Comfortably Upscale: Larry's BBQ to Reopen Wednesday, 10 a.m.

</element><element id="paragraph-1" type="body"><![CDATA[A restaurant career that began in September 1985 comes full circle this week as Larry Webb reopens Larry's BBQ Express of Du Quoin, Inc. at 10 a.m. on Wednesday.

Larry returns as both the owner and the operator, and after a year's work the complete reconstruction is stunning.

The six flat screen TVs and taller dining tables give the restaurant the look of a sports bar. "We want you to have fun here," he said.

He and girlfriend Diane Stahl have thought of everything, including enlisting the help of Sue Purdy, Todd Carns and other experienced restauranteurs to make customer satisfaction their only priority.

Webb opened his first restaurant in Christopher in 1985 and opened the BBQ Express in Du Quoin in November 1987, one year after the state's purchase of the Du Quoin State Fair.

It was an overnight success. After pursuing other opportunities, Webb decided it was time to reclaim some ground lost by more recent owners. No one will be disappointed.

The restaurant will feature the same home-smoked barbecue items of the original restaurant. A new liquor license will add wine, beer, margaritas, etc. to the fine dining. It's a very upscale look and feel, yet feels like home.

The restaurant will no longer serve breakfast with daily openings at 10 a.m. The restaurant will serve at least until 10 p.m. through the week and longer on weekends.

"We'll have a lot of appetizers. We'll have things like baby back ribs along with our spare ribs. We will specialize in hamburgers all made fresh--nothing frozen--any way you like them. We have created a special burger station," he said. We will have Philly cheese steak sandwiches, reubens, ribeye sandwiches, homemade meatloaf, peel & eat shrimp, shrimp cocktails, fish sandwiches, smoked wings, sweet potato fries, fried green beans, meat ball sliders and other Italian menu items like lasagna."

A gleaming new kitchen, beautiful new restrooms, ceramic floors, custom ceiling, digital cash registers and tracking software. Plenty of concrete parking in the rear. Nothing was left undone. You will be impressed. Period.

Larry, 67, thanks longtime friend Dr. Jack Struck for inspiring the decision to make this the best Larry's BBQ ever. No doubt, it will be.

The restaurant's new telephone number is 542-6500 (the old number remains in the phone book so jot the new one down.)