Jon Olson is a winner. Dozens of awards hang from the walls at Smoky Jon’s, his beloved barbecue restaurant on Madison’s north side. And if that isn’t enough evidence, surely the picture of Olson with actor Emilio Estevez is. (Emilio!)
Now, Olson has another trophy to add to his collection: the best barbecue in the state.
In its recent slideshow of “50 States of Barbecue,” Food Network named Smoky Jon’s as tops in Wisconsin. The listing praised Olson’s “authentic wood-smoked ’cue,” which he makes with locally-raised pigs, a special spice rub and his own house-made sauce (which you can also buy bottled).
And while I can’t disagree with the choice — after all, $10 at Smoky Jon’s buys you like $20 worth of food — Food Network’s use of the abbreviation ’cue disturbs me. I have never once heard anyone outside of Guy Fieri call barbecue ’cue. And Guy Fieri only gets away with it because he looks like he was kicked out of an Offspring cover band for being too on the nose.
So in conclusion, I think we learned two important lessons today: 1) Smoky Jon’s has really great barbecue; and 2) just because Guy Fieri does something doesn’t mean you should do it too.
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