Cape Girardeau County: A great place to grab a bite

The aroma of barbecue wafts from Wib's Drive-In as soon as one reaches the parking lot. The popular restaurant on North High Street in Jackson has been serving up its famous barbecue sandwiches since 1947, and eating there has become tradition for many families over the years.

Wib's Drive-In in Jackson, Missouri.Laura Simon

Take Ben Morgan, for example, as he savors his sandwich on a weekday afternoon and asks the waitresses how their families are doing. Morgan has lived from Chicago to Salt Lake City and even in Ireland, but any time he came home to Southeast Missouri, stopping at Wib's was a given -- and it usually came with the responsibility of picking up extra orders for his family. Now that he lives in Cape Girardeau, he's fortunate to eat at Wib's almost any time he wants.

A.D. Hoffman owns the restaurant with his wife, Judy, and says the barbecue sandwich with their homemade pimento cheese is the most popular item on the menu.

"We do it the old-fashioned way, with a whole pork shoulder sliced on toast," he says.

Wib's Drive-In in Jackson, Missouri.Laura Simon

Hoffman's parents bought the restaurant in 1972, and A.D. and Judy took over in 1986.

Hoffman says he enjoys making and serving the same sandwiches he grew up eating, along with a precious few additions to the menu, such as French fries.

Their children have worked at the family business over the years, and while some have grown up and moved away, Graham Huffman remains. A.D. hopes his son will carry the Wib's tradition for years to come.