Bull's Pit Smoked BBQ in Kankakee, IL
Kankakee is the closest big town comapred to the tiny town of 750 people where I grew up. People who live in that small town, work in the Kankakee/Bradley/Bourbonnais tri-city area and they do a majority of their shopping, entertaining and dining out there as well. For the longest time, I had the same complaint about Kankakee that I did about Lansing. There was no good barbecue joint. That finally changed at the beginning of 2008.
A girl I went to high school with and her husband opened up the first BBQ joint in the area that I’m aware of. They turned an old building near downtown Kankakee into a great Memphis style smokehouse. I made my first trip to Bull’s just after it opened with my brother. At that time, I had a few complaints, but loved the BBQ. My girlfriend and I were heading from her parents in Chicago to mine south of Kankakee for a weekend of drinking and catching up with old friends. Along the way, I wanted to stop and try Bull’s again to see if the little things I didn’t like had improved.
Like I said, Bull’s is located just off of downtown Kankakee. Downtown has been run down for years and there’s not much there other than a bank, a liquor store, and a movie theater. There’s a couple business along the main road, but nothing that you would make a destination. Bull’s changes that. The business is located in a pretty non-descript building on Station St. There is a parking lot, but we found spot on the street in front of the store. There’s just a sign out front that lets you know you’re in the right place…that is until you get out and smell the smoke. Once inside, you have to make a left to get to the order counter. The layout is a little wierd with two rooms downstairs. One is the kitchen/order area. The other is the dining room. There are only a few tables, but there is a bar that runs the whole length of the room with pub stools. It really gives the feel of a Southern BBQ lunch spot. The staircase to go to the upstairs dining room is right as you enter the door. It’s a massive feature and takes up and good portion of the building. Read the rest of this entry »
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