Speed Queen

1130 West Walnut St., Milwaukee, WI - (414) 265-2900

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Posted By Michael Stern on 10/3/2000 4:59:00 AM

Speed Queen is Milwaukee’s best barbecue, serving pork, beef, and turkey cooked until ridiculously tender and served in a glaze of spicy sauce. The mild sauce is full-flavored and slightly sweet. Hot sauce is explosive, a dark orange emulsion that reminds us of Arthur Bryant’s dizzying potion in Kansas City. For many customers, the mild is a little too mild, the hot is too lip-burning; so it is not uncommon to hear orders for “half and half.”

Meat choices include beef, beef ribs, rib tips, and turkey, and a choice of pork shoulder or outside meat. We like the latter two best. Shoulder is thick slices that are almost chunks, tender as velvet. Outside meat is unbelievably luscious – dark, blackened shreds and nuggets some of which are tender, some of which are crusty, and some of which quite literally melt on the tongue.

A favorite way to eat at Speed Queen is to order a half-and-half plate (ribs and outside, rib tips and shoulder, etc.) that consists of meat, sauce, a couple of slices of spongy white bread (necessary for sopping sauce), plus a cup of cole slaw. Beans and potato salad cost extra. You can also get a sandwich; but beware, these “sandwiches” are, in fact, meat and sauce piled onto white bread in such a way that it is inconceivable to hold it in your hand like a normal pick-up sandwich. If you want to lift something in your hands, you can get pork or beef on a bun, a somewhat more wieldy configuration.

Everything is delivered at the order window in a Styrofoam container; and while most business is take-out, Speed Queen offers a row of functional booths for dining-in. Carry your own meal from the window and please bus your own table when you are through.

Scorecard

Overall: Legendary - Worth driving from anyplace

shoulder	ribs
outside meat

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"A pile of Speed Queen's meaty ribs."
Cliff Strutz

"A haze of smoke usually wafts out the smokestack above Speed Queen's roof."
Michael Stern

"Here is outside meat, hot-sauced and served as a "sandwich." Most people do eat with their hands, but only because finger-licking is so much fun. This is not exactly a portable sandwich!"
Michael Stern

"There is a big lot around Speed Queen because so much business is take-out. The inside is mostly kitchen and smoke pit, with only a small area for tables."
Michael Stern

"Milwaukee's finest barbecue parlor, and one of the best anywhere in the Midwest"
Michael Stern