Baker’s Ribs encore

Winter-blasted souls, on a mission, navigated ice-slippery streets to Glen Avenue Tuesday morning. Snow darts hit them as they walked from their cars and pickups to a door that had been locked since Nov. 25. A pink neon sign shaped like a pig hangs on the plate glass window next to it. Glowing powder blue tubing on the pig spells “BAKER’S RIBS.”

Inside, three new smoker pits (ovens) had been slow-working ribs and beef brisket for hours, maybe days. A contained fire had doomed Baker’s veteran smoker. For the first time in four months, fans of the informal Texas-style barbecue were sharing quips with the staff. They hustled between a food prep station, a wall of the new smokers and a deli case and service counter with the precision of the first line of the Minnesota Wild. There were no body checks. Table orders were delivered on trays near a cash/card reader far more quickly and dependably than goals on Xcel Energy Center ice; so too for take-out bags with coleslaw, corn salad and half slabs of ribs.

“I’ve been waiting for this day for a long time,” said Jerrod Ohm. At about 11:10 a.m. Ohm and three colleagues became the first to command a table at the reopened bistro. “It’s really a staple around here,” said Ohm while forking what may have been sliced beef brisket and spare ribs from a combo plate.

The quartet works at the national headquarters of Cardinal Glass Industries on Prairie Center Drive opposite Bachman’s garden center. “You know, we work right down the road, and we come here generally once a week, maybe twice if we are lazy,” Ohm said.

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Among a score of urgent tasks, manager Scott Jones finger-taps the debit card reader, and owner Al Killion butters a slice of Texas toast. They swap greetings, smiles, and polite gossip with faces they recognize. The Tuesday reopening of the business was also a reunion for local rib lovers of that happy place known only to rib lovers.

“I’ve been checking their website daily to see when they were going to open after the fire,” said Joe Okla. He’s been with Hartfiel Automation on Flying Cloud Drive and a regular Baker’s Ribs patron for a decade. “I am very excited to be here and get back to the best barbecue in Central Minnesota.”

C.H. Robinson’s Russ Vincent was wondering how the new smokers would affect Baker’s Ribs’ signature spicy rub and his palate. He’s had a six-year best-friend relationship with the menu. Others claim that side orders of Al Killion’s smokey baked beans and dirty rice can save troubled marriages and bring world peace.

This week, Eden Prairie rejoined Dallas, Mesquite, Caddo Mill, Weatherford, and Garland, Texas, in having a Baker’s Ribs

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After 32 years in Eden Prairie, Killion’s words remain softly graced with Texan charm. “It was unbelievable to see most of my favorite customers back in today,” he told this reporter an hour before the 8 o’clock closing. “We were super busy for a blizzardy day. We sold out a brisket, and that’s never happened in 30 years.”

The baked beans, he added, were sold out around 1:30 p.m.

Editors note: Writer Jeff Strate is a founding member of EPLN’s Board of Directors.