MISSION BBQ — Rockford

Two friends started MISSION BBQ in 2011 with a passion for barbecue and a thing for honouring service. The chain runs on that premise still — each location opens at eleven, the national anthem plays at noon, and the food comes fast.

This Rockford outpost sits at 6820 East State Street and keeps the same rhythm: brisket, ribs, and pulled pork plated quickly, seven days a week. Open until nine most nights, eight-thirty on Sundays. The format is what it is — order, sit, eat — and it doesn't pretend otherwise.