Bogart's Smokehouse
The ribs run the Pappy's recipe and then take an apricot glaze, torched at the counter until it caramelizes.2
Why go
Bogart's opened in Soulard in 2011 as the second room in the Pappy's family, and the crew decided early it could not be a copy of the first one.1 The beans are the other tell: they cook in the smoker underneath the brisket.2 Ian Froeb ranked the room in his 2020 STL 100 and named the apricot ribs, the pastrami and those beans as the reasons.1
Order this / avoid
- Order: the apricot-glazed ribs. Watch the torch work if you are at the counter.2
- Order: the pastrami. Froeb puts it level with the ribs.1
- Order: the pit-baked beans, which is the one side both sources name.2
- Avoid: arriving near closing. Froeb's listing runs every service to the posted time or until sold out.1
What locals & experts say
- Ian Froeb, St. Louis Post-Dispatch, STL 100 2020:
the Bogart's team knew the restaurant couldn't be a Pappy's clone and set themselves apart with meats and sides that were terrific on their own merits, especially the apricot-glazed ribs, the pastrami and the pit-baked beans.
1 - Where it stands now: Froeb ranked Bogart's in the 2020 STL 100 and it is not among the hundred in the 2026 edition, which names Beast Craft BBQ Co. at 25 and four more barbecue rooms below.3
Good to know
- Timing: the pit runs until the meat is gone, so lunch is the safe visit.1
- Which door: one room, on South Ninth Street in Soulard.1
Verdict
could-visit — Ian Froeb ranked Bogart's in his 2020 hundred and singled out the apricot-glazed ribs, the pastrami and the pit-baked beans, and he left it off the 2026 hundred while naming five other barbecue rooms. Both editions were read in full, so that is a real change rather than a gap in the reading. The blowtorched glaze and the beans cooking under the brisket are still the mechanics that separate it from its own siblings, and the newest evaluative line is six years old. That is a could-visit until somebody eats there for a byline again.