Shemwell`s Barbecue Downtown in Cairo

Best barbecue sandwich on earth. I love visiting home just so I can eat here.

They definitely have the best BBQ in town. It is also the only BBQ spot in town. Hell yeah! Right around the corner from the bangin club elite.

Best old town bar b q for the money

This place was great. They have a nice variety on their menu and they do a great job cooking it. I recommend stopping in.

My beef brisket sandwich was very good, served on toasted bread, panini style. The coleslaw was gross, too sweet and mixed w/chunks of pickle.🙄My friend had the same sandwich but with cajun fries, those were decent but I tasted nothing cajun. They take credit cards, yay! Cheap prices, pretty shabby and rundown. The bathroom is the size of a closet or smaller and the vibe is just overall sad.Even though our food was a fair price and pretty good the reason for only 3 stars were the two women working, they were unfriendly, sour and zombie like. It's sad really, they're pretty much the only game in town, I would so make that place the heart of the little ghost town.

I don't understand the fuss about the BBQ it was awful. It was chunked put on bread pressed in a press grill and some nasty sauce. Seriously skip the BBQ. I'm not being mean either I love food but a 5 yr old can do better.

Awesome!!

I've been going there since 1963 and they still have the best BBQ ever delivered on two pieces of white bread

I have been going here for at least 60 years and always find the BBQ is so good. I have read the reviews and it depends on where you are from and what you grow up on. The meat is not soak in Sauce that you lose the taste of the meat. I will be going back very soon and will buy several pounds to go.

Some of the best barbeque I have ever had. Fantastic Carolina style sauce. Shemwell's is one of the best barbeque places anywhere. No frills, just great barbeque. A bit pricey but not too bad. Cairo has very high power rates so they have to keep prices slightly above average.

Really good and I am happy I finally got to experience it for myself. I buy the sauce at my local kroger. I hope some of that money is making it back to the community. We called ahead and picked up simple thick cut pork barbecue with a vinegar based sauce. Old fashioned and no flairs added if you want your meat smothered in commercial condiments this is not the place for you. Sending love from Mount Vernon.

My childhood memories. Love the hickory flavor

Only thing good was the baked beans. The BBQ was terrible.

Great BBQ. Fantastic service.

A great place with family values

Great BBQ, its stays very good over the years!

Stopped off on my drive back from TN to St Louis. Simple barbecue - cuts served on white breas. The highlight was definitely rhe sauce. It was really good and unique. Vinegar-dominant but also thicker and spicier than most vinegar styles I've had (e.g. Eastern NC). I thought about getting a bottle. Kind of regret not doing so.

My dad and granddad talked about this place and how awesome it was so i had to try it. It for sure lived up to the hype. I would recommend to everyone.

Very good food

Family Owned Business serving a varied menu. Their mainstay is sliced BBQ pork on toasted bread. Their home made vinegar based sausage is excellent. I recommend taking a detour during your trip to try their BBQ sandwiches. The staff is efficient and friendly and their customer base includes a good mix of people.

People will travel for miles to get Shemwells BBQ. The difference is the meat is a pork shoulder and cooked over the hickory wood with the famous Shemwells BBQ Sauce. Nothing like it around this area

Just left, nauseous pork sandwich on a hit bread, not trimmed, not pulled and a bit slimy, onion rings frozen fried mushrooms freezer burned my husband said the beans were edible. Worst I have ever had. Only one kind of bbq sauce, quite spicy

On two different occasions meat was burned

Asked for the barbecue plate to go as I was working in the area and had more than an hour drive back. Place looks run-down but the service and the food and the cleanliness was great. I didn't really like the barbecue sauce as it was more of a hot sauce so I had them put some of their vinegar coleslaw on the BBQ which was freshly cut off the brisket and served has a sandwich that was toasted on both sides. I got sweet corn nuggets and the crispiest perfect fries I've ever got. Under 9 bucks steal

Love the food there

Local black folks can't go here. If you are out-of-town black, and you walk in, they will probably ignore you until you leave. I'm serious.

Historic landmark in cairo excellent bbq

Very good service and very good food

BBQ sauce was good but my BF didn't care for it. They only serve ribs on Wednesdays which is strange for a BBQ joint. Waitresses that day were not welcoming. Cajun fries tasted like Arby's. Nothing special. Things were dry. They served on styrofoam plates. Not impressed. Burger was good. Overall okay. Big MAYBE if go again.

Without a doubt, the nastiest food I have ever eaten. Limited options in this worn down town, and it look like the best place to stop. Ordered a turkey sandwich and a pork sandwich from the lady at the drive-through window, who had one of the worst personalities I’ve ever met from somebody in the restaurant industry. The outside of the building is completely worn down and disgusting. Should’ve walked away, but waited 15 minutes for our sandwiches to arrive. Took two bites and threw it out. The turkey had a consistency to cheap luncheon meat and the pork was pink and not cooked. The sauce was cheap hot sauce, not Carolina barbecue sauce. I would know since I live in NC!!! Typically try to support small businesses, but this experience was absolutely atrocious from beginning to end. Do not stop, you will regret it.

I've been eating there since the 60s. I like their bbq, but I usually order catfish. Great sides.

If you like good, greasy, gut-bustin food then this is your joint! It is horribly run down just like the slum town which is Cairo, Illinois. I enjoy driving around looking at how bad Southern Illinois' little Detroit has rotted and rotted it has. I always stop in in at Shemwells and get some fried junk and I am always treated as though I am bothering the staff. Their appearance is generally sloppy and dirty, they are rude and out right mean looking. I would still recommend if you would enjoy what I have listed. It does taste delicious. Also price seems fair!

No dine-in available yet, (due to Covid) called ahead and picked up at their window around back. Friendly lady that took my order. Had their fish & fries for lunch, was fresh and very good!