Big Mama's, Big Eats

I do love BBQ and especially midwestern BBQ. With that being said, I have not had a ton of exposure as I live in the Pacific Northwest and only visit the midwest (St. Louis, MO Metro area) occasionally. My last trip was just made a week ago when I was visiting my daughter in Belleville, IL and we decided to re-visit a mom and pop style BBQ restaurant called Big Mama's Barbeque located at corner of W. Main Street and N. Belt West. Upon entering we found a very clean homey dining room with tables that had hundreds, if not thousands of business cards under a plexi-glass cover (of course I had to leave mine). But, the dining room was not the reason I came, it was the BBQ!

We sat down and immediately received a warm and friendly greeting from the waitress. While we were perousing the menu, the aroma of BBQ and smoke lightly scented the dining room which of course made us even more hungry. My daughter and I both decided on the pulled pork sandwich with sides of buffalo fries and cornbread muffins and sweet tea to drink. We didn't have to wait long and our meal adventure was presented to us and we quickly dived in. The sandwich was delightful with a light smokey/sweet flavor (not overly sweet) and the meat absolutely fall apart tender. The bun was incredibly fresh and soft but did not take away from the pork, instead it was supporting act that truly brought the taste of the sandwich to the forefrunt. The sides were also very good and played a supporting role to the sandwich -- the buffalo fries were fresh, crisp on the outside and fluffy on the inside with a moderate spicey buffalo flavor, and the cornbread muffins were light, warm and mildly sweet, served with a maple butter which was delightful. The only complaint that I have is that the sweet tea was so syrupy sweet that it was difficult to drink (I actually had to ask to have it mixed with unsweetened tea to make it palatable). I certainly wished I had a bigger stomach as there was so much more on the menu I wanted to try. I will be back!

Other items on the menu included beef brisket, half a chicken, crispy pork snoots (which I intend to try on my next trip) and a 2+ pound pork steak...can you say pig heaven? If you happen to be in the Belleville, IL area, take the time to go to Big Mama's...you won't be disappointed!

Big Mama's Barbeque
5110 N. Belt West
Belleville, IL 62226
(618) 239-0695