Blazing Trails Texas BBQ — Restaurant in Herrin

Can't say enough good things about this place. Always packed out right at opening time so come early.

First off service is excellent. You can't beat a place that has a family ran restaurant, and you can tell they are there to make sure everything is just right for you and they are having a good time while doing so.

We've been a couple times in the last few weeks since they opened up the building right across from Crownline on 37.

The meat is always tender and not dry at all.

The brisket is the go to meat here as it's nicely trimmed with just enough fat on it and a wide smoke ring on the meat.

Burnt ends are excellent but be aware if you haven't had them before, they are sauced liberally so it's like sweet meat candy.

I'm generally not a smoked turkey fan because it tends to be dry but here it was moist, very nice.

The smoked ham was very flavorful too, good quality ham and a nice smoke to it but again not over smoked and dry.

I had an armadillo egg this last visit and I enjoyed it but it's a little too much sausage for me. I understand they need structural integrity so use a fair amount of it but it's a dish to share with a few people, one is enough for 3 or 4 or you get sausage overload.

If you are looking for barbecue and in the area this is the stop you want to make in southern Illinois. There's 3 places in the area that are what I consider to be the quintessential barbecue for the surrounding area, Johnson's in Harrisburg, Starnes in Paducah, and here.

Glad they came...

This place was by far the best BBQ o have ever had, if there was a 10 star rating for the food I would have given it. This is a good truck that has been set up as a permanent site, there is a screened in porch with fans and tables to eat at and a large outdoor covered pavilion with picnic tables, they have plenty to choose from plus daily specials, I had the Texas sized nachos with pulled pork it comes with jalapeños but I didn't get those (not a fan), my husband had the brisket with smoked Mac' n cheese, plus they gave us a sample packet of their smoked turkey and sausage, another 2 thumbs up for those items, the amount of nachos was more than I could eat they have nacho cheese, beans smoked pulled pork sour cream and bbq sauce and jalapeños if you opt for those, the portions are not shabby. The Mac' n cheese was delicious and their bbq sauce, well that needs to be jarred and sold on store shelves. If you happen to be in the Marion ,IL area this is a definite must try, but they are only open Friday and Saturdays from 11-7 and when we were there it was around 230-3 it was busy. We have tried the potatoe salad and it is delicious just like the rest...

We went here for the first time this evening and the whole family agrees that this is by far the best BBQ we've found in the 13 years we've lived in southern Illinois, and right up there with best I've had in my twenty three years traveling throughout the contiguous 48 states. We got the Pitmaster, which comes with a rack of ribs, a pound of brisket, a pound of pulled pork and two sides, which we choose the baked beans and potato salad. Everything was absolutely amazing. I'm not the biggest fan of potato salad in general, but their's was great. And the baked beans? Beyond perfection. Even the best of the best BBQ joints I've eaten at often fall short when it comes to this staple, but Blazing Trails nails a perfect ten with their beans. They're sweet and smokey like proper BBQ baked beans should be. Not only will we be back, but this will probably be the only BBQ we we eat going forward. The only thing I would change if I could would be to add...