OT’s Up-In-Smoke BBQ – Beadle Lake Rd.
20 Beadle Lake RoadA couple of months ago, J started making plans with her friends to take a girls weekend to Vegas. This must have been a buys Vegas weekend or something because airfare was insane. We looked for weeks trying to find something cheap.
The airlines didn’t want to cooperate, so J made the decision a few weeks ago to forego this trip again and hope things fall in to place next time. She still had the time off and wanted to do something. It seems like whenever we have free days, we head home to Chicago. There’s not many times where J and I take advantage of vacation time and just travel.
Last month, I won a free night’s stay at the Amway Grand in Grand Rapids. We decided to use that, but we still wanted to do something else. On a whim, I found a concert in Mt. Pleasant, so that’s where we headed.
We left for our trip that ended up crisscrossing Michigan just after noon on Friday. Since it was lunch, we had to eat before the two-hour drive north. Sure, we could have eaten sandwiches at home, but what fun is that?
Instead, I headed for a little barbecue shack on the corner of Beadle Lake Road and Main Street in Battle Creek. OT’s Up-N-Smoke has two locations in the city. There is a permanent building on Capital Avenue NE in the building that used to be Cliff’s Ribs & Seafood. The original location is nothing more than a lunch cart, but it’s anchored on a concrete pad in a triangle-shaped patch of land. There is a large gravel parking lot and a couple of steel tables, but other than a smoker, that’s pretty much it.
The menu is written on a dry erase board hanging on the cart. They have all usual suspects. Ribs, pulled pork, rib tips, BBQ chicken, and fish.
J and I both went with the same meals. We each got a pulled pork sandwich and a side of mac ‘n cheese. We didn’t see any option for drinks. I assume most people grab their meals to go, but since we were passing through, we wanted to eat before hopping back in the car.
The meal cost us $14 and it was packaged up in styrofoam containers. The lady working did ask if we wanted forks and napkins, so eating on site is possible.
We grabbed the bag then headed to one of the tables. It was a nice enough day so eating outside was something we wanted to do anyway.
We both went straight for the sandwich. J actually attempted to pick it up. I looked at it and realized there was no way. The meat was perfect. Slow smoked with a nice pink smoke ring. It was served on a sesame seed bun with a lot of a very thin Carolina style sauce.
I pulled the top bun off and ate the meat and bottom bun with a fork. The sauce had soaked through the bread so it didn’t give much resistance. The meat was delicious and the sauce had a really sweet tangy kick to it. It wasn’t overly spicy, but by the time you get to the last bite, you start to feel it.
After devouring the meat and bottom bun, I turned to the top bun. The sauce had soaked through part of that piece of bread as well, so I picked it up and ate it as a “sauce bun.” The sauce was that good. I didn’t want to let it go to waste.
J eventually picked up on my technique and gave up on eating it as a sandwich. It was way to messy as the sauce was disintegrating the bun. She works in Battle Creek every so often and said she would be trying to talk co-workers in to going back. If you’ve learned anything about J and I, she is either hot or cold with pulled pork. There is no lukewarm. This sandwich was definitely on her hot side.
The mac ‘n cheese is served in a small plastic cup. It’s not a huge portion, but it is very creamy and very cheesy. Best of all, it’s served warm. J found large chunks of cheddar cheese in her serving which is something she really liked. You can never have too much cheese and cooked cheese is like a bonus.
OT’s Up-N-Smoke met our ridiculously high standards when it comes to pulled pork. We both know what we like and what we don’t and somehow Up-N-Smoke was able satisfy both of us and our quirky ideas of what good bbq is.
Pulled Pork Sandwich
Mac & Cheese
SW Michigan Dining 
Great BBQ at O.T.’s up -n- smoke Beat in the State! Their sides are so good don’t miss out. All take out only.