BBQ Restaurant Battle: Ethyl's vs Piggy's

Gather round, food fans! It’s time for our barbecue battle roundup!

In one corner, we have , with its wood-fired smoker proudly stationed in front of the restaurant.

In the other, we have , where you can sing karaoke or play sand volleyball.

In the spirit of fairness, I stopped by during lunch on Wednesdays and placed the same order for a barbecue brisket sandwich with corn on the cob and a dessert. After leveling the playing field, let’s see how our combatants fared.

BEST BRISKET

Pro: Ethyl’s brisket had a beautiful pink smoke ring along with the differences in texture and flavor that only come from slowly cooked meats.
Con: Piggy’s glorious outside smoker has a few trees worth of split wood piled next to it and a mouth-watering scent billowing from the top, yet the meat was solid brown and a little bland. You have the technology, Piggy’s. Use it, and you could dominate O’Fallon’s BBQ World. Embrace the power.

Pro: Piggy’s brisket was available in either wonderfully thin, lean, slices or chopped form.
Con: Ethyl’s brisket only came chopped. Sure, it’s a nice texture variation, but there’s no beating mounds of sliced brisket.

Pro: Ethyl’s meat was consistently warm, the end tips were crispy and the middle pieces buttery soft and moist.
Con: Piggy’s meat had been stored cold and quickly reheated by dunking it in warm fluid. This left offputtingly, weird cold patches in my sandwich.

Winner: Ethyl’s. The slow-cooked smoke ring is impossible to fake, the end tips were perfectly crispy while the middle pieces were meltingly smooth, and the entire presentation was superior. Piggy’s, take this as a challenge. Use that glorious smoker the way it was intended, and you can beat Ethyl's.

BEST NON-MEAT

Pro: Ethyl’s dense, toothy kaiser bun came beautifully toasted. It held up under a moist onslaught of sauces without collapsing in doughy defeat. All the while, it gave a nice texture contrast to the brisket contained within.
Con: Piggy’s generic white bread bun fell apart halfway through eating my sandwich. The moisture from the meat and sauce was too much for it.

Pro: Sweet, crisp, fresh corn on the cob gave me a little crush on Ethyl’s kitchen. I love fresh veggies. Or, in the case of corn, fresh grains masquerading as something healthy.
Con: Oh, Piggy’s. Reheated frozen corn on the cob when fresh corn is in season? You make me sad.

Pro: The homemade lemon meringue pie at Piggy’s was so good that after two bites we gave up on splitting a slice and ordered a piece for each of us.
Con: Ethyl’s cheesecake wasn’t bad, but there wasn’t anything exceptional about it, either. The highly touted apple dumpling was still on the menu despite having been discontinued.

Winner: Ethyl’s. While I loved Piggy’s pie, the extra attention to the sandwich bun and the fresh corn on the cob gave Ethyl’s an unbeatable advantage.

OVERALL WINNER

Ethyl’s.

When I started this battle, I predicted the exact opposite. Surely a place that draws people in with sand volleyball and stage acts couldn’t compete with a dedicated barbecue joint. I’m a sucker for good hole-in-the-wall restaurants. As soon as I saw Ethyl’s, the part of me that always roots for the underdog wanted Piggy’s to win. However, Ethyl’s excellent meat and attention to detail made them the clear winner of this battle.

Piggy’s, you have a lot of potential. Consider this review a challenge. Put that smoker to good use. Let your meats linger until they pick up the color and flavor only slow smoking can deliver. Be the scrappy underdog no one can beat. I believe you can do it.