Speed Queen Bar-B-Que
1130 W. Walnut St.
(414) 265-2900
Hours: Mon.-Thurs.,
11-12:30 a.m.
Fri., 11-3:30 a.m.;
Sat., 11-2:30 a.m.
Small dining room is wheelchair accessible.

It's no amateur hour here. Each day Betty Gillespie and her hardworking crew of smoke eaters take the time to do things right. Tons of meat are expertly roasted to perfection and yield to submission thanks to the moist, fragrant hickory smoke producing box upon box of most delicious food.

There is a small, sterile dining room that is not user friendly. Ninety-nine percent of their business is done via the bulletproof drive up window. Betty's secret sauce is a winner and now available at area markets. If I'm stranded on a desert island I want a box of outside shoulder under my arm. Without question, it's one of the best meals in Milwaukee.

Ribs, rib tips, chicken, beef brisket , turkey and pork shoulder share equal time under the heat and all are exceptional. Take our advice and skip the ribs and opt instead for the outside shoulder. Thick chewy morsels of tender yet crunchy pork are crisp from the grill and provide twice as much meat than the ribs at about the same cost. Also quite good is the beef brisket, slow cooked, sliced thin and slathered with your choice of the regular or hot orange sauce. Feel free to ask them to mix the sauces to tame them down a notch or two. All dinners include a slice of Wonder Bread topped with the meat of your choice and a tiny plastic container of coleslaw.

Smoke it and they will come. It's barbecue at its very best. The intoxicating smell of the Speed Queen Wood-fired grill acts like a magnet and like a moth to the flame attracts a multicultural mix of hungry people in search of the best barbecue in the city.

Inexpensive.