Lonnie Ray's BBQ (Harrisburg, MO)

This was not the usual Greasy Spooners expedition. A group of guys I went to high school with, all piled into a Tahoe and drove 2 hours outside KC to Lonnie Ray's in Harrisburg, MO. Why, you ask? Well, the owner of Lonnie Ray's is Mike Whitely and a friend to most of us for 30+ years, but Mike has been off the radar so to speak since high school. So, once we found him, we had to make the trip to get caught up, and eat some BBQ.
Harrisburg is about 20 minutes north of Columbia, and the crossroads that make up the town center consists of a general store, a Lion's club hall, and Mike's place. We walked in, Mike greeted us, and set us up with some of the best BBQ I've had. I'm a native Kcer, so it's in our blood to know BBQ. We started off with pulled pork and two sauces, one hot and one sweet. I'm not a big sweet sauce guy but really like this one.
Then came the brisket, which was gorgeous and delicious. Beautiful smoke ring, and fall apart good. This was followed by ribs, a pork steak and some of the best home made tamales ever. I'm definitely going to make this a yearly pilgrimage. If you're ever on the way to St. Louis or Columbia from KC (or vice versa) make the 15 minute trip north of I-70 to Lonnie Rays.
Food: 5 Spoons
Kitch: 4 spoons (even had a picture of the now demolished 40 Hiway drive-in, which used to show porn after 3am)
Locale: 1 (wish it was closer)

Me, Dan, Andy, Mike (the owner) Ken and Brian

40 Hiway Drive-In