Dalie’s Smokehouse opened in Valley Park yesterday at 11 a.m.—unannounced—and the lines began to form oh, about 11:15., which is about right for a Pappy’s family restaurant (the same thing happened when sister restaurant Southern opened in Midtown a week ago today).
Dalie’s co-owner Skip Steele named this restaurant after his maternal grandfather, “Papa Joe” Dalie Wells, who gave Steele his first kitchen job (at age 12) as well as his first beer (which we trust was sometime later).
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There are currently seven restaurants under the Pappy’s family umbrella, all with different names — Pappy’s Smokehouse, Bogart’s Smokehouse, Adam’s Smokehouse, Southern, and Dalie’s Smokehouse in metro St. Louis; plus The Notorious P.I.G. in Missoula, Mt, and Boogie’s BBQ in Nürnberg, Germany. In an SLM Q&A to be published next month, Steele explained that using different names meant the menus could be “the same, but different.” And they all are.
At Dalie’s, Steele says he went “back to basics,” recalling recipes he learned from his grandfather, so the ribs are glazed with Papa Joe’s Original sauce, described on the menu as “sweet and tangy.” (Four other sauces are available as well: Carolina Sweet, Dalie’s Vinegar, Cranberry Cayenne, and Voodoo.)
Dalie’s standard issue baked beans are cooked in the smoker under the pork belly, “so they taste bacon-infused,” according to Steele.
Steele says the signature sandwich may end up being the reuben, so he went hog wild on the name, calling it the Ultimate Reuben. Made with Bogart’s-recipe pastrami plus a pork belly pastrami (beef and pork on the same sandwich), it’s served on toasted marble rye and comes with one side. (Of the eight sandwiches on the menu, five come in both regular and large sizes.)
The suburban location necessitated longer hours as well as family-focused items like BBQ Nachos, BBQ Salad (with choice of meat), and a Blackened Chicken Salad.
Ditto an expanded selection of side dishes including Thick Cut Steak Fries, Billy Goat Chips, Apple Sauce, and Mac -n- Cheese.
For the adults, there’s the highly-addictive Fried Fire and Ice Pickles (at right, with Cajun sauce).
While discussing all the different menus, Steele reminded us of this: “We have two of the top 10 rated barbecue restaurants in the country…that couldn’t have happened if both were named Pappy’s.”
He’ll expound on that story—and many more—when you pay Dalie’s a visit. Odds are his half-smiling face will be one of the first you’ll see. That’s the Pappy’s way.
Dalie’s Smokehouse
2951 Dougherty Ferry
Valley Park
636-529-1898
Tue – Sat: 11 a.m. – 8 p.m.
Sun: 11 a.m. – 4 p.m.
On Facebook: Dalie’s Smokehouse
