Rib Fest gets earlier start this year on North Shore
Country music star Morgan Wallen will be performing on Wednesday and Thursday at PNC Park, but his reach will extend to Acrisure Stadium.
The annual Miller Lite Kickoff and Rib Festival on Pittsburgh’s North Shore is opening Wednesday — a day earlier than usual — to accommodate the thousands of fans in town for Wallen’s concerts.
The rib event runs through Labor Day.
“I am happy to spend another day in Pittsburgh selling ribs,” Dan Johnson, owner of Johnson’s BBQ from Virginia Beach, Va., said Tuesday. “We love coming to Pittsburgh.”
Johnson has been perfecting barbecue for nearly 40 years. He is known for having some of the hottest sauce in the country. His company is one of the dozen that began setting up Monday. Tents were being put together and smokers were smokin’ as they were loaded with racks and racks of rubbed ribs. Johnson is one of the festival’s longest-running participants — he remembers the days of the rib festival outside Three Rivers Stadium — and said it takes at minimum a half-day to set up everything.
Traveling the farthest is the crew from Cowboys Barbecue & Rib Co. in Fort Worth, Texas — 1,400 miles away.
Pit master Guy Wilkinson was loading his hickory smoker with 150 slabs of St. Louis-style ribs. He can serve 400 to 500 racks of ribs a day, he said. Most vendors have two smokers to keep up with the volume.
“We will have all the ribs ready for those fans stopping by before the concert at PNC Park,” he said as he loaded the last of the ribs. “We are prepping for that.
“I have been doing this for 12 years, and I would not trade it for the world. You meet so many cool people. It’s a life experience. Pittsburgh is like a family. We enjoy coming up to see everyone.”
He said what makes this festival popular is that the vendors are all professionals.
“And that is different than how you cook ribs in your backyard,” he said. “These are the best ribs in the country, right here in Pittsburgh.”
It’s about grilling the ribs to perfection, said Ronda Climons, a team member for Ribbins BBQ, based in Chambersburg and originally from Vero Beach, Fla. Her brother Rondel Adams is the owner. She also talked about all the sides to go with the ribs, such as the sweet potato cornbread.
“The people of Pittsburgh make this festival great,” she said. “We love being in the same city as the Pittsburgh Steelers and Pitt football.”
The atmosphere is special, said Khai Marshall, manager for Desperado’s BBQ & Rib Co. from Hinkley, Ohio. Marshall said having the rib fest the same time as the Wallen concerts is wonderful.
“Morgan Wallen is hot right now, just like these ribs here that have been perfected over 35 years of preparing ribs slathered in one of three sauces — sweet, smoky and ‘hotter than h.’ ”
JoAnne Klimovich Harrop is a TribLive reporter covering the region's diverse culinary scene and unique homes. She writes features about interesting people. The Edward R. Murrow award-winning journalist began her career as a sports reporter. She has been with the Trib for 26 years and is the author of "A Daughter's Promise." She can be reached at jharrop@triblive.com.
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