Blue's Barbecue in the Heights

I heard a short audio advertisement at Dehler Park a couple of times as they thanked the sponsors of the Legion Regional tournament that was going on this past weekend. I heard Bob the Announcer say only "Blue's Barbecue, corner of Hilltop and Main," which is about all he said as their contribution must have been smaller than the rest of them. I had not heard of these good folks before so I resolved to give them a try. The picture above is from the entrance on Hilltop, looking toward the Cenex station and on the far right you can just barely see their sign below the Cenex sign. Over the hill is Main St, running perpendicularly to Hilltop, of course.

Though I am geographically challenged at times, especially in the Heights because I don't get there very often, I thought I could find this place fairly easily. Well, I came up Main, keeping a sharp lookout for a sign. I was in the middle lane and should have been in the left lane to make a left turn. I had to double back and finally guessed to turn up Hilltop from Main and viola there it was: Near the Corner of Hilltop and Main, Behind the Stockman Bank, and turn into the Cenex Station, and there you are.

I checked Billings' version of UrbanSpoon before I went and found this interesting blogsite with information on Blue's Barbecue. The pictures are pretty good. Their pulled pork sandwich looked a lot like my shredded beef sandwich today. They start in Canada and come down to the States and on to Chicago if you are interested in a road trip.

As I mentioned I tried the shredded beef with one side and a drink special for $6. Seemed to be a fair price, especially considering the size of the sandwich and the side of baked beans with a surprising amount of pork in it. The last was excellent. The sandwich was a little bland so I put some "mild" sauce on it but that didn't help, so I screwed up my courage and added some "hot" sauce which came out just right, sort of "medium."

I have always been wary ever since arriving in Billings over 30 years ago and trying the "medium" sauce at CJs: bread and water quickly please. Blue's Barbecue should probably increase the spice in the meat a little to start with and maybe add an "extra-hot" sauce on the side for those who like that sort of thing. This is only my first trip there. I would have to check out some of their other offerings before making any certain pronouncements. The rest of the stuff looks good and their menu is fairly simple, both for eating in and for taking out. I am going back for more.

This was fairly early, a little after 11am, the tables were filled by the time I left. The customers varied from us refined old folks down to hungry working stiffs.