Soooo...occasionally something new happens that is really outstanding on the St. Louis food scene. We see pretty many new places and we see many places that suck. Many places that don't last. But occasionally there is a gift and occasionally it is discovered by Kevin. Naturally the fact that Kevin discovered it is a reason to dislike and disdain since he loads all of recommendations with pretense but occasionally he finds a place that just absolutely kills it and this is the case with Sugar Fire.
By this time, if you have the misfortune of reading this you know that I am not a cheerleader. Even when I gush I find something to criticize in some petty, meaningless and annoying way. Alas, I come not to bury Sugar Fire but to praise the shit out of it. I am so sick of Bar-B-Q places in this town. I love Lester's, I love Pappys and I love Bogarts. They are all relatively new and they have upped the game in this town but how many shitty Bar-B-Q places have I tolerated in the past 5 years. Every place is extolled. Every place is revoltionary. Every place ultimately disappoints. The three mentioned above are exceptions. They are well run and have high quality control. They both have the same faux exclusive rule that they only cook so much each day and when they are out, they are OUT! It annoys me.
So Kevin said “Sugar Fire”. I asked “where”? He told me it was on Olive at Price in a strip mall and i was incredulous and then I remembered that Dickeys was formerly there. Dickeys is classic mass market, crappy BBQ. Nothing wrong with it, nothing right with it. It is generic and inoffensive with hot sauces to mask banality of the product. I love good BBQ sauce but it is there to complement good meat, not to makle up for lack excellence. So I gave it a try by myself one Saturday after a grumpy visit to the licence bureau. I had the misfortune of wearing an orange shirt and it looks ALOT like a mug shot with me wearing an orange St. Louis County Jail jumpsuit.
I have now been to Sugar Fire 5 times. This is not out of an obligation to do a diligent job. I like passing judgment on a place with one trip. No, it is because I keep having to go back, again and again and again because it is SO DAMN GOOD! The first time I had the brisket. I do not love brisket. It is bland, often dry and without sauce can often be inedible. Sugar Fire’s brisket is a symphony for the mouth. Nice charring but nothing dry. I have no idea what they rub or season it with or how they cook it so moist but it is without fault. They serve them on a thin roll that is somewhat like a kaisar roll but excellent for the sandwich. The next time I went back and I had...brisket. I think they have 5 types of sauce. I don’t like carolina, I don’t like vinnegar, I don’t like horseradish but they have them all. They also have three normal BBQ sauces and I found them all very good. The third time I went I had a brisket philly cheese steak. It had carmelized red onions on it on a nice french loaf. It too was unstoppable. The next time... I had the brisket. Today I finally branched out and got the burger which was touted to me with cheese and house smoked bacon. When you order the pull a 3rd pound of ground sirloin out and throw it on the griddle. Takes about 4 minutes. It too was perfect and bacon was flavorful but is a little chewy for the sandwich. (See, I always find something to bitch about...but that is it!)
So they put out good meat. they also advertise excellent smoked salmon and pulled pork which I will eventually get to. I also tried their chicken biscuit which is smoked chicken which is then breaded and fied and put on a biscuit. I took it home and put it in the fridge and that was a mistake as it seemed kind of baseball like. next time I will try it fresh.
So all the good meat entrees make it interesting. Very interesting. But what makes it awesome and a must go are the sides. They have excellent fresh fries lightly seasoned which I have gotten every time but as we all know, anyone can do that. What makes them different is that they have specials every day (Brisket Philly Cheese Steak, fried bone in pork chop etc...). There are great but what is really, really great are the other sides beside the fries. theyu are always changing and they have greens (I don’t eat them but authentic people love em). They always have a couple types of slaw (yawn again) but then they will sometimes have fresh cornbread doctored up, I have gotten garlic cheese grits and today I had green chili cheese pork which was like a little bowl of soup. The sides change every day. They are always creative. They always have 5 or 6 and it makes a meal a delectable treat.
They brew their own tea. Regular and white trash sweet. They have a soft drink dispenser you hit first but you can also pick up some odd bottles of soda as well as... wait for it.... BEER! They have fresh cookines and also a wide array of deserts which i will likely never get to. Bottom line... I cannot say enough good things about this place. If I could get a franchise I would do it tomorrow. One of these downtown, one in Chesterfield and one in Webster Kirkwood. I do not know how they do the quality control. All the guys making the food seem to love what they do and seem to love making people, talking about the food with the patrons and giving the place a good vibe. The location is a little inauthentic (whatever that means) and the parking lot at Price and Olive is a tragedy of stupidity but those are small prices to pay.
Go there. Eat. Come back and thank me and by extension, thank Kevin.
By this time, if you have the misfortune of reading this you know that I am not a cheerleader. Even when I gush I find something to criticize in some petty, meaningless and annoying way. Alas, I come not to bury Sugar Fire but to praise the shit out of it. I am so sick of Bar-B-Q places in this town. I love Lester's, I love Pappys and I love Bogarts. They are all relatively new and they have upped the game in this town but how many shitty Bar-B-Q places have I tolerated in the past 5 years. Every place is extolled. Every place is revoltionary. Every place ultimately disappoints. The three mentioned above are exceptions. They are well run and have high quality control. They both have the same faux exclusive rule that they only cook so much each day and when they are out, they are OUT! It annoys me.
So Kevin said “Sugar Fire”. I asked “where”? He told me it was on Olive at Price in a strip mall and i was incredulous and then I remembered that Dickeys was formerly there. Dickeys is classic mass market, crappy BBQ. Nothing wrong with it, nothing right with it. It is generic and inoffensive with hot sauces to mask banality of the product. I love good BBQ sauce but it is there to complement good meat, not to makle up for lack excellence. So I gave it a try by myself one Saturday after a grumpy visit to the licence bureau. I had the misfortune of wearing an orange shirt and it looks ALOT like a mug shot with me wearing an orange St. Louis County Jail jumpsuit.
I have now been to Sugar Fire 5 times. This is not out of an obligation to do a diligent job. I like passing judgment on a place with one trip. No, it is because I keep having to go back, again and again and again because it is SO DAMN GOOD! The first time I had the brisket. I do not love brisket. It is bland, often dry and without sauce can often be inedible. Sugar Fire’s brisket is a symphony for the mouth. Nice charring but nothing dry. I have no idea what they rub or season it with or how they cook it so moist but it is without fault. They serve them on a thin roll that is somewhat like a kaisar roll but excellent for the sandwich. The next time I went back and I had...brisket. I think they have 5 types of sauce. I don’t like carolina, I don’t like vinnegar, I don’t like horseradish but they have them all. They also have three normal BBQ sauces and I found them all very good. The third time I went I had a brisket philly cheese steak. It had carmelized red onions on it on a nice french loaf. It too was unstoppable. The next time... I had the brisket. Today I finally branched out and got the burger which was touted to me with cheese and house smoked bacon. When you order the pull a 3rd pound of ground sirloin out and throw it on the griddle. Takes about 4 minutes. It too was perfect and bacon was flavorful but is a little chewy for the sandwich. (See, I always find something to bitch about...but that is it!)
So they put out good meat. they also advertise excellent smoked salmon and pulled pork which I will eventually get to. I also tried their chicken biscuit which is smoked chicken which is then breaded and fied and put on a biscuit. I took it home and put it in the fridge and that was a mistake as it seemed kind of baseball like. next time I will try it fresh.
So all the good meat entrees make it interesting. Very interesting. But what makes it awesome and a must go are the sides. They have excellent fresh fries lightly seasoned which I have gotten every time but as we all know, anyone can do that. What makes them different is that they have specials every day (Brisket Philly Cheese Steak, fried bone in pork chop etc...). There are great but what is really, really great are the other sides beside the fries. theyu are always changing and they have greens (I don’t eat them but authentic people love em). They always have a couple types of slaw (yawn again) but then they will sometimes have fresh cornbread doctored up, I have gotten garlic cheese grits and today I had green chili cheese pork which was like a little bowl of soup. The sides change every day. They are always creative. They always have 5 or 6 and it makes a meal a delectable treat.
They brew their own tea. Regular and white trash sweet. They have a soft drink dispenser you hit first but you can also pick up some odd bottles of soda as well as... wait for it.... BEER! They have fresh cookines and also a wide array of deserts which i will likely never get to. Bottom line... I cannot say enough good things about this place. If I could get a franchise I would do it tomorrow. One of these downtown, one in Chesterfield and one in Webster Kirkwood. I do not know how they do the quality control. All the guys making the food seem to love what they do and seem to love making people, talking about the food with the patrons and giving the place a good vibe. The location is a little inauthentic (whatever that means) and the parking lot at Price and Olive is a tragedy of stupidity but those are small prices to pay.
Go there. Eat. Come back and thank me and by extension, thank Kevin.
http://sugarfiresmokehouse.com/
I
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