Beast Craft BBQ

Tasty Tuesday–Beast Craft BBQ: Brisket Philly

Beast does an amazing job of creating new, unique sandwiches that highlight their many amazing food items, but they are also great at making standard favorites with a Beast twist. Enter the Brisket Philly:

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Brisket and burnt ends on a bun, with cheese sauce (no swiss or provel here!), grilled onions, and poblano peppers. I can’t even decide what it is that makes this sandwich great! The homemade cheese sauce (instead of the standard Cheez Whiz), is amazing. I think the genius of this particular creation, though, is the poblano peppers. They add a smoky quality to the sandwich that is amazing, and really give it that Beast touch, setting it apart from other Philly sandwich creations. I highly recommend giving this a chance the next time it appears on Beast’s menu!

Tasty Tuesday–Beast Craft BBQ: A Look Inside

I have shared a lot about the delicious food at Belleville’s Beast Craft BBQ, but I realized that I have yet to write about the restaurant itself!

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Beast is in a very unassuming location between a gas station and a bowling alley, but don’t let that discourage you…the inside is well-decorated and clean.

I love the hand-written menus (and especially the occasional illustrations!)…the special is right there when you walk in the door, and the full menu is at the hostess’ station.

To the right is the bar area, which is also where you pick up carryout orders. There are TVs where you can catch the big game, and a few tables in addition to the bar seating:

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The beer wall is the focal point of this area…I love the local selections!

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If beer isn’t your thing, you also have a choice of local soft drinks, featuring Ski:

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In addition to the bar, there is a small dining room. From what I’ve seen, it fills up quickly, so come early, or be ready to wait. Beast doesn’t do reservations.

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Have I mentioned how much I love the Beast logo? It’s perfect in its straightforward simplicity!

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It doesn’t matter if you’re planning on sitting down to eat, or carrying out your food…just visit Beast as soon as possible…you won’t regret it!

Tasty Tuesday–Beast Craft BBQ: Kentucky Hot Brown

Yesterday, Beast had a new turkey creation on the menu…the Kentucky Hot Brown. As soon as I saw it, I started rearranging the dinner menu for the week, just so I could try it!

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In case you’re unfamiliar with the Kentucky Hot Brown, the Beast version stays fairly true to the original, with turkey, pork belly (instead of plain old bacon), tomatoes, cucumbers, and Mornay sauce, which I discovered is a Béchamel sauce with grated cheese added in. The sandwich is served open-faced, which was a first for me at Beast.

This was another amazing addition to the Beast menu, and totally worth changing our dinner plans for the next few days so I could fit it in. I have to admit, as much as I love the burnt ends, I think the turkey might be my favorite item from Beast…it has been amazing every way I’ve tried it, and even plain it’s delicious. But who knows? Maybe Beast will come up with another burnt end speciality that will have me changing my mind about my favorite yet again!

Tasty Tuesday–Beast Craft BBQ: Big Country

Beast had me at asparagus fries…

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The Big Country is another amazing creation from Beast…it’s currently tied with the Beefcake for my favorite beef-based sammich. Brisket and burnt ends, smoked bacon, plus brisket gravy (yeah, they do that!), and asparagus fries, which, as far as I could tell, was really just pan-fried asparagus, similar to how I cook it, and was delicious!

I think I’ve made it clear by now that I absolutely love Beast’s burnt ends, and the brisket is also amazing. The brisket gravy was new to me, and I wasn’t really sure what to expect. Let me just say, it’s delicious. I have to admit that I let the sammich get a bit cold while I was taking pictures of it and doing a few other things, and I think the gravy would have been even better if I had gotten to it before it cooled off, but even at room temperature, it was great. And the asparagus was a great contribution…a nice little taste of spring, plus, you know, it makes the sammich healthy!

As always, I will be anxiously awaiting Beast’s next creation…I don’t how they keep coming up with interesting and unexpected combos that work so well, but they really do!

Tasty Tuesday–Beast Craft BBQ: The Krispy Daddy

If you’re tired of hearing about Belleville’s newest BBQ place…well, too bad. I’m really enjoying being able to support them in whatever small way I can, because they have great food and a great commitment to local products and freshness!

Today we’ll be looking at the Krispy Daddy:

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Kielbasa, pulled pork, and candied bacon, drizzled with Beast’s signature BBQ sauce, and sandwiched between…two Krispy Kreme donuts?!?

I’ll admit, I was reluctant to try this one. I’m from Belleville, so I’m familiar with “Baseball’s Best Burger,” served at Gateway Grizzlies games, also sandwiched between donuts, and frankly, the idea has always grossed me out. But I was thinking about this new creation, and I figured that the concept isn’t too far off from a Monte Cristo sandwich, which I do like, so it was worth trying.

I’ve had the pulled pork and candied bacon on another sandwich, and I already knew they were good. I hadn’t tried the kielbasa yet, and to be honest, I couldn’t remember if I even liked kielbasa (although I was pretty sure I had tried it at some point before). Well, Beast’s kielbasa is just as good as everything else I’ve tried, and I would totally eat it again!

It took me and all five children to put a dent in this monster sandwich, and even then, we had some pulled pork leftover. Not a bad way to feed a group, though, and they all liked it!

To be honest, I probably won’t order this again, just because the combination of the bacon and the “bun” was a little too sweet for me. I’m just not much for mixing sweet and savory in a main course, I guess. Plus, I really, really love the buns Beast uses, so I missed that part of the sandwich. It was good though, and as always, I look forward to seeing what other unique specials Beast comes up with!

Tasty Tuesday–Beast Craft BBQ: The Beefcake

Another Tuesday, another chance to support a local small business!

I’d been wanting to try the “Beefcake Sammich” ever since I first saw it on the menu, but I missed it the first few times around. The good people at Beast were kind enough to make me one, even when it wasn’t an advertised item, since they had the ingredients available and they’re awesome like that.

I already knew Beast’s brisket is great, and the burnt ends are amazing, so there were no surprises as far as the meat part of the sandwich. I also knew the white BBQ sauce is awesome (still want to know what’s in that stuff!), but I wanted to see how it paired with beef instead of chicken. The other ingredients were grilled jalapeños, pickles, and tobacco onions (also known to me as onion straws)…and I have a major weakness for onion straws!

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Again, Beast did not disappoint. I’ll have to admit to being a jalapeño wuss…I only ate the first one before my sinuses surrendered. They definitely do add a pleasing kick to the sandwich, though! The onion straws were as amazing as I had hoped…I could eat a whole plate of just those!

It really was just like I imagined it would be, which, in short, was delicious. I especially enjoyed the way the standard BBQ sauce on the burnt ends mixed with the white sauce. As always, there’s just no way you can finish this in one sitting (at least I couldn’t!), but I love that I had leftovers to look forward to the next day. I think this sandwich is now tied for first place with the “Jive Turkey Sammich.” I might say this is the best one yet, but the two sandwiches are so different, it’s easier to just call it even, rather than try to compare them!

Tasty Tuesday–Beast Craft BBQ: The Big NY

Last Tuesday was one of my favorite holidays…St. Patrick’s Day. You can imagine how thrilled I was, then, when I learned that Beast had a special “Big Sammich” in honor of the day…the Big NY!

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Pastrami brisket, fries (on the sandwich!), pastrami burnt ends (yes, that’s apparently a thing!), swiss cheese, sauerkraut, and an amazing beer mustard, all on rye bread. It was kind of like a Reuben, and kind of like something else…whatever it was, it was DELICIOUS. I’m a sucker for pastrami in the first place, and beer mustard, and Reuben sandwiches, and Beast for that matter, so it was almost guaranteed that I would like it. That didn’t make me appreciate it any less, though!

Here’s hoping pastrami makes its way onto Beast’s menu again, because they did it right!

The Top Five–St. Louis Area Restaurants

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch’s Ian Froeb has recently come up with the STL100 list of the 25 best restaurants in the area (ranked), along with another 75 great restaurants to round out the top 100 places to grab a bite to eat. This inspired me to come up with my own list…my five favorite non-chain (unless it’s a local place that has added locations over time), restaurants in the area (in no particular order), plus five honorable mentions, because I can.

  • Seamus McDaniel’s, Dogtown neighborhood of St. Louis–Best burger I’ve ever had, in a really great neighborhood. Seamus will always be number one on my restaurant list!
  • Beast Craft BBQ, Belleville, IL–This is a new location on the St. Louis area restaurant scene, and it’s the place that really got me interested in BBQ. The burnt ends (an item hard to find in Belleville) are fantastic, and their “Big Sammich” series always leaves me wanting to try whatever they think up next!
  • Amighetti’s Bakery and Cafe, The Hill neighborhood of St. Louis–The Amighetti Special, made with turkey pastrami and Amighetti’s secret dressing, is the best deli sandwich I’ve ever had. They also make fantastic cannoli!
  • Olympia Kebob House and Taverna, St. Louis–Best saganaki in town!
  • Eckert’s Country Restaurant, Belleville, IL–If you’re looking for country-style food, this is the place to be. The fried chicken and chicken fried steak are both excellent, and the side dishes (available to pass family style) are just what you’d expect. If you’re still hungry after dinner (doubtful), you can walk next door and get a frozen custard for dessert (in season).

Honorable mention:

  • El Maguey, multiple St. Louis area locations–Great Mexican food on the Missouri side of the Mississippi.
  • Ted Drewes, St. Louis–Sometimes, you just want dessert, or to celebrate a Cardinals win. If so, Ted Drewes is the place to be!
  • Llywelyn’s Pub, multiple St. Louis area locations–Bonus points go to the St. Charles location, where you can actually eat in an old bank vault!
  • Schlafly Tap Room, St Louis–If the great beer selection isn’t enough of a draw, the food is also excellent. I’m partial to the schnitzel. And while you’re there, make sure to try the sticky toffee pudding for dessert!
  • Gordo’s Margaritas, Millstadt, IL (of blessed memory)–There are other restaurants named Margaritas around town, but my favorite was Gordo’s in Millstadt. The food was excellent (especially the chimichanga!), and the people who work there were great. I’m really sorry to see it closed…we’re going to miss eating there a lot!

Where are your favorite places to eat in St. Louis?

Tasty Tuesday–Beast Craft BBQ: The Jive Turkey

Finally, a turkey sandwich from Beast!

The “Jive Turkey Sammich” is another culinary masterpiece, and my new favorite from Beast, beating out the Big Chicken Club by a small margin. Smoked turkey, fried kale, tomatoes, marinated cucumbers, cheese, smokey mayo, and pickles. Now, I normally really hate kale, but I have to say, when it’s fried and covered in mayo, I don’t mind it so much. The combination of tomatoes and cucumbers gave it a nice, fresh taste. And the bun…have I mentioned the buns that Beast uses? I don’t know exactly what it is that makes them so good. They’re substantial, which is a huge deal when the sandwiches are this loaded, but the taste is also great. There’s something unique about it, but I can’t quite put my finger on it. It’s definitely one of the best buns I’ve ever had, though!

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Ryan tried the smoked turkey plate, and he said it’s fantastic…better than Hick’s, which was his previous favorite local BBQ turkey. I can attest to the fact the turkey is moist and has a fantastic flavor. I’m hoping that this becomes a regular attraction at Beast, and, as always, I’m looking forward to seeing what they come up with next!