Stubby’s Smoke House & Specialty Meats

• 115 N. Davis Street
• Vicksburg, MI 49097
• (269) 649-2499
• Website
• Sample Menu (changes daily)

I don’t get to Vicksburg very often but it seems like the last couple of months, that has changed.  I’ve been in the small Kalamazoo County community several times on job assignments and I always just kind of wander around aimlessly when it comes time for lunch.

A few months ago, I noticed a sign for a smokehouse near Vicksburg Middle School.  I found a Facebook page that showed they did a hot lunch every day with a rotating menu of smoked meats.  I hesitated at first just because it seemed like there was never a menu posted the day I was there and I didn’t want to just walk in and look stupid.

Late last week, I was in Vicksburg again and this time I decided to check it out regardless of whether they had posted a menu for the day.  I was hungry.  My co-worker had already eaten lunch so I wasn’t worried about if there would be something he liked or not.  I just went for it.

Stubby’s Smoke House and Specialty Meats is on Davis Street just East Prairie Street which services as the main thoroughfare through downtown Vicksburg.  The small shop is in multi-unit building that I hesitate to call a “strip mall” because there was obvious some care and thought put into designing this building which is more of a metal building with wood and stone accents.  

Stubby’s takes up a shop at the end of the building.  It’s not a big shop, but they have a lot crammed in to the small space.  There is a specialty grocery section in the middle with sauces, rubs, and other dry items and a large meat case with prime cuts of meat and smoked processed items like beef sticks and jerky.

The hot food area is next to the cash register.  It’s a warming case that keeps the day’s smoked goodies warm.  Someone from behind the meat counter saw me walk in and asked what I was looking for.  I asked if they were still doing the hot food and he said yes and went over what everything in the case was..

I picked the Smoked and Roasted Baby Back Ribs diner.  It comes with choice of two sides, a dinner roll, and a pickle.  I picked the ribs dry rubbed over the wet option then chose beans and mac and cheddar salad for my sides.  The cost was just a little over eight bucks which I paid for on my card.

There is no place to sit and eat at Stubby’s but there is a public space nearby with some picnic tables.  The public parking lot off Prairie and Richardson about half a block away is where we ended up to eat.  There is an overhang that has a couple of concrete tables.  They’re not the most comfortable things in the world, but it was a fairly nice day out and I was happy to not be eating ribs sitting in my car.

I started in on the ribs first since that was what I really went to Stubby’s for.  The dinner includes three bones of baby back’s.  There is a lot of meat on each one of the bones so it makes for a pretty filling meal on it’s own.  The meat was not fall-off-the-bone, but it had a really good flavor.  The dry rub that use hung on to the smoke and created a rich, complex bark on the meat that definitely didn’t need sauce.  I had to work a little bit to get the ribs apart, but the flavor made up for the lack of tenderness.

The Mac and Cheddar salad was interesting. It was essentially a cold mac and cheese with large chunks of colby jack cheese and some veggies.  It was actually quite tasty.  I was hesitant at first because I’m not someone that enjoys cold salads but I decided to give it a try and enjoyed it.

The beans were basic, delicious BBQ baked beans.  I don’t order them often, but the sides list didn’t really have much that I was into so I gave them a shot as well.  They’re tender beans in a sweet, delicious BBQ sauce.

Stubby’s Smoke House is a great value in a small village without a lot of quick dining options.  The food is quite delicious and just a little over $8 for a dinner.  Even if there were fast food options in town, why would you do that when you can get something so much better for the same price?  The Styrofoam container was almost overflowing with food and I walked away from the table stuffed and glad I took the time to go see what Stubby’s was all about.