17th Street Barbecue – Marion, Illinois
Mike Mills astonished everyone when he opened 17th Street Barbecue with four world championship trophies and three grand world titles under his belt. 17th Street Barbecue, which was featured on Food Network, is now a treasured landmark. The world-champion baby backs are now offered at his two southern Illinois restaurants, adorned with Mills’ best Dust rub (also available for purchase at their restaurants) and grilled slowly over apple and cherry woods. Other popular items on his menu include beef sausage links, brisket, hog shoulder, chicken, and turkey.
17th Street Barbecue – Marion, Illinois
Hank’s Smoked Briskets – Indianapolis, Indiana
Hank Fields, a native Texan, had been living in Indianapolis for years but missed the Texan brisket. So, in 2004, he opened Hank’s Smoked Briskets on Martin Luther King Jr. Drive, where briskets are smoked over mesquite wood brought all the way from Texas, much to the delight of Indianapolis barbecue fans. The decor is basic – a simple waiting room – but barbeque fans keep coming back. Fields temporarily closed its doors last spring, so the joyful reopening came as exciting news to area foodies.
Hank’s Smoked Briskets – Indianapolis, Indiana
