Smoking Barrels BBQ recently joined the local ‘cue scene. The restaurant opened in late March at 5641 S. Kingshighway Blvd., in Princeton Heights.
Owner Dennis Machado has 17 years of experience in the restaurant business. At one time, he owned Los Catrachos, a Mexican restaurant located on Cherokee Street in south St. Louis. In 1996, recounted Machado, he was part of the culinary team that opened Bandana’s Bar-B-Q, and he smelled that smoke until leaving the local barbecue chain in 2011.
Machado plans to put his knowledge of Southern barbecue – he applies a dry rub to the meat and cooks it low and slow over selected hardwoods – to work at Smoking Barrels, where pork, chicken, brisket, baby back ribs, turkey breast and sausage are smoked in-house. Machado’s sauces and sides are also made in-house. The restaurant’s menu is divided into: appetizers, sandwiches, sides, lunch plates, dinner platters and “bar-b-q barrels” (a carry-out pleaser involving a pound of meat with options for sides and garlic bread).
For guests who dine at the 50-seat restaurant, Smoking Barrels provides full table service rather than customers having to order at the counter. It also offers outdoor seating on the patio. Machado noted that the restaurant has applied for a liquor license and hopes to begin serving beer and wine within a month.
Smoking Barrels BBQ is open Sunday through Thursday from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m., and on Friday and Saturday from 11:30 a.m. to 10 p.m.
This article appears in April 2013.