Mike Mills, owner of seven well-regarded barbecue restaurants, including 17th Street Bar & Grill in O’Fallon and Murphysboro, Ill., has just been honored with yet another award. Mills – a four-time world champion and three-time grand world champion at Memphis in May – received the judge’s choice award at the Jack Daniel’s World Championship Invitational Barbecue in Lynchburg, Tenn., over the weekend. Mills was chosen for the honor by his peers: nine past winners of the award.
“Mike Mills puts a tremendous amount of effort into promoting the barbecue community and industry as a whole,” said competitor and writer Rocky Danner in a press release. “An elite group of his peers overwhelmingly voted to recognize his contribution and legacy.”
This article appears in Oct 1-31, 2009.