Part of Lillie’s Q street cred is that owner-chef Charlie McKenna has won some barbecue competitions. And not in the “way back a long time ago, as commemorated in plaques as dusty as my framed 1998 Sherman Kaplan review” sense, but in the “last weekend” sense. Over the weekend, McKenna’s traveling BBQ team took two first prizes, in the Whole Hog and Whole Hog Shoulder categories, at the “Loose Caboose BBQ Contest” in Newton, Mississippi, a Memphis BBQ Network sanctioned event. Pretty good for the first event of the season they barbecued in. Next weekend they’ll be at the “MBN Invitational BBQ presented by Harrah’s Casino Tunica” in Robinsonville, Mississippi, and will probably attend other events in the weeks to come leading up to the big kahuna, Memphis in May— where McKenna’s team won first place in Whole Shoulder in 2007 (and have placed in the Top 10 most years since).
