Lil’ Mike’s Bar-B-Que opens in Idaho Falls with a picnic style menu for customers
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IDAHO FALLS – Since 2016, Lil’ Mike’s Bar-B-Que in Rigby has been serving customers a homemade, picnic-style menu consisting of brisket, ribs, pork, turkey, sausage, salad, baked potatoes, sandwiches, corn salad and nachos.
The restaurant opened a second location at 3090 South 25th East in Idaho Falls last month, and EastIdahoNews.com sampled some of the bestselling items.
The first item was a large baked potato provided by Rigby Produce. It’s served with brisket, sour cream, cheese and chives.
The pork nachos are another popular item. It’s served with pork, queso cheese, homemade beans, jalapenos, green onions and sour cream.
The third item is the St. Louis-style pork ribs topped off with the owner’s secret sauce made in-house. Watch it in the video above.
The menu also includes side items like mac ‘n’ cheese, baked beans and coleslaw — all of which are made from family recipes.
In total, owner Jennifer Scarbrough tells EastIdahoNews.com there are 22 items on the menu. The brisket is the main attraction, which can be served with any other item or as a build-your-own, deli-style option.
“We weigh it, which is how it’s priced. You can have as little or as much meat as you like,” Scarbrough says. “Many people order a pint of mac ‘n cheese with brisket on top, so you can make your own thing.”
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EastIdahoNews.com highlighted the Rigby restaurant in 2019. Julie Shults, the owner of the restaurant at that time, explained family barbecues were a part of her upbringing in Bakersfield, California. The family moved to Rigby in 2015 in search of a better lifestyle and started serving family recipes out of a small food trailer.
The storefront opened at 116 South Clark Street the following year.
Lil’ Mike’s got some national attention in 2019 when it was featured on the Food Network’s “Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives,” hosted by Guy Fieri.
Julie and her husband, Mike, now own Firehole Bar-B-Que in West Yellowstone, Montana. Scarbrough, who is related to Julie and Mike, took over the Rigby restaurant.
Opening a second location is something Scarbrough and her mom, Betty Schults, have been looking into for several years. When Pitmaster announced it was closing its 25th East location in February, they felt it was an ideal spot because it’s in a high-traffic area.
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EastIdahoNews.com spoke with Scarbrough in March after the lease was signed on the Idaho Falls space. She was originally planning to open May 1, but ended up opening in mid-April several weeks ahead of schedule. Scarbrough says it got off to a slow start because of that.
“We got a lot of people coming in, saying, ‘I didn’t think you were open yet,'” says Scarbrough.
“Today (April 26) was our busiest day that we’ve had since opening,” Betty adds.
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The duo says it’s rewarding to meet new people and share family recipes with customers. They’re considering opening another location in Hurricane, Utah or in Arizona sometime in the future.
The Idaho Falls store is open 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday, with a 9 p.m. closing time Friday and Saturday.
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