Passing of 'The Legend'
Mike Mills, world-renowned pitmaster and owner of 17th Street Barbecue, dies
Mike Mills with a roast pig at the 17th Street Bar & Grill in Murphysboro in an image posted almost exactly a year ago. The sign reads, “The lard is good,” and his shirt bears the motto: “Praise the Lard.” (Facebook/17th Street Barbecue)
By Ted Cox
Southern Illinoisans and barbecue aficionados around the world mourn the loss of Mike Mills, who died Tuesday.
Known as “The Legend” in barbecue circles, Mills was an award-winning pitmaster who founded a restaurant dynasty at the 17th Street Bar & Grill in Murphysboro that eventually spread to New York City and Las Vegas. As co-captain of the legendary Apple City Barbecue Team, named after Murphysboro’s CB handle, he was a multiple Grand World Champion at Memphis in May, an annual competition known as the “Super Bowl of Swine.” He was inducted into the BBQ Hall of Fame in 2010.
But the center of it all was and is the original family-owned restaurant in Murphysboro, of course at at 32 N. 17th St. As Mills himself explained in his 2005 book “Peace, Love, and Barbecue,” written with his daughter Amy Mills Tunnicliffe, he bought the bar in 1985 and gradually began adding his own barbecue dishes to the menu until it became known as the best in the region and perhaps the state and country. The actual bar, however, remains the restaurant’s focal point, as it’s about 25 feet long and made of solid oak, salvaged from a Chicago speakeasy. Mills would frequently hold forth from a stool at the corner end of the bar.
Proclaiming themselves “the first family of barbecue,” the Millses went on to publish the follow-up “Praise the Lard.”
Although Mills eventually spread his pitmaster talents to Memphis Championship Barbecue restaurants in Las Vegas and Blue Smoke in New York City (which like the original 17th Street offers nationwide shipping), he remained devoted to his home base, with another outlet in Marion just off Interstate 57 along with a shack at the State Fair in Springfield. His original book stressed the family background that nurtured his love of smoked meats, while also paying homage to to Whitt’s Corner, an influential earlier African American barbecue restaurant in Murphysboro.
He’d typically sign copies of the book with the advice that “barbecue is about friends, family, and love.”
Molly Parker wrote Tuesday in The Southern Illinoisan that “Mills is known in barbecue circles around the nation as one of the best to ever man a smoker.”
Restaurant critic Kevin Pang tweeted Wednesday that 17th Street “was certifiably 100-mile BBQ-worthy — a place you’d drive two hours to experience,” adding, “RIP Mike Mills, its genial owner and pitmaster. An Illinois culinary legend in every sense.”
Gov. Pritzker chimed in as well, posting a statement on Facebook saying: “Illinois has lost a legend. Mike Mills was an icon in the world of barbecue not only for his achievements but for his enthusiasm. M.K. and I send our heartfelt condolences to the friends and family of 17th Street Barbecue and the entire Murphysboro and Marion community.”
According to Parker, Mills’s daughter Amy wrote Tuesday’s Facebook post stating: “It is with deep sorrow that I share with you my much-loved father, Mike Mills, passed away this morning due to non-COVID-related health issues. He was deeply loved and words cannot describe how much he will be missed. It’s a monumental loss for all of us at 17th Street Barbecue and the barbecue community. His impact on the worldwide culture of barbecue and on the southern Illinois region he was proud to call home will be long lasting.”
The post added: “Mike always embraced and enthusiastically welcomed everyone into our barbecue family and loved sharing his passion for cooking with fire. Thank you for respecting our privacy as we work through this incredibly difficult and shocking time.”
Details on the funeral were to follow.