Moonlite, Old Hickory win burgoo honors

When it comes to burgoo, Owensboro restaurants are hard to beat.

Last month, USA Today and 10Best.com ran an online contest to see who makes the best burgoo in Kentucky.

When the voting ended, Firehouse Sandwich Shop at Buffalo Trace Distillery in Frankfort topped the list.

But Moonlite Bar-B-Q Inn placed second.

And Old Hickory Bar-B-Q was right behind in third place.

“Burgoo is such a staple of our culture,” Dave Kirk, destination management director for the Owensboro-Daviess County Convention & Visitors Bureau, said of the honor.

“You grow up eating this comfort food, whether it’s at your favorite barbecue restaurant or at a church picnic,” he said. “Nothing says Owensboro like those large black cauldrons filled with goodness.”

Rounding out the Top 10 were Shack in the Back BBQ in Fairdale, Keeneland in Lexington, Dave’s Sticky Pig in Madisonville, Mark’s Feedstore in several cities, Stella’s Kentucky Deli in Lexington, Talbott Tavern in Bardstown and Knockum Hill Bar-B-Que in Herndon.

Owensboro’s community barbecue and burgoo traditions date back at least 185 years.

In 2016, Owensboro’s International Bar-B-Q Festival placed third in a similar online contest.

Last week, The Kentucky 100 produced a list of the Top 10 BBQ Restaurants in Kentucky.

Moonlite and Old Hickory both made that list as well.

Just like they did Southern Living’s “The South’s Top 50 Barbecue Joints” last year.

Messenger-Inquirer article written by Keith Lawrence, 270-691-7301, [email protected]