Mission BBQ coming to new South Charleston complex

A national BBQ chain with locations in 21 states plans to open its first restaurant in West Virginia at the new Park Place Shopping Center being built across from Riverwalk Plaza in South Charleston.

All-American pulled pork BBQ sandwich from Mission BBQ

A national BBQ chain with locations in 21 states plans to open its first restaurant in West Virginia at the new Park Place Shopping Center being built across from Riverwalk Plaza in South Charleston.

Smoked turkey and green beans from Mission BBQ

South Charleston Mayor Frank Mullens said construction should begin on the new Mission BBQ location within the next few months. It will join the Chick-fil-A and Starbucks that have already opened there, along with what city officials hope will be as many as 20+ more tenants by the time the complex is finished.

For those who are unfamiliar, Mission BBQ opened its first restaurant on Sept. 11, 2011 – exactly 10 years after 9/11 – as a way to honor our country’s soldiers, firefighters, police officers, first responders and other heroes.

“We believe there is nothing more American than BBQ,” the restaurant says on its website. “And there’s nobody more American than the brave men and women who have sworn to protect and serve our communities and our country.”

Baked beans with brisket from Mission BBQ

Committed to “running a business with meaning and purpose,” Mission BBQ also gives back to the communities in which they operate through fundraisers that have generated more than $20 million for charitable organizations that take care of those same heroes.

And about that BBQ? Founders Bill Krause and Steve Newton said they traveled across the country – from Texas to Kansas City and from the Carolinas to St. Louis – to learn the secrets of great BBQ before settling on their own recipes featuring never-frozen, never-microwaved ingredients.

Smoked turkey from Mission BBQ

On the menu you’ll find a selection of meats like Texas-inspired oak-smoked brisket, slow-smoked hand-pulled pork and chicken, smoked lean turkey and jalapeno-cheese sausages, plus signature items like baby back ribs, North Atlantic salmon, roasted half chickens and smoked cheeseburgers.

There’s also a selection of sandwiches, salads and made-from-scratch sides like mac and cheese, baked beans with brisket, green beans with bacon, coleslaw and fries, plus family-size packs for groups and smaller kid-size portions for wee ones.

Stay tuned for updates on when the new South Charleston location will open later this year.

Chili Willi’s is back, just not in WV

A popular Tex-Mex cantina that operated for nearly 30 years in Huntington before closing in 2011 is coming back to life – just not here.

Brisket three ways from Mission BBQ

Chili Willi’s owner Ron Smith told me he has signed an agreement with Charlotte restaurateur Rob Duckworth to open a new Chili Willi’s in that growing North Carolina city. Duckworth has also purchased the Huntington restaurant’s old recipes to ensure the same great food he remembers will wow guests in this new market.

In an article announcing the news, Duckworth said Chili Willi’s holds sentimental value for him because that’s where he took his wife on their first date while living in Huntington and where he closed many a business deal later in his career.

Mac and cheese from Mission BBQ

“Even though it’s been over a decade since I’ve had the food, I can just remember how it tasted,” Duckworth told media outlet Axios Charlotte.

He said the menu there will include some of his old “elevated Tex-Mex” favorites like the coffee-rubbed hanger steak, grilled salmon and pork carnitas tacos, along with scratch-made enchiladas, chimichangas, huevos rancheros and flautas.

And if they’re lucky, the new place will also serve the glorious ice cream taco I enjoyed so many times while growing up near Huntington back in the day. That giant crispy fried taco boat filled with cinnamon ice cream and loaded with whipped cream, sliced almonds, chocolate chips and honey was legendary.

I’m not kidding when I say this (and don’t think I’ll be alone) but I am so planning a trip to Charlotte once the new place opens to enjoy a long-lost taste of my youth.

The Shamrock Shake is back, baby

You’ll rarely see me write about fast-food restaurants, but this is big news. The Shamrock Shake has returned to area McDonald’s restaurants.

I repeat: the Shamrock Shake is back.

Smoked sausage from Mission BBQ

Not only that, but you can also now enjoy that same crisp and refreshing mint ice cream concoction mixed with crunchy chocolate Oreo crumbs in a Shamrock Oreo McFlurry as well.

Listen, I know locally made ice cream and treats are better in both quality and taste. The mint chocolate chunk ice cream at Ellen’s in downtown Charleston, for example, is absolute perfection.

But if you’re ever driving around and suddenly crave a quick treat, a Shamrock Shake is not a bad play. Even better, a portion of the proceeds from the sale of every shake helps support the chain’s worthy Ronald McDonald House, which helps parents and families stay closer to their sick children during extended hospital stays.

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Steven Keith is a food writer and restaurant critic known as “The Food Guy” who writes a weekly column for the Charleston Gazette-Mail and has appeared in several state, regional and national culinary publications. Follow him online at www.wvfoodguy.com or on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest. He can be reached at 304-380-6096 or at wvfoodguy@aol.com.