You Gotta Eat: FroSmokes Meatery

LACON - This week, we’re revisiting one of my all-time favorite plates: barbecue! I hear there’s a spot in town serving some of the best around.

Stephanie Gilkerson and her husband, Jeff (better known as “Fro), have some serious skills on the grill.

They started off doing local catering, and high demand led them to set up FroSmokes Meatery right along the river.

“It’s all our own recipes,” Stephanie said. “Homemade everything, fresh all the time – we try to be just like a southern Texas barbecue.”

The kitchen staff is a well-oiled machine, but it’s out back where the magic really happens - a massive smoker, built by Fro himself, with different sections for different things.

“I’m a welder by trade, so I started small,” Fro said. “All the meat gets smoke and heat, so it’s more even for me.”

Steph and Fro set us up with a little bit of everything, and I’m sure to head straight for my favorite first: some incredible smoked ribs.

They may come in second, though, to FroSmokes’ most famous: some tasty, tender brisket.

Stephanie says it takes around 12 hours to smoke, from 10:00 p.m. all the way to 10:00 the next morning.

We complete the meat trio with perhaps the most surprising of all: some next-level smoked turkey, prepped using a special method.

“I brine them and that just helps really break the meat down and make it so much more tender,” Stephanie said.

The fun doesn’t stop there. Next we try a popular item: the mac n’ cheese wrap loaded with smoked brisket.

Plus, some fabulous sides including the aforementioned four-cheese mac n cheese, garlic green beans with homemade bacon, an out-of-this-world broccoli-cauliflower salad, and to cap it all off, barbecue beans.

Lacon has a lot to love about this place, and weekly specials mean the menu options are endless.

“We’ve just been cooking for years – everything we’ve developed - all our own,” Fro said.

The owners add when you come to FroSmokes, they want your food to match the environment.

“Family friendly atmosphere – just feeling like you’re home at Grandma’s,” Stephanie said.

You can find FroSmokes Meatery at 112 Marina Drive in Lacon. Be sure to double check your travel route, as the Lacon Bridge is currently closed. The owners recommend taking Route 26 from Route 116, and Route 29 to Henry Bridge. That bridge leads Route 26, which takes you into Lacon.

Here are their hours:

Monday: Closed.

Tuesday: Closed.

Wednesday: Closed.

Thursday: 11:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.

Friday: 11:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.

Saturday: 11:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.

Sunday: 12:00 p.m. - 5:00 p.m.

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