Mid-Michigan Dining

• Corner of Mt. Hope Avenue & Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd
• Lansing, MI 48910
• (517) 881-8720
• No Known Website
• Menu

Michael's Southern Style Jack Daniel BBQ on the corner on Mt. Hope and MLK in Lansing.

I was all set to make tacos tonight when I got home from the baseball game.  For some reason, I took the long way home and headed down MLK from downtown.  I sort of did it for a reason, but I didn’t think of the reason until I actually started doing it.  Must have been one of those subconscious things.

A few days ago, I saw a tweet from @lansingonline about southern style BBQ on the corner of MLK and Mt. Hope.   There weren’t a whole lot of details, but the note said it was good.  Still, it brought up a lot of questions.  New place?  Guy with a grill?  What kind of BBQ? 

So, after I realized I was driving down MLK, I stayed on until I got to Mt. Hope so I could check it out.  When I got to the corner, I found a big red, white, and blue trailer in the parking lot of a party store.  I didn’t stop just then.  I went home where I casually mentioned it to J.  She was on board and we jumped back into my truck to get some BBQ.

We pulled into the party store parking lot and found a parking spot.  As we walked back towards the trailer, I could see a woman sitting in the front seat.  When we got to the side, we noticed a menu taped on the window.  They had everything I love about BBQ listed.  Pulled pork, ribs, Mac ‘n cheese, etc.  A minute or so later, a man walked around to the front of the truck and went inside. 

We both wanted pulled pork, but when I asked for two sandwiches, the guy said he didn’t have any pork.  He said he didn’t do that on weekends.  To be safe, I just asked what he did have so I didn’t try to order something else he didn’t have.  He rattled off a few choices.  J heard chicken and that sounded good to her.  I heard baby back ribs and that sounded good to me.  Both meals came with two sides.  We both got mac ‘n cheese and baked beans. 

The man inside the truck shut the window and went to work putting our orders together.  It took him a few minutes to fill the styrofoam containers and pass them through the window.  By now, my mouth was watering.  The total for the two meals was $14.  They only take cash which was fine…J had me covered. 

The baby back ribs, mac 'n cheese, and baked beans from Michael's Southern Style Jack Daniel BBQ

There’s no place to sit and eat in the parking lot, so we headed back home.  I didn’t ask about drinks, but I’m assuming you could just go in the party store and get whatever you wanted.  We just headed home and pulled a couple pop’s out of the fridge. 

I opened up my styrofoam box first and my first impression was a good one.  It smelled delicious.  I dug into the mac ‘n cheese first.  It was good and it had a taste that I couldn’t quite put my finger on.  I’m going to guess there was more than cheddar in the dish, but for the life of me, I couldn’t figure out what that other flavor was.  I don’t really like beans so I left those for J.  The mac ‘n cheese and beans were sort of mixed in to each other, so I left some of the pasta as well.

The ribs…oh man.  They were fall of the bone delicious.  Most of the signage seemed to signal “Texas style” bbq.  To me, it was a big mix of all styles.  There was a very thick, tomato based sauce (KC style), but it was more smokey than sweet (Texas style).  The ribs themselves were baby backs (Memphis style).  The menu said four bones made the meal, but I actually had five.  Like I just mentioned, the meat came off the bone with no resistance.  I pulled the first bone and got no meat.  It came completely off. 

J got what I thought was going to be a 1/4 chicken, but I’m pretty sure she got a 1/2.  She really liked the beans and the mac ‘n cheese and she got most of mine as well.  Her chicken was a lot like my ribs.  They were covered in the same BBQ sauce and they also melted off the bone.  She ate the white meat then offered a trade for her dark meat.  I took the wing and thigh which was incredibly moist and tender.

For over a year, I’ve been complaining about the lack of BBQ in Lansing.  Michael’s Southern Style Jack Daniel BBQ goes a long way towards filling that whole.  For J and I, the pulled pork is the real test.  J just told me that if the pulled pork comes with the same sauce, she will love it.  We’ll have to go back during the week and see if we can get one. 

According to the signs on the window, they are open Tuesday through Sunday at 11:00 AM….but you never know with BBQ.  Taking the detour really panned out today.  Michael’s Southern Style Jack Daniel BBQ really made an impression on two BBQ connoisseurs