Community Corner
Eating My Way Through University City: Sir B Que
University City Patch's resident foodie shares the scoop on her latest dining experience at Sir B Que in University City.
On a recent suggestion from Patch Editor Myra Lopez, my husband Ryan and I made a stop at Sir B Que, a St. Louis bbq joint that recently located to University City (6714 Olive). I was completely surprised to step inside and find a rather beautiful restaurant. To be honest, I hadn’t expected much more than a few old tables and a counter to order. Instead, we were met with a dark wood, well-kept interior and an ornate bar.
We were immediately greeted like friends by who I presume is the owner of the place, who was clearly proud of his restaurant, spouting off a few facts about the [new] place. The place is clearly larger than it appears, holding up to 200 customers once the upstairs is completely finished (in the next few weeks). Though they don’t yet have a liquor license to accompany their fancy bar, which is currently covered in glass bottles and rainbow-colored cans of soda, they expect to have it by the end of September. Not only can customers look forward to enjoying alcohol with their meal, but starting in October Sir B Que will offer live music.
Of course, we weren’t there for liquor or tunes, we were there for bbq! Again, our server/the owner eagerly explained the menu to us, including the special of the day: an entire smoked chicken with one homemade side for $9.99. My husband couldn’t resist and ordered one with a side of green beans. I opted for the pulled pork sandwich and attempted to healthify my meal with a side of steamed vegetables. The menu itself was rather large, with a variety of meats (polish sausage, ribs, pork steak, even a turkey leg!) and side dishes (beans, corn on the cob, vegetables, and macaroni & cheese, among others), though we were informed that a few of the items weren’t available at that time.
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Unfortunately our Sir B Que adventure then took an interesting turn—we were expecting a group of friends at our house later that evening and miscalculated the amount of time we’d have to eat dinner. In a bit of a panic, we asked to take our food to-go instead. Thankfully they could not have been nicer about it—taking extra care to wrap up our food and make it bike-friendly (we had traveled via bicycle) before sending us on our way with a tip to call in our order ahead of time on our next visit.
We raced home, not just to meet our friends, but also because the scent of bbq left our stomachs growling. Once home, we opened our to-go boxes, amazed to find the quantity of food inside them. I expected Ryan to have a substantial portion—he ordered a whole chicken, after all! I was surprised to find an extra-large sandwich in my box with at least a cup and a half of freshly steamed vegetables.
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My pork was tender, absolutely smothered in bbq sauce, and topped with banana peppers. It was flavorful and spicy, but not overwhelmingly so. I devoured half of the sandwich and all of the vegetables and was left completely stuffed! Ryan’s chicken was moist and subtly smoky, the tender meat practically falling off the bone.
The price was right and the service was fantastic—Sir B Que might not look like much if you’re driving by on Olive, but it will meet any bbq craving you have! We can’t wait to return…except next time we’ll plan better and stay for awhile…I suggest you do the same!