The “Legend Of Barbecue” Mike Mills is coming to Danville!
Did you know we have a guest coming? The Legend – Mike Mills! The Frank Sinatra of BBQ – he’s coming to Danville – and cook for you. You’ll want to meet this Pitmaster – he’s the grand daddy of them all! What will you ask Mike Mills when you see him? Will you get a picture with him? He’s a doll – and buddy, he knows how to smoke the ribs.
Yes, Mike Mills of 17th Street Barbecue in Murphysboro, IL is coming to cook at the 4th Ever Kentucky State BBQ Festival on September 5-7, 2014. Mike is simply know as “The Legend” to those that know him and compete against him.
He presides over the pits at his five nationally acclaimed barbecue restaurants – three 17th Street Bar & Grill restaurants in Southern Illinois and two Memphis Championship Barbecue restaurants in Las Vegas.
In the early 1990s, he was co-captain of the Apple City Barbecue team, one of the most celebrated teams ever on the circuit. He is a four-time World Champion and three-time Grand World Champion at Memphis in May, otherwise known as the Super Bowl of Swine. He is also the 1992 Grand Champion of the Jack Daniel’s World Invitational Barbecue Cooking Contest and he won the Jack Daniel’s Sauce Contest that year as well.
Mike is the barbecue guru at and a partner in Blue Smoke restaurant in New York City. His book, Peace, Love, and Barbecue was nominated for a 2006 James Beard Foundation award and received the 2006 National Barbecue Association Award of Excellence. In October 2008 he was honored with the Pioneer of Barbecue award at the Jack Daniel’s World Invitational Barbecue Cooking Contest. Mike was inducted into the Barbecue Hall of Fame in 2010.
Here’s more history and a few fun facts, if you’re interested in that sort of thing:
- Owner of five nationally acclaimed barbecue joints – three 17th Street Bar & Grill restaurants in Southern Illinois and two Memphis Championship Barbecue restaurants in Las Vegas. Mike’s restaurants operate under different names – but it’s all Mike Mills’s barbecue.
- Mike is the only barbecuer with top-security clearance to board Air Force One and he’s the only barbecuer who’s been featured in Vogue magazine four times!
- Named Best Ribs in America by Bon Appétit magazine (Sept.’07) and featured on the Food Network special Bon Appétit Picks the Best.
- Restaurants & Institutions (Sept.’07) magazine called Mike America’s “most-revered barbecue restaurateur.”
- For 13 years Mike was the only three-time Grand World Champion at Memphis in May, otherwise known as the Super Bowl of Swine. His record was tied in 2007.
Come out on Friday through Sunday, Sept 5-7, 2014 at the Kentucky State BBQ Festival and meet Mike and our 6 other Championship Pitmasters.
Festival Hours:
Friday, Sept. 5 5PM-10PM
Saturday, Sept. 6 11AM-10PM
Sunday, Sept 7 11AM-5PM
