Lampert’s Plush Pig BBQ

This place was terrible. Now it’s closed.

Well, I guess they couldn’t put enough lipstick on this pig… CLOSED! We rode by last night and I noticed the building was vacated. I ate there once, and had to grumble internally as we had guests, so this comes as NO surprise.

Went today despite some of the bad reviews here because I love BBQ so much. Unfortunately every one else seems correct. I order a PULLED pork sandwich but when I got it the meat was clearly SLICED instead of pulled. This may not seem like a big deal but it makes a huge difference in the texture. The cut of meat was also a bit too fatty in my opinion. Service was… not bad but not what I expected: there’s a counter, soda fountain, and table of sauces so I was expecting cafeteria style (like every other BBQ joint I have ever been to) but was treated to table service. One final MAJOR qualm is that the sandwich was already sauced when I got it… if you ask me this immediately disqualifies a restaurant from being called BBQ.

Dang! I was so psyched to try this place at the recommendation of a friend, but it just didn’t meet my expectations. I love to support small business, however, I think we would’ve been better off at Bandana’s across the street!
When we walked in it was very humid, which was odd because the weather outside was lovely. They needed to crank up the AC or turn on some fans!
Out waitress came by eventually and gave us menus… drinks took a long time to come out but that’s ok cuz we were waiting for our 4^th member of the party.
All three of us ordered the rib tips with different sides. We ordered fried pickles for the table to start and cheese fries for my mini-​me. The appetizer came out with the entrees and my food was luke warm. My midget’s french friends were cold. I mean real cold.
We ate our food and didn’t complain because the waitress didn’t come back to check on us. We didn’t see her until it was time for the check.
I will give this place a second chance because I saw an adverisement for all you can eat fried chicken on Sundays… yummay. My rib tips were overcooked for the most part.
But next time for BBQ I give it a thumbs down and one «Meh.»

LOVE this place!!! Very affordable dining experience while maintaining top quality! The owner even came to our table, introduced himself and educated us a bit on the choices he made regarding the food carried, the spices used and even the decision on the type of wood to use! It was so good I visited not only Saturday, but Sunday again as well!!!

I’m a Kansas City Barbecue Society Certified Judge and have been for 4 years, so, I’ve eaten a LOT of barbecue in the St. Louis area and around the country. I love bbq and have a passion for bbq. Hell, I could eat bbq for breakfast. I felt it was important to share with you my bbq background before I shared my review of Lampert’s Plush Pig BBQ.
On my initial visit to bbq restaurants, I always order a pulled pork sandwich. I believe this sandwich is about as basic at they come in the bbq world and if you can’t get this right, chances are you can’t get the other menu items right. I had high hopes for this place but from the first bite, I was sorely disappointed. Tasteless and an overabundance of fat in the meat, possibly meaning the pit master (?) used a cheaper product.
Sides were decent and the décor is what you’d expect from a bbq joint. I gave 2 stars due to the tasty sauce that is served on the side.
I’ve had much better bbq in and around St. Louis. Who knows you may get lucky, McDonalds may still have the McRib on the menu.

This is a moderately price, just ok bar b que place in STL. The décor is basic roadhouse, and the staff friendly enough.
The rib tip’s my friend had we so over cooked to almost be like wood, when he complained, they were nice enough to give him something else, but their excuse was «we do not make the pig, god does», well friend, god may have made the pig, but he did not do the cookin’.
My pulled pork sandwich was good enough, but not great. Word is the pork steak is big and tasty, but I can not say was we did not have any that visit.

A few weeks ago we noticed that this barbecue place had opened at the corner of South McKnight and Manchester. While out running some errands we decided we needed lunch and Plush Pig was on our route.
Ms T ordered the regular pulled pork sandwich and I ordered the boneless rib meat sandwich. For sides we had potato salad, creamy slaw, sweet and sour slaw and bbq beans.
The pulled pork was very moist, almost too much so. Ms T liked it very much, but it made the bread very soggy, which she will not tolerate, so she simply removed the meat and ate it as you would from a platter. I enjoyed my boneless rib meat fine. I’m not sure how this is rib meat, it is more like strips of pork loin, a little solid, but with mild smoke. It is not meat stripped off spare ribs. It is more like country rib trimmings. The meat looked more smoky than it was. It is a little difficult to eat as a sandwich.
All of the sides are fairly standard except the sweet and sour slaw was like an asian style with tons of garlic. I was thinking kim chi without the chile. Potato salad is OK, straight ahead, with some yellow mustard. The beans were decent, seasoned sweet pork and beans.
Plush Pig advertises the «World’s Best Ribs». I should have ordered them but was trying to keep it lighter for lunch. We liked the feel of the place, not fancy. There were several tables busy for lunch. We will have to return to test the ribs, the brisket and onion straws for dinner. Plush Pig has promise to be upgraded to four stars.

Decided to try yet another barbeque place in St. Louis hoping to find a new place to go with friends. This restaurant is bipolar, or maybe even tri-​polar. We walked in and imediately noticed that the décor was pretty blah (forgiveable if the food is good). We sat down, had a free beer and were offered free chips n salsa. Chips and salsa with barbeque?, ok… About then the piano player started playing some ragtime tunes… huh??? The pulled pork was good, but the ribs seemed a little fatty and pricey. I’d definetly recommend the onion rings.
Maybe next time I’ll get a free beer and onion rings and skip the rest.
The other thing that really got me upset is that the outdoor tables completely block access for someone who needs to use the handicapped parking space. How is it possible that management hasn’t heard complaints about this?

My husband brought dinner home from the Plush Pig tonight and I was very underwhelmed. We shared two combo plates that consisted of pulled pork, BBQ beef tenderloin (I know, right?), pork spare ribs, french fries, and cole slaw. The pulled pork wasn’t so much pulled as it was pulverized. They cooked the living bejeezus out of this pig! So much so that it tasted eerily similar to mutton.. .which isn’t a good thing. The beef tenderloin just didn’t work well for me at all– it was dry and chewy and lacking any smoke or BBQ flavor. The pork spare ribs were hit and miss– some were decent, at best, and some were extremely dry. I do, however, have to give props to the coleslaw which was prepared creamy style and had a nice, spicy tang.
I understand that BBQ joints face a high degree of difficulty when it comes to serving fresh-​tasting meats that haven’t had the life sucked out of them, but unfortunately that doesn’t excuse these types of places in my opinion. I guess I’ve been way too spoiled by a husband that knows what he’s doing with a smoker. He gives all you other jokers a lot to live up to!

This was good, but not orgasmically good. I picked up a large order on Saturday night to eat while watching basketball. I had picked up a to go menu the day before and threw it in my car. When I took it out, I noticed there was no phone number on it. A search on
and their website still didn’t give me a phone number. So I went there to place my order. While you are waiting for your food, they have some nacho chips with salsa you can eat, but I was sad to see no tv. I like my basketball!
I had a small kid and didn’t see any kid stuff on the to go menu, but when I asked they told me I could get some chicken fingers. This item came with fries and was plenty for my little guy. Why it wasn’t on the menu, is a mystery.
There was lots of other items in our order — pulled pork sandwiches, beef tenderloin sandwiches, ribs, fried chicken, fried pickles and onion rings. My pork sandwich was ok, but had a big bone in it. The ribs were good, and the fried pickles were good, but I’ve had fried pickles in the south and I like those better. You get LOTS of fries with your order and the quantity of food you get in our order is great!
As far as atmosphere goes, the best bbq places are not known for that. It’s all about the food. So the cinderblock walls at Lampert’s was what I expected.
What would I change? The method for placing to go orders could improve as well as the packaging. Not everything was in a stryofoam container and there were lots of greasy bags by the time I got home. Foodwise, I would have liked to be able to order a sandwich WITHOUT french fries at a cheaper price. Besides that, I enjoyed the flavor, but since I’ve had bbq in Kentucky and Tennessee, I’m kind of spoiled!

This place just opened. It’s the same owner and cusine as the Clayton location. I’m not sure if the restaurant moved or if this is an additional store.
Although new, this place seems unfinished. No real ambiance or décor. I’d hope that the space would’ve been renovated when they took it over from Café Brazil, but it doesn’t seem so. After entering, there are chips and salsa laid out for you to much on while you wait or take to a table. The salsa was more like a Mexican marinara sauce. It wasn’t good. But why is there chips & salsa in a BBQ joint anyway? We ordered a slew of items, but nothing was extraordinary. In fact, everything seemed simply average. BBQ is one of those foods where you can taste the passion of the preparation, but I really didn’t get that here.
The owner did come by to thank us for coming in which was nice. But overall, the restaurant didn’t seem all put together. It was hot inside, the waitress missed one of our drink orders, we had another waitress try and take our order after the first was there, we had to ask for silverware. It just seemed disheveled.
Maybe it’s better to give them a couple of weeks to get the kinks out. But my feeling is don’t open unless you are ready. First impressions are key. Especially when you can walk right across the street to a different well established BBQ joint (Bandana’s).

First, a little context here so that my 3 stars are taken properly. I’m a bit of a BBQ nut and a competitive Q’er. Second, I have yet to make it to Pappy’s (yeah, I know, forgive me) and the only edible pulled pork I’ve had in St. Louis to date was at the Shaved Duck. Third, I don’t live far from this new Plush Pig so I was rubbing Buddha’s belly, a set of rosary beads, and carrying a Richard Dawkins book to try and bring a little BBQ luck to my life. In other words I *really* wanted this to be good.
As for the prior review about décor, etc. Meh. I don’t recall ever looking anywhere except to the menu, the back of the house to see how it was being smoked, and eventually at my food. I could care less about décor in a BBQ joint. If anything it’s more authentic the way it is. (and the way «it is» is a haphazard mix of unmatching booths, an unending collection of beer signs in windows, and a rather odd layout).
And yes, I experienced a few kinks in service, and it was apparent the servers are trying to find their rhythm.
Now, on to what matters, the food. We ordered some fried pickles, a Memphis style pulled pork sandwich, a «Tornado» (polish sausage and pulled pork), and… wait for it… a Hot Pastrami on Rye. Yes, you heard that last one right. It’s a Thursday only special. You know what’s wierder than that? My wife, a New Yorker, actually liked it. Go figure.
The good news is that the pulled pork is pulled like it should be, and it’s moist. The bad news is that it’s lacking enough smoke, the smoke ring was barely evident, and the rub could use a little work as the bark wasn’t «singing» the way it should. That said, I’ll be back. It’s a convenient location for me, and frankly the only place outside of Shaved Duck and Pappy’s that seem to know anything about how to pull pork. That place across the street that rhymes with Schmandanas wouldn’t know good pulled pork if it fell out of the sky on top of their momma. With just a few tweaks Larry could actually have some damned good BBQ, it wouldn’t take much to go from just ok to great. One can only hope. And you could do worse than their Pastrami sandwich on Thursdays.

I hate it when people leave things on my windshield. Especially when they don’t fly off when I turn on the wipers. Unless they happen to involve free things. Free always trumps annoying.
This card promised me a free pulled pork sandwich at Lampert’s. I’d never been there before, and quite honestly, the reviews were not overly promising. But sometimes free can even trump bad and I decided to give it a shot. Even if it was going to be terrible, there’s solace in the fact that it was free. And if it turned out to be good AND free, well that’s like winning the lottery.
I went there for dinner (card was only valid after 4) the other night and you know what? It was pretty good. It took a little while to get my order in, but the lady at the window was super nice.
The sandwich was really decent. The roll was a little on the toasty side and pretty fresh-​tasting. The pulled pork tasted like, well, pulled pork. They had spicy and mild sauces on the table, but I didn’t try them. The sandwich was already saucy enough.
Was it the best barbecue I’ve never had? No. But it wasn’t the worst either. My unrefined barbecue palate would place it on par with Bandanas. It’s definitely no Pappy’s, but then again, Pappy’s has never left offers for free food on my car before.

I’m not a BBQ Connoisseur, but I’ve definitely had better. This place was recommended by some friends so maybe I came in with too high of expectations.
Food: I had the pulled pork sandwich and while it was filling, it wasn’t by all means fantastic. My friend had a salad, though, which he thoroughly enjoyed.
Décor: It was dim, sticky and decorated with a pub-​intended mind. But with the amount of people in the place (like 5 customers on a Saturday afternoon; one of which was a first date couple of a sleazy guy and a pretty girl. It amused me, I can tell you that, ahah.), it didn’t add much to the atmosphere and only enhanced it’s. dim and stickiness, if you know what I mean.
Bottom line: If you want some BBQ, this shouldn’t be on the top of your list.

This place has great North Carolina style barbecue and an incredibly friendly atmosphere. It’s family owned, and the owner is often there. He’s a really nice guy. Nice decoration. They used to have a pulled chicken sandwich, which I wish they would bring back. Their pulled pork sandwich and brisket are always good. I really enjoy their sauce — it’s a vinegar based NC sauce, rather than a sweet and thick KC style sauce. Their fries are also good. Plush Pig isn’t as busy as it should be, in my opinion.
I came here often when I lived in St. Louis. Fantastic, low key atmosphere, and a great place to do lunch with friends or alone for a quick bite.

i like barbeque, so i was excited to try the plush pig when a friend suggested it…
the décor is ‘early picnic’ — very casual. lunch is window-​order; dinner is wait-​person.
it’s dry-​rub barbeque (the dry rub seasoning is also on the onion straws which are a «yum!»). a couple of sauces are on the tables if you want wet sauce. the slaw is so-​so — i prefer a tart-​sweet slaw & this one is creamy. my ribs were OK.

For a town with lots of good BBQ, this was a disappointment. There was only one choice of BBQ sauce and it wasn’t that good. The meat itself was not that flavorful and the bun on my sandwich was just bad. Perhaps one redeeming factor was the fact that you got a free ice pop with you meal. Random fun.