juicy and moist, the half-chicken delivers. Sometimes, a daily special pairs fresh kielbasa with the half chicken. The country mustard, made in house with a generous pour of stout in the recipe, deserves a mention for its seed-popping merits.
Don’t expect a skinny-ass pork steak here. BEAST cuts them thick and large, rubbed, rested, smoked and grilled with spices almost melded with the meat. The textured crust contrasts with the tender meat in just-right proportions. No filler, all killer.
Just when you think things couldn’t get better, you realize the tortillas the Sanduskys serve, speckled black with spots, warm and pliable, make the perfect shell for make-your- own tacos topped with one of two sauces – cherry chipotle sweet and slightly hot, or the house sauce, brisk and lively. David encouraged me to pop a bit of kale in my chicken and sausage taco. Good notion, that.
“The tortillas are made fresh for us every day,” David says. “Everything is fresh. Our menu is small and dynamic and it changes every day. Meats are never frozen and never carried-over to be warmed the next day. We source locally. No cans, no freezers, no microwaves.”
David, a craft beer devotee, suggests beer pairings for each menu item. He admits he’s a bit of a fanatic about food and drink. So is his wife. “She’s my biggest critic,” he says. “She holds the cooks to the fire around here. She’s as intense as I am. True story, I try not to cook for her at home. She’s good.”
“I don’t want him to cook in our kitchen,” Meggan says. “He thinks there’s a dishwasher here. Every pot and bowl is dirty when he cooks.”
But when David and his wife Meggan transformed the 1960s-style building that once housed a Belleville icon of 48 years, the Hy-Ho restaurant, they followed the same playbook, no question. From the beginning, they understood customers would demand good outcomes for the trade-off of the Hy-Ho.
“Belleville people have an attachment to this place,” David says. “They come in and look around, not quite sure of how it works to wait in line and order at the counter.”
For general manager Meggan Sandusky, when one person grabs a table instead of waiting in the order line, the fast-casual concept BEAST lives by sometimes hiccups. “They’re used to the Hy-Ho,” she says. “After a few visits, they get in line and wait because they see there will be a table when they get their food. It works out.” It worked out so well BEAST added a second smoker a few months after opening.
Be warned, however. The restaurant especially rocks on Thursdays, when BEAST puts out the brisket and chicken nachos. Tuesdays, BEAST serves snoots. “Everybody shows up on Thursdays for the nachos,” Meggan says. “They are intense.”
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The Sanduskys understand intensity. It propelled BEAST to success in under a year. David admits he’s a taskmaster in the kitchen, but he tempers his ferocity with careful instructions and encouragement to his cooks. “I am instructional and thorough,” he says. "I expect a lot, but I’m always looking to take people to the next level."
He acknowledges the chefs who taught him in fine dining restaurants over the years on the sophisticated website for BEAST. He blogs Chef Shout-outs, his homage to the chefs who schooled him. “I don’t enjoy the pretensions of fine dining, but the principles – use the best fresh ingredients, pay attention to the standards – those things work at every level, from fine dining to barbecue. At BEAST, we do it simple; we do it great.”
BEAST Craft BBQ
20 South Belt West
Belleville, IL
618-257-9000
Sun - Thu: 11 a.m. - 9 p.m.
Fri - Sat: 11 a.m. - 10 p.m.
Facebook: BEAST Craft BBQ Co.
Twitter: @BEASTCraftBBQ
