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Photo by Theo Tate
Steel City Smokehouse serves items such as pulled pork, baked beans, macaroni and cheese, and hash brown casserole.
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Photo by Theo Tate
Steel City Smokehouse, a barbecue restaurant established by Ravanelli’s Restaurant owners Terry Ravanelli and Steve Edwards, opened for business Jan. 29.
GRANITE CITY — Since it was founded in 1896, Granite City has been known as the Steel City.
Founders and brothers William and Frederick Niedringhaus established Granite City as a steel-making town. Today, the Granite City Works steel mill is the city’s largest employer.
So when Ravanelli’s Restaurant co-owners Steve Edwards and Terry Ravanelli decided to establish a barbecue restaurant six months ago, they named it in honor of Granite City and called it Steel City Smokehouse.
“We’re going to have steel mill pictures throughout the restaurant,” Edwards said. “Terry went to the archives at the Granite City Steel and they gave him the old pictures they had. We wanted to honor Granite City with this restaurant.”
The restaurant was open for business Friday, Jan. 29. It’s in the same building as Ravanelli’s at 3 American Village.
“We had about 2,000 square feet of space that we didn’t utilize,” Edwards said. “Terry Ravanelli said he would like to put a barbecue in here and we developed Steel City with it.”
The restaurant serves turkey breast, Texas brisket, pulled pork, pit sausage, baby back ribs and the Steel City sandwich: brisket, pulled pork and peppered turkey. There are also sides such as macaroni and cheese, potato salad, baked beans, cole slaw and hash brown casserole.
“We try to make it as traditional a barbecue place as we can,” Edwards said.
Steel City Smokehouse also sells carryout family meals and party packs, and catering is available.
The restaurant runs the same operating schedule as Ravanelli’s. It will be open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Friday and Saturday.
Ravanelli’s, established in 1964, will remain open for business at the Collinsville and Granite City locations.
“We hope to be as successful as Ravanelli’s,” Edwards said. “Ravanelli’s has always been successful and it’s not changing.”
For information, call Steel City Smokehouse at (618) 501-1755.