Eat These Spicy Barbecue Sauces at Your Own Risk

Cactus Bob’s BBQ Corral, located on Merle Hay Road in Johnston, has been open since 2005 and is known for it’s competition style BBQ.

Jessie McClanahan, manager of Cactus Bob’s BBQ Corral, said most of the food is made in house.

“In general it’s really cool how almost everything here is homemade, excluding our fried shrimp, which isn’t even one of our specialty things,” McClanahan said. “Almost everything here is homemade including our side dishes, we smoke meat in the back, we have a smoker, we make all of our own hot sauces, we cure our own beef jerky and almost everything is done in housel.”

McClanahan said the food also comes out fast, which is great for people who work in the area.

“We do quality competition style BBQ but we can get it out a lot faster to our customer, that’s why we have a really big lunch crowd,” McClanahan said. “People like the in and out service, but with the same great taste that you get at any other restaurant where it may take 20 to 30 minutes to get your food.”

McClanahan said the most popular item on the menu is The Longhorn.

“The Longhorn is a Texas-style beef brisket sandwich,” McClanahan said. “The tenderlion is second most popular. It’s a pretty good size and hand breaded in our homemade batter.”

Cactus Bob’s was recently on The Food Network’s show “Outrageous Foods” for its Showdown Challenge.

“You have to sign a waiver to even try the challenge,” McClanahan said. “The BBQ sauce is ten times hotter than the Scorpion Venom. It’s covered in a pork sandwich and you have ten minutes to eat the sandwich and you have to sit there the whole ten minutes without eating or drinking or anything else. If you pass it you get one of our Cactus Bob’s T-shirts and then your picture on the Showdown Challenge winners wall.”

McClanahan said only about one of every ten people pass the challenge.

Other barbecue sauces are offered and displayed on the wall is a certain number of fires and the name of the barbecue sauce. The more fires, the hotter the barbecue sauce is.

A number of specials are available. On Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, broasted chicken is available and every day there is a daily special.

As well as a full menu, local beer is available and desserts. Catering is also available.

“We also have catering business, which is a plus,” McClanahan said. “Around graduation time we do a lot high school graduations and we’ve also done weddings.”

Cactus Bob’s BBQ Corral

5595 Merle Hay Road

515-331-0057

Monday - Saturday 10 a.m. - 9 p.m.

Closed Sunday