Ypsilanti’s Regal Beagle is at once the sort of place that you would and would not expect to find excellent barbecue. It’s a dive bar where on a recent early Saturday evening some regulars from the neighborhood played chess out front, while inside a small number of punk rock types and young people hung out in the bar and set up drums on the stage for a show later that night.
A guy who calls himself “Dirti Kurt” on CashApp runs the barbecue component of Regal Beagle, but don’t be fooled by his moniker — there’s a level of sophistication to his approach and dishes, and it doesn’t include grime. Chef Kurt Prowell is a student of Matteo Malosi, the chef-owner behind Ann Arbor’s West Side BBQ, which was a pandemic victim.
Prowell and Malosi forged a mentor relationship while the former did catering jobs for West Side, and Prowell took over the barbecue operation in Regal Beagle shortly after Malosi and his partners bought the bar in mid-2021.
Prowell bills his fare as “Michigan barbecue,” which isn’t really a thing, but he is trying to make one, and a key element to the nascent style is smoking with Michigan woods. As Prowell puts it, mesquite doesn’t grow around here, so why would anyone smoke with it? Instead, he smokes with Michigan cherry wood grown in the Upper Peninsula.
The sweet element shines through best in the pork shoulder, which sits in the smoker for up to 16 hours. I guessed it had been smoked above applewood, as the meat had strong apple notes, but Prowell corrected me. He sprays the shoulder with an apple juice-vinegar mix as it smokes, which imparts the apple elements while keeping the shoulder moist, and that and a brown sugar-based rub are responsible for the sweetness and caramelized bark.
The brisket spends about 20 hours above the cherry wood, and has the right amount of fat — it isn’t overly rich brisket, but balanced and tender with a sweet element. Prowell employs an apple-pineapple juice mix that provides depth even as the acidic pineapple juice breaks down the meat to make it extra tender.
The smoked chicken drumstick meal came with four pieces of fall-off-the-bone bird with crisp exteriors. Prowell peels back the skin on the chicken before smoking and rubs on a mix of brown sugar, garlic, cracked Madagascar pepper, paprika and smoked sea salt. He says he smokes lower and longer than most pitmasters, and that produces more flavor and keeps the bird moister. He achieved success in three out four drumsticks — one was incredibly dry, but it was an anomaly.
The dirty rice dish has a bit of a New Orleans feel to it, but Prowell goes further south, adding a smoked tomatillo puree and nopalitos in with the mix of bell peppers, onions, and garlic.
Each of the dinners come with two sides. The vinegary greens were excellent, as were the baked beans, which spend a couple hours in the smoker. Even the vinegar is smoked — Prowell says if there’s room on the smoker for an ingredient, then it takes a spin. The crisp, vinegary slaw was almost salad-like, but the best side of the bunch is the cheesy potatoes, which reminded me of my mom’s twice-baked potatoes. They come with cheddar mixed with sour cream, and are cooked low and slow for several hours to avoid emulsifying the cheese and leaving the dish soupy.
The menu changes each week depending on what’s available seasonally, and Prowell cooks in small batches, so if he runs out, he’s out, which helps him maintain quality control. Prowell says he likes his menus to reflect his customer base, which is diverse. Oxtails are an African-American favorite, while it’s white folks who are typically ordering brisket. If people start asking for a certain dish, he’ll make it.
It’s worth noting that the vibe in Regal Beagle has changed with the new owners. Folks from the neighborhood say they appreciate having a small bar where they can go hang out instead of a “a place you avoid because you’re scared of it,” Prowell said.
Regardless of what it was before, you can definitely now call Regal Beagle a barbecue spot.
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