Moonlight BBQ Inn

After an exhausting all day drive from Kansas City, stopping briefly in St. Louis to drop Nick off, I pulled into Owensboro, Kentucky to refuel. There isn't a whole lot going on in Owensboro, KY, however, every year this little town plays host to an International Bar-B-Q Festival, drawing BBQ lovers from all over the world. Owensboro also is the self-proclaimed burgoo capital of the world.

Owensboro is also home to my next stop, Moonlight BBQ. Voted as the best BBQ joint in Kentucky, Moonlight opened in 1963 by a husband and wife team with their 4 kids, originally seating only 30 people. Due to their success at serving up the 'Cue, they have grown the restaurant to over 300 seats and many accolades for their most famous dish, BBQ mutton. In fact, they pride themselves on cooking more BBQ mutton than any other place in the United States.

Moonlite pit cooks all their meat, "slow and low" over hickory wood in custom built fired pits, imparting all the meat with a distinctive hickory flavor. Unfortunately, I arrived at Moonlite 30 minutes before closing and I missed getting a tour with the pit masters, who just went home. Maybe next time.

In addition to the mutton, Moonlight offered our first BBQ buffet experience. When I learned, I could eat anything I wanted at the buffet, I damn near did a little jig right on the spot.

Needless to say, I tried everything. I was VERY impressed with the mutton, it as perfectly cooked with good smoky flavor and hints of spice, it was simply delicious. The waitress explained, they take the mutton and let it baste in spicy vinegar au jus sauce before serving. The result is a deliciousness that cannot be explained. After, the mutton I moved onto the burgoo, which is their take on a Brunswick stew. It is chocked full of mutton, chicken and whole lot of vegetables which equals AWESOME!

Ratings:

Burgoo - 9.5 - rich, thick, spicy and smoky. It put it's cousin Brunswick to shame.
Chopped Mutton - 9.5 - if I had 3 thumbs, this would get 3 thumbs up.
Ribs - 8 - crispy exterior, very juicy interior, hickory wood flavor throughout, perfect smoke ring
Pulled Pork - 6 - the meat was tender and smoky but the house sweet BBQ sauce made them a little too sweet.
Pulled Beef - 6 - too sweet because of the BBQ sauce. They should consider tempering the sweetness with some of their hot BBQ sauce which was very tasty.
Sweet Corn - 8 - creamy and sweet and made completely from scratch - no frozen corn here.
Okra - 8 - okra in a tomato stew from scratch- nice that it was not fried
Cheesy Broccoli Casserole - 4 - this was just not good. Very dry and didn't taste very good at all. * When I told the waitress that it fell short, she told me that it wasn't their best batch. In the words of Anthony: "Why serve it then?"
Baked Beans - 8 - these did not come out of a can. They were made from scratch as well and therefore tasted like real beans. They add BBQ sauce, sugar and spices.
Mac-n-Cheese - 8 - perfect cheese crust on the top and creamy cheesy sauce below. Best mac n cheese I have had in a while.
Corn Bread - Good - one of the owners asked me to try their corn bread and give my feed back - I thought it was good but not great.

Ambiance - 8.5 - this felt like a 1963 restaurant.

Overall - 8 - would have been higher but the pulled pork and pulled beef pulled the overall rating down.

Quotes:

Shingai to Pamela (the waitress): "Do you mind if I have a picture taken with you?"

Pamela:" No I can't do that."

Shingai: "Why not? "

Pamela: "Because, the camera will break?"

Shingai: "I don't understand."

Pamela: "Every time, I have a picture taken with people, they don't want to show me the picture because they say their camera broke."

Shingai: "And you believe them?"

Pamela: "I can't prove any different."

Shingai: "Well if you have a picture taken with me, I'll show it to you."

Pamela: "Do you want me to do anything for it?"

Shingai: "Just stand and look pretty."

Pamela: "See that's part of the problem."

Shingai: "The standing or the looking pretty?"

Pamela: "Don't be smart with me."