Pickerill's Pick'n 'N" Grinn'n BBQ

05/10/2026

Next BBQ June 20th at The Pink Elephant Antique Mall Livingston IL

05/09/2026

Ribs are going on the smoker. Bigfoot festival today at The Pink Elephant Antique Mall Livingston IL. SAT MAY 9th. Full BBQ menu.

04/18/2026

12 whole chickens for Megan’s bridal shower.

02/28/2026

🔥🐷 Y’ALL ASKED…SO WE WILL HAVE THE SMOKER GOING FOR TWO DAYS 🐷🔥

Due to incredible response and customer demand,
Pickerill’s Pick’N ‘N’ Grinn’N BBQ at the Twistee Treat Diner LIVINGSTON IL
is now a TWO-DAY EVENT!

📅 Friday & Saturday
March 13 & 14
⏰ 11AM – 8PM (or until we sell out each day)

That’s right… more ribs, more pork steaks, more pulled pork, more sides, more smoke rolling across Historic Route 66.

We heard you.
So we’re giving you another day to get your BBQ fix.

Pre-orders are still encouraged — call the diner and get on the list so we know how much to smoke!

Livingston, Illinois
Historic Route 66
Pink Elephant Campus

Two days.
Twice the smoke.
Zero regrets.

02/25/2026

🔥🐷 SMOKE IS ROLLING INTO TWISTEE TREAT 🐷🔥

Pickerill’s Pick’N ‘N’ Grinn’N BBQ
is taking over the Twistee Treat Diner
📅 Friday, March 13
⏰ 11AM – 8PM (or until we’re SOLD OUT)

We’re firing up the smoker for a one-day BBQ blowout featuring:

🍖 Fall-Off-The-Bone Ribs
🥩 Famous 2 lb. Pork Steaks
🍖 Smoked Pulled Pork
🥔 Creamy Potato Salad
🥬 Fresh Coleslaw
🫘 BBQ Baked Beans

Low & slow. Right here on Historic Route 66.

📞 Pre-orders are welcome and encouraged!
Call the diner and get on the list so we know how much to smoke.

💲 PRICING INFO:
We’re finalizing costs with our supplier and will post prices as soon as they’re locked in. Stay tuned!

The only unlucky thing about Friday the 13th…
is showing up after we’re sold out.

Part of the Pink Elephant Antique Mall Campus
Livingston, Illinois – Historic Route 66

02/25/2026

🔥 FIRST COOK ON THE J&R OYLER 🔥

Well… I’d call that a SUCCESS.

Ribs cooked low and steady, kissed with cherry wood, bark set just right, bend test passed, juices locked in. Near perfection.

But here’s the plot twist…

The smoked banana & strawberry cobbler somehow tried to steal the show.

And before anyone asks…
No, there are no pictures of the cobbler.

Because the SECOND it hit the counter… it was gone.
Inhaled.
Vanished.
Disappeared like it owed somebody money.

Mom & Dad came over. Mom brought her deviled eggs (which also didn’t last long). Good food, good company, good smoke rolling out of the stack.

If this was the first cook… y’all better be ready for what’s coming next.

I think it’s about time we plan a full barbecue and let everyone come try this thing out.

Who’s in? 👀🔥

02/24/2026

02/24/2026

🔥 FIRST COOK ON THE J&R OYLER 🔥

Video starts in the firebox…
Cherry wood blazing.

Then we swing around front…
Doors open…
Rotisserie rolling…
Ribs cruising by like a barbecue parade.

For years we’ve cooked on homemade smokers.
They were solid.
They helped build our name.
They earned their keep.

But this J&R Oyler?

Even heat.
Thermostat controlled.
Set it and let it work.
Cook times up to 14 hours without babysitting a firebox every 30 minutes.

This isn’t replacing tradition.
It’s refining it.

Same rub.
Same method.
Same commitment to quality.

Just a machine built to take it over the top.

Barbecue at the Pink Elephant is about to get…

Even more amazinger. 😎🔥🍖

Stay tuned.

02/18/2026

🔥 WHO REMEMBERS THE BBQ TRAILER DAYS? 🔥

I certainly do.

Every week before a weekend event Pulled Pork meant a 20-hour cook on our homemade smoker.

Cherrywood stacked and ready.
Alarm set every two hours.
Wake up.
Walk outside.
Add wood.
Check the fire.
Back to bed.

Two hours later… do it again.

Over and over.

After a while I could do it half asleep.
It became a rhythm. A routine. A lifestyle.

That homemade pit — built by a good friend who’s a welder and fabricator — helped us build our barbecue reputation from 2009–2017. It fed thousands of people. It built relationships. It built memories.

And during those years, I read everything I could about commercial smokers.

Every serious barbecue article seemed to say the same thing:

“If you see a J&R Oyler in a restaurant, you’re about to have the best barbecue of your life.”

The purists used them.
All wood fire.
All wood heat.
No shortcuts.

And I remember thinking…
“Someday.”

Fast forward to today.

I drove just over three hours each way to Chicago and brought home a J&R Oyler Model 700 — a pit I’ve dreamed of owning since those trailer days.

A smoker that can run 14 hours between adding wood.

Fourteen.

From waking up every two hours through the night…
To a pit that carries steady wood heat like a freight train rolling down Route 66.

There’s something special about it sitting here at the Pink Elephant — on historic Route 66 — in a building that’s been standing since 1926, the very year Route 66 was born.

From homemade pits…
To the trailer…
To stepping away…
To rebuilding on the Mother Road…

This feels full circle.

This year at our festivals we’re bringing back:

🔥 Ribs
🔥 2-lb Pork Steaks
🔥 Pulled Pork
🔥 Bratwurst

The smoke is rolling again.

So I’ll ask it one more time…

Who remembers the trailer days?

Drop a comment if you stood in line, grabbed a slab of ribs, or smelled that cherrywood rolling through town.

– Pick

01/21/2026

Hey Rick. Your favorite pork steak!!!