Missouri: Ribs

Pappy's Smokehouse (address and info)
St. Louis
Rule-breaking pitmaster Mike “Smokey” Emerson might turn the heads of St. Louis bone-lickers who expect a pint of sauce on a a rack of spares, but they become believers once they've tasted his gospel: dry-rubbed baby backs bathed in apple and cherrywood smoke for 14 hours, then given a light glaze in tribute to the saucier versions you'll see at neighboring joints. It's our rib choice among the crowded field of pitmasters because he's not hiding behind sauce, but is enough of a gentlemen to offer three bottles on the table. The one caveat might be that this is the best thing to eat in the state before 7pm, because Pappy's is known to sell out of the nearly full ton of meat it cooks every day.