Several years ago, my siblings and I threw an anniversary party for our parents. It was kind of a big deal, and we invited family from out of state, as well as friends and co-workers from the area. Since our family is awesome, a good number of them drove the twelve or so hours to get here just to honor my mom and dad. When my parents walked into the surprise party (they thought they were going to a banquet for one of their grandkids), there was a truly stunned look on my dad's face. Afterwards, I asked him what he was thinking at that moment. He told me shock had rendered him immobile, because his brain could not process the juxtaposition of co-workers with the out-of-state family. He knew absolutely that those people did not inhabit the same space in his world, and he never thought they would. But they did, just for him. It was a great night.

I had that same kind of feeling, though, granted, less severe, when I walked into the Pilot House at the airport, at 860 Rush H. Limbaugh Jr. Drive in Cape Girardeau. This restaurant has a ton of seating, chairs galore, and panoramic windows facing out towards the runway. We got to watch a private jet land while we were waiting for our food, which was spiffy. Anyway, the menu at the airport location of the Pilot House appeared to be exactly the same as the one at the original location, but it still didn't feel like the Pilot House. This place was bright, lots of windows, and the original location almost feels like a basement room to me. The airport restaurant didn't smell like BBQ smoke, and the original location has it soaked into every pore of wood and crack in the concrete. The new place is huge and the old place has a seating problem during the busy hours of the day. I knew I was at the Pilot House, but it didn't feel like the Pilot House.

Thankfully, that feeling fled with the arrival of my plate. Ah, there was the Pilot House, all seasoned fries and BBQ pork overflowing with pimento cheese, stacked up on a plate and cutting through any lingering feelings of wrongness. And I have to say, the presentation of this plate looked good. The way it was stacked up helped it to look lush, like an enormous serving of food, and it smelled like Pilot House BBQ.

I got the Jumbo Combo, which is double the BBQ meat with pimento cheese. I promptly loaded up with more BBQ sauce, because I can't eat a proper BBQ sandwich unless toppings spill out with every bite. Moist, the perfect temperature, with that unmistakable infusion of smoke in every tender bite. Delicious. It was my old familiar friend all dressed up in new clothes, and something inside of me relaxed. I enjoyed about half of my food then, and then enjoyed it again for lunch the next day.

My husband ordered the Ribeye Sandwich, his new favorite. It is a grilled 6 ounce ribeye on a sourdough hoagie, served with a generous dollop of horseradish on the side. Please, please, use the horseradish if you enjoy the flavor at all. The steak was tender and meaty with a great flavor, but all of that savory flavor was just amplified when the tangy horseradish cut through it with a punch to your taste buds. I can see why this is his new favorite, though I'll always be a BBQ fan.

A Ribeye Sandwich from the Pilot House, a steak on a bun served with horseradish, simple but so satisfying.Submitted by Rebecca LaClair

I think the unsung hero at Pilot House has been the seasoned fries. Not crinkle cut, nevertheless they are fried until a crispy golden brown and sprinkled with a slightly spicy seasoned salt that gives them just a little extra depth. Watch out for those heavily seasoned individual fries though, they may jump up and bite you with a tingly spiciness.

All in all, the practical me prefers the Pilot House at the airport. My clothes don't smell of smoke all day when I leave, and the seating is more than adequate. The nostalgic me will always prefer the original location. Luckily for us all, we don't have to give either one up and can visit whichever one tickles our fancy on any given day. You can visit the airport location Monday-Wednesday 11 a.m.-3 p.m., and Thursday-Saturday 11 a.m.-9 p.m. Long live BBQ!