Family and Bar-B-Que Too!

Continuing with our road trip to visit family in both St. Louis Missouri and Omaha Nebraska...

Bill and Bonnie's grandchildren are heavily into sports and parents as well as grandparents attend games as well as many practice session.  Softball, soccer, baseball, acrobatics, volleyball and hockey are among the sports the extended family is involved in.

So...as part of this St. Louis family tour de force, we accompanied Bonnie and Bill to watch hockey practice for one of their granddaughters.  At the right of the photo and sporting those black and white socks is 9 year old Charley.  She is the only girl on a championship boys hockey team.  Charlie's mom Kasey is Bill and Bonnie's daughter... 

A Photo of the Girls Hockey team... Charlie is in front, second from the right.

Isn't she sweet looking?  This is Charley when she recently celebrated her 9th birthday.  Don't let her looks fool you!  On the ice she is fierce...doing most of her team's scoring and 'taking no prisoners... FYI, she is also on a winning all girls hockey team.

We also stopped at Kyle and Melissa's home for a visit.  Kyle is Bonnie and Bill's son.  Kyle has worked for law enforcement agencies or companies that train law enforcement agencies for his entire career.  Melissa is a teacher.  From left to right, the grandchildren are Keaton and Collin.  Keaton is a soccer player and Collin is a top notch and enthusiastic baseball player.  The furry critter attempting to get Kyle's attention is named Lincoln.  

Next...it was time for dinner!

Laurie and I seem to have a trend underway.  We recently had quality Indian cuisine in a gas station in Lenoir City Tennessee.  In this case, it was all about a Bar-B-Cue destination located in a gas station, convenience store and car wash!  

Jim and John O'Brien are well known in St. Louis.  They've operated O.B. Clark's sports bar in Brentwood Missouri for decades.  The brothers enlisted John Maness, pitmaster for the world famous "The Salt Lick BBQ" in Driftwood Texas, to convert a small takeout counter in this gas station into a St. Louis BBQ destination.

As is appropriate for a Bar-B-Que joint, the decor is simple and straightforward.  Customers order at the counter and then the food is delivered to your table when its ready.  They did quite a bit of take out business while we were in the restaurant.  There is a drive-in window and outdoor seating as well.

Here is the menu at O.B'Que's but there also are printed menus that patrons can peruse.  Bar-B-Que options include chicken, turkey, pulled pork, beef brisket, pork ribs, burnt ends, tacos, wings and a number of flatbreads.  Note the second special on the lower left...smoked prime rib.  I've only had smoked prime rib once and I loved it.  Too bad we were there on the wrong day for prime rib!

The ladies shared as usual and other than my meal, I'm not sure who ate which BBQ items.  Pictured above was the BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwich Plate. ($12.50) The pulled pork was a winner but the coleslaw, vinegar based in this case, received mixed reviews from our group.  A lot of tasting/sampling went on at the table.  Creamy coleslaw is available but I do like the vinegar based version.

This was a Burnt Ends Plate...sided with corn bread and baked beans. ($17.95) The burnt ends were tasty, the best I've had in recent years.  Every one that tried the beans liked them...except yours truly.  I'm difficult.  Two different sauces were sampled with the burnt ends.

This was the first time I'd ever seen Burnt Ends Flatbread, an interesting concept.  Personally I prefer my burnt ends 'straight up' but the table decided that this offering was a winner.  I don't know what the price of this unusual offering was...but it's not on the on-line take out menu...or at least I didn't see it.

So what did I order?  I just had to try the pork ribs... Consequently I ordered the Half Rack Rib Plate with the baked beans and the vinegar based coleslaw.  As you can see, I'd devoured 2 ribs before I remembered to take a photo.  I did ask for a 'hotter' BBQ sauce and it was perfect.  The ribs were very good indeed...meaty and very well seasoned.  They had a little 'chew' which we prefer...vs falling off the bone pork ribs.  FYI, the best baked beans I've ever had were at 'Jack Stacks' in Kansas City.

Note: There was no way we could finish all of this food.  Consequently Bill had plenty of leftovers to enjoy over the next few days.

We would recommend O.B Que's to anyone seeking quality BBQ in the St. Louis area...but then again there are a plethora of BBQ options in the area that we haven't sampled.  O B. Que's is located at 158 Long Road in Chesterfield Missouri.  They are open daily but can run out of some items early.  Website: https://www.obques.com/. 

Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them...

Thanks for stopping by for a visit...and a little BBQ!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave