Photo courtesy Troy Brown
If there was a Mount Rushmore of barbecue, Mike Mills would be front and center atop it. The renowned pitmaster passed away Tuesday, according to a Facebook announcement.
"It is with deep sorrow that I share with you my much-loved father, Mike Mills, passed away this morning due to non-COVID–related health issues," the post from Mills' daughter, Amy, noted. "His impact on the worldwide culture of barbecue and on the Southern Illinois region he was proud to call home will be long-lasting."
On a personal note, it was not long after I resumed my duties as dining editor of SLM that I interviewed the barbecue legend. Not a legend—the legend. In the world of barbecue, Mills was not just some aspiring esquire; he was the undisputed king. As head of the Apple City BBQ team, Mills took home the Grand World Championship Barbecue Cooking title at the prestigious Memphis in May festival (a.k.a. the “Super Bowl of Swine”) on three occasions, a record in the early 2000s. When revered restaurateur Danny Meyer was putting together his Blue Smoke barbecue concept in New York City, Mills was his mentor. Insiders knew that the sauce on the tables at Blue Smoke was Mills’ sauce with a different label.
Mills went on to open six barbecue joints, three in Illinois and three in Las Vegas; today, four locations remain. His book, Peace, Love, and Barbecue, was nominated for a James Beard Foundation award in 2006. Mills was inducted into the Barbecue Hall of Fame in 2010.
When SLM interviewed Mills in 2007 at 17th Street Bar & Grill, in O’Fallon, Illinois, we noticed a jar of his Magic Dust seasoning on every table, “a concoction so tempting that the jars remain capless and no more than one-eighth full.”
Mills was charming, engaging, and welcoming to anyone and everyone interested in barbecue. When we asked what beverage he would pair with barbecue, he replied, “Bubbles—either Champagne or beer. Both clear the way for the next bite. Vinegar’s good, too.”
Watching our jaw drop, he smiled and said, “Vinegar-based coleslaw does the same thing. Chase that barbecue with a little slaw. Mmmm. Bait a trap with that, and you’ll catch Mikey every time.”
Asked if he would share a secret (and assuming it would be barbecue-related), Mills surprised us again. He smiled and said: "I was a dental tech for 35 years. Is that what you mean?"
Photography by Kevin A. Roberts
Mike Mills, Terry Black
How far-reaching is Mills' legacy? Super Smokers BBQ founder Terry Black is often referred to as one of the godfathers of St. Louis barbecue—and Mills was Black’s mentor.
“Mike played a major role in the national shaping of the current barbecue landscape,” he says. “What he did with the Apple City BBQ team—winning first place in 64 of 69 contests where they competed—was unprecedented. Everyone, and I mean everyone in the barbecue industry knew who Mike Mills was. The man was universally respected, a true icon.”
Mike Emerson, who worked with Black at Super Smokers and went on to co-found Pappy’s Smokehouse, knew Mills well. When TV personality/author/chef Michael Symon came to St. Louis in 2010 to film an episode of Food Feuds during its inaugural season, Symon pitted Mills against Emerson, who compared the contest to "Rocky Balboa versus Apollo Creed.”
Courtesy Mike Emerson
Mike Mills, Mike Emerson
In the shadow of the St. Louis Arch, Emerson was bested by Mills that day. “I was never happier to get my butt kicked,” he says. “Mike was gracious to even consider coming here at all. He stopped competing after he basically beat everyone there was to beat. The man went out on top."
After hearing of his passing, Emerson said, “People talk about destination restaurants. There aren’t many that rise to the level of world recognition as 17th Street did, especially in a town the size of Murphysboro, Illinois. There are so many great barbecue joints that stand on his shoulders,” he noted, referring to people and places from all over the world that weighed in on the 17th Street Instagram account. “And as great a name as he was in the barbecue biz, he was an even better mentor and a great father to Amy.
“Over the years, I’ve been asked to recall some of the first moments when I thought Pappy’s might be successful,” Emerson continued. “High on the list was the time that Mike called to congratulate us and say he thought we ran a good operation. I thought, ‘Wow, Mike Mills called to congratulate us.’ It was like having Babe Ruth say, ‘Hey kid, you've got a pretty good swing.’
“You don’t easily come to be known as The Legend,” Emerson says of Mills. “You earn that title through a lifetime of achievements and treating people with kindness. Mike Mills will always be The Legend—to me and to many, many others.”
