I was having lunch at Bub City with Myron Mixon, costar of the TV shows BBQ Pitmasters and BBQ Pit Wars, three-time Memphis in May grand champion, and barbecue consultant and marketing whiz under the name Jack’s Old South BBQ, based out of Braselton, Georgia. I asked him what he’d sampled of Chicago barbecue: “You’re lookin’ at it,” he said, pointing to the food we’d ordered off Bub City’s menu that day. In town for the third year as a celebrity judge at the Windy City Smokeout a couple of weeks ago, Mixon has never had the chance to really explore Chicago’s barbecue scene—his view of it has been limited to sponsor Bub City and whichever of our local stars competed in the event (this year including Smoque, Chicago Q, and Lillie’s Q, plus newcomer chain Dinosaur Bar-B-Que).

  • Michael Gebert
  • Myron Mixon at Bub City

Myron Mixon: My dad, Jack Mixon, that’s where the Jack’s Old South name comes from for one of my companies, I named it for my dad. He died in 1996. He had a takeout barbecue business, cook on Thursday, served on Friday, and if he had any left, he’d serve it Saturdays. We had a little food store, we made the Brunswick strew, mama made the coleslaw, we did all that for just the carryout—no sit down. You got it and you went.

In Georgia, we had a vinegar sauce. It just kind of brings out the flavor of the hog and cuts the fat. That was one of the things that you used to get around the country was regional sauces. You had vinegar sauces and mustard sauces. Now it seems like everybody wants that tomatoey, thick, sweet style out of Kansas City. You got to have that, no matter where you are.

I do two main classes a year, 75 people, and I’m already booked out for October. I don’t do them in July and August—you don’t want to be visiting Georgia in July if you don’t have to.

  • Facebook/Windy City Smokeout
  • Judging the 2015 Windy City Smokeout

Everybody thinks because they’ve got great restaurant barbecue that they can go out on the circuit and compete with it, but they can’t. And vice versa, don’t think you can take your competition barbecue, because you’re doing well with it, and put it in a restaurant setting.