17th Street Barbecue

Reviews 6

JA

James Lovrek

Had to try this place after seeing I on "The Best Thing I Ever Ate." Fortunately, I found myself passing through Marion with some time to stop and sit down for a good meal. I was not disappointed. The restaurant looks like a BBQ chain establishment (I realize this is their 2nd place), but dont let that fool you, the food is above that fair. I had the fried pickles to start out with, which was a generous portion. They have to be the best fried pickles Ive had, nice and just the right salty. I had to ask the waitress to bring out the ribs ASAP so that I wouldnt over fill myself on the pickles and not make it through desert. I had the ribs, of coarse, they where rubbed and just a light covering of sauce on top. They were delicious. Were they the best ribs I ever ate? Honestly, no, but they were up there. The 2 sides I had with the ribs were the fried okra, which was fresh (Fried okra isnt something Id normally go for over something like baked beans, but I had heard good things. I was not disappointed), and the red beans & rice (which was another excellent choice). To finish off the meal, & the fact I saved room is probably best decision I made today, I had the strawberry shortcake. Holy God was that heaven in my mouth. Nice warm, homemade shortcake was amazing. If you find yourself this way, but dont have a lot of time, at least stop in for the shortcake. My overall experience was good. The servers were nice and prompt (I had Tracy) and the restaurant was clean and well lighted. A real family friendly atmosphere. This was suppose to be a stop on a road trip in about 6 weeks that my girlfriend & I are taking. Well definitely be keeping this on the list.

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A

A Private User

I have to agree with previous posts, the quality of food has declined here since the opening. We sat in a booth in the bar the other night and the service was good, even though our favorite bartender/server, Lisa, was not there. My husband had the barbecue nachos, as usual, and thought they were good. I usually order a barbecue burger (not nearly as good as it used to be) or ribs. That night I was nursing some dental work, so I ordered the fried okra appetizer and the barbecue baked potato, neither of which Id had before. The okra was a total surprise -- seemed to be fresh, not frozen, and lightly floured, rather than the commercially prepared with a thick crust of breading. The okra arrived hot and was very good and I could have eaten three orders of it and called it dinner!! The baked potato, on the other hand, was actually salt-covered and baked (not nuked) but was disappointly lukewarm. It was supposed to be topped with bacon bits, green onions, barbecue and cheddar cheese. The cheese was not hot and the barbecue was very skimpy -- like maybe a tablespoon or two. This potato was $3 more than their regular baked potato with butter and sour cream, but I did not have $3 worth of topping ingredients. The other elements of our dinner experience were also mixed. We ordered unsweet tea, but were served sweet. We also ordered the banana pudding which comes layered in a jar with thick slices of bananas, whole vanilla wafers, pudding and (not real) whipped cream. It was cold and yummy and a generous serving for two. Next time we will go to the Murphysboro location.

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BL

Blaine Roatch

Stopped by on way to Lake of Egypt. Lived in memphis and wanted to have some competition style bbq. Order the sausage and cheese. Wings. Full rack of ribs. Potato salad mac and cheese and hush puppies. Brittani at the front counter took my order after I paid my $50 plus and got my receipt for take out I noticed I wasnt given a take out number asked brittani how would I know when my order comes out she responded "they just bring it out and they know". Well 20 min later no food one of the kids at the front podium thingy asked to see my receipt as we had been waiting awhile and our food should have been ready by now. Kid goes to the back comes back with a burger and something else and says have a nice day. Let him know thats not what I ordered he asked me what I ordered again said he will be right back. This time he had my order handed it to me and than says "did you pay already?" Not sure if this was some kind of joke but it was not funny. Left with my food got to the lake house and lets just say the only thing good was the hush puppies. Ribs dry and meatless. Pimento cheese was warm. Sausage was decent. Have had my share bbq from all the bbq hot spots KC Mem Tex Car and ill have to say if this is what passes for award winning bbq in illinois i will pass time and time again. Wont recommend and wont ever be coming back. Had a much better experience at Triple E.

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AL

Albert Schmitz

Staying at the Hilton in Marion and asked the young lady at the desk for referrals on steak, Italian or BarBQue places to go to here in town and she recommended this place which is just a short walk away. (Track shoes for the 5:30 traffic are a necessity.) Great atmosphere, food is well above avarage and the 1800 Marguerita was done to perfection. Amy our server was very attentive and on the ball so would recommend her as well. I chose the prime rib blackened and it was a supurb cut of meat and my side was the Idaho potato with sour cream and butter no other side was needed. The wife had beef brisket and again done to perfection sides of - 17th Street baked beans and coleslaw. While the meal and baked beans were to her liking not so much on the coleslaw. Topped off the meal with the Deluxe Chocolate Brownie with Praline Sauce and that was like eating heavenly chocolate covered chocolate with the most delicious topping of Praline. All thumbs up here probably the best brownie my wife and I have ever had. Great place if you are in town and fantastic atmosphere.

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GR

Greg Conrad

I had the signature menu item- pork ribs. $18 for 1/2 rack with two sides. The rib meat was not very tender and certainly not fall-off-the-bone. The flavor was OK, not spectacular, just OK. The rib bones were larger than the portion of meat between them. In other words, not a lot of meat. I was happy I only ordered half a rack. The original sauce is mustard based and quite watery. And not very flavorful. No other choices. Had the fried okra (very tasty with a thin breading and a large portion) and baked beans (very good flavor but were served in a very small portion). Come on, theyre baked beans, cant I have a reasonable amount?? I had a house-brew beer and it was tasty and affordable. I think theyre riding on their reputation from winning a rib competition in the early 90s. Would I go here again? Probably not. It wasnt bad, just not that good.

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TI

Tim DeWitt

This place is usually pretty good. Ive quit ordering steaks there though, because they are incorrectly cooked more frequently than Id like. Yes, theyll cook another one, but that means my wife and I have to play the "Ill watch you eat, then you watch me eat" game. I usually order the pork shoulder (full pound) for $16, which is a pretty good deal because it comes with two sides and Ill get one to two more meals out of the leftovers. Im not a big fan of the ribs. Theyre not terrible, but I ordered them once and not again. The bread pudding is excellent with a scoop of ice cream, though its nothing like grandmas. To summarize, 17th Street is on our list of regular haunts but we have a few other restaurants that we go to twice or three times as frequently.

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