Skinny Kenny’s BBQ

• 24901 Red Arrow Highway
• Mattawan, MI 49071
• (269) 283-5000
• Website
• Menu

More BBQ! Yay! More BBQ!

I’ve made no secret about how much I love BBQ. Yeah, I do a lot of smoking myself in my vertical offset smoker..but that takes hours. So, yay for people who do all the hard (long) work for me.

COVID has forced us outside of our comfort zone and in to more walks around the neighborhood. J noticed a new food truck being built quite a few months ago and started following them on Facebook. Recently, a brick and morter store was announced just outside of Mattawan.

Skinny Kenny’s BBQ opened up on the corner of Red Arrow Highway and 25th Street about 1/2 mile from the stoplight that will take you in to Mattawan. The building had been a breakfast joint called Lisa’s Corner Cafe before the BBQ place moved in.

The business is strictly carry-out right now and they do offer online ordering to make things easy….which I took advantage of.

I was never in Lisa’s Corner Cafe but it looks like Skinny Kenny’s did a wholesale makeover. The building isn’t that big but there will be space for a few tables once dining resumes. There is a large order counter at the back of the building fronted with corrugated steel panels. Orders are put on a table in front of the counter when they’re ready. Somehow, I changed my name to my wife’s name when I filled out the form (Google auto-complete probably helped) so it took a few minutes to figure it out because they didn’t remember filling an order with my name.

The menu at Skinny Kenny’s is typical BBQ joint. They do have some specials so you’ll need to check their Facebook page each weekend. Last weekend was smoked wings, they had a Brisket burger, and in the past, ribs. You just need to check to see what the current special is.

I was tempted by the wings but ordered The Skinny Deal. This is their option to get a sandwich with a side and a drink. I did the brisket which comes with spicy pickles and spicy BBQ sauce then upgraded to the Spicy Mac.

The brisket is chopped, not sliced, and it’s covered in a layer of a thick, slightly spicy BBQ sauce. This is one of those sandwiches that is delicious without the sauce but the sauce is so good too I’m not even mad that it’s the there. The sandwich is a good size portion with a soft bun and crispy slightly spicy pickles.

The side of the spicy mac was just enough to round out the meal. The macaroni noodles are covered in a really thick, creamy, cheesy sauce. There are bits of jalapeno mixed in to the cheese sauce to make this one a little bit spicy.

J did the Mac Bowl. This entree sized portion is cornbread, mac and cheese, and choice of meat. She did the pulled pork topped with a sweeter BBQ sauce. The mac bowls are her BBQ go to. It’s the comination of the meat, the sweet sauce, and the cheesy mac and cheese that always brings her back.

We ordered L a side of Mac which didn’t last long once she took it to her room to eat….yeah, the almost 9-year-old is already locking herself in her room instead of socializing with us. The Mac is the same as the spicy mac but without the jalapenos.

We didn’t get B anything because he never likes BBQ….I know…..we have to work on that. He’s also not been eating mac and cheese so that’s not an option. We ended up ordering him a Jimmy John’s sandwich because that’s what he’s used to when we get BBQ from Kelvin & Co. One day, we’ll get him back on the BBQ…because BBQ is delicious.

Our bill for lunch was a little over $30. The thing you need to know about Skinny Kenny’s is that they’re only open Thursday, Friday, and Saturday right now and since they’re BBQ, once something is out for the day, it’s out for the day.

There’s always been so much animosity towards allowing food trucks to operate in Kalamazoo but Skinny Kenny’s is one of the success stories. They had a really popular food truck and were able to move that in to a brick and mortar business pretty quickly. I say it every time I write a blog on BBQ places, you can never have enough BBQ options. There is always a demand and while Skinny Kenny’s is a little ways outside of Kalamazoo, it’s worth the short drive down Red Arrow Highway for some delicious southern comfort food.