Seventeen years after opening, Pappy’s Smokehouse remains a vital part of the national food scene. The latest acclaim: Food & Wine recently named the institution one of the “10 Restaurants Every Barbecue Lover Must Visit.”
“Food & Wine, like St. Louis Magazine, has played a big role in introducing, and keeping informed, food lovers to and about Pappy’s over the years,” says Pappy’s co-founder Mike Emerson. “I’m very proud to see the team at Pappy’s continuing to shine. Good food, great hospitality, and media friends like F&W and St. Louis Magazine makes for a winning combination!”
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Food & Wine released its list yesterday as part of its “2025 Global Tastemakers” project, an annual award that “celebrates the very best of culinary travel around the world.” The 10 must-visit barbecue destinations are a subset of this annual feature and recognize smokehouses that do far more than serve great food—they are essential in defining the current state of barbecue in the country.
“From old-school experts serving the original styles we know and love today to new-wave pitmasters blending culture with tradition, these barbecue makers are crafting specialties worth traveling for,” writes the list’s author, Greg Baker.
St. Louisans and barbecue enthusiasts across the country alike have put Pappy’s into that category since Emerson and John Matthews founded it in 2008. Known for its Memphis-style, dry-rub ribs, the smokehouse quickly became a nationally acclaimed success. Lines stretched so long, it’s said that friendships have been made while waiting—and hunger pangs kept at bay with a pizza delivery while in the queue.
In addition to the recent nod from Food & Wine, the Food Network deemed Pappy’s as the best ribs in America, Southern Living proclaimed it the Best BBQ in Missouri, and Esquire named it one of “100 Restaurants America Can’t Afford to Lose.”
The recent Food & Wine accolade praises Pappy’s for changing the barbecue game in St. Louis: “When two competition barbecuers opened Pappy’s Smokehouse in 2008, serving Memphis-style, dry-rubbed ribs, they quickly established themselves as a staple, widely recognized as having the best dry-rubbed ribs in the country.”
