Just what does it take to deliver the internationally acclaimed Memphis-style (with a St. Louis twist) ribs, pulled pork and brisket to the daily throngs at Pappy’s Smokehouse? Owner Mike Emerson lays it all out, by the numbers.
5 smokers: Walter, Big Ron and LeRoy, plus two new ones, Waino and Porkey LaFarge
6 years since Pappy’s opened its doors in 2008
6 to 8 local meat producers sourced from Missouri, Illinois and Iowa
4,000 pounds of pork smoked daily
14 to 18 hours to slow smoke pork over apple or cherry wood
30 minutes average wait time in line
Nearly 60 employees keeping Pappy’s running daily
14,000 gallons of barbecue sauce produced last year
82,650 pounds of sweet potato fries made last year
Around 400 rib slabs smoked a day
27,000 bottles of Fitz’s root beer sold last year
360,000 customer hands shaken by Emerson and 10,400 pretty ladies hugged last year (He aims to beat that this year)
-photo by Greg Rannells
This article appears in Readers’ Choice 2014.