Cleveland, OH
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Kielbasa, fries, slaw and barbecue sauce in a bun. The Kinsman Road shop where Virgil Whitmore first sold it, an Ohio City smokehouse, a downtown barbecue room and a Van Aken poutine counter, from Cleveland Scene, Cleveland Magazine and Signal Cleveland.
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Press picks, until locals rank their own Top 5s. Sourced from the local food press. As seen in Cleveland Scene, Cleveland Magazine, and Signal Cleveland. Updated September 2026.
Mt Pleasant Bar-B-Q · Mount Pleasant
Virgil Whitmore Sr. opened his first barbecue shop on Kinsman Road in the early 1940s, and Signal Cleveland reports that the store still trades under the Mt. Pleasant name, run now by Wendy and Wayne, cousins of the third-generation Whitmores. Cleveland Magazine printed the same original address, 12725 Kinsman, as open. Larry Turner told Cleveland Scene the shop has made Polish Boys since day one and that they are still one of its most popular items. Order the Polish Boy, sausage under fries, slaw and sauce.
Real Smoq'ed BBQ, Inc. · Ohio City
Nav Singh's Lorain Avenue smokehouse opened as Ohio City BBQ in 2017 and recently changed its name, a shift Cleveland Magazine records while noting that the kitchen's approach did not move with it. The magazine's own pick here is the Polish Girl, a ten dollar build it describes as leveling up the Polish Boy of kielbasa, French fries and tangy slaw by adding pulled pork. Order the Polish Girl.
Mabel's BBQ · East 4th
Michael Symon's East Fourth Street room is the one place claiming a Cleveland style of barbecue, built on a sauce made with local Bertman Ball Park Mustard. Cleveland Scene singles out its Polish Girl, a twist that brings smoked pork to the plate on a chassis of kielbasa from the longtime West Side Market butcher J & J Czuchraj, topped with coleslaw and sauce. Order the Polish Girl.
Banter Beer and Wine Shaker Heights · Van Aken District
Cleveland Scene singled out the Polish Boy at this poutine and bottle shop in 2016, built around juicy house-made kielbasa tucked into a split-top bun and crowned with slaw, perfect fries and sauce. Cleveland Magazine lists it as the modern counterpart to the traditional version of the sandwich and notes that the Food Network put it on a 2020 list of the best in America. Order the Polish Boy at the Van Aken District counter.