Did You Know There’s an Iowa-Themed BBQ Restaurant in Japan?

How the heck did this collaboration come to be?!

One of my favorite pages to follow for fun Iowa content is Iowa Chill. They're always posting funny and relatable memes, as well as interesting nuggets of information. One of those nuggets I saw this week was a post that read:

"This Iowa themed restaurant in Tokyo, Japan serves Iowa raised pork and showcases Iowa memorabilia."

There was also a TikTok posted this week by page.bros about it, too!

An IOWA-themed restaurant? In JAPAN? That just seems so... random. Obviously, I had to know more. Let's learn a little bit about Big Iowa BBQ.

Big Iowa BBQ & Berkwood Farms

According to the restaurant's website, Big Iowa BBQ is a collaboration with the Iowa-based company Berkwood Farms. Berkwood Farms describes itself as "a coalition of over 90 independent family farmers" that has become "one of the largest American suppliers of 100% certified pure heirloom Berkshire pork, and the only farmer-owned company with national distribution." They're all about raising animals in a way that's "healthy, humane, and environmentally friendly."

Berkwood Farms has pretty much every pork product that you can imagine: bacon, chorizo, brats, little smokies, baby back ribs, black forest ham, and more. You can purchase their products from the Berkwood Farms store at 6615 NE 14th St in Des Moines, or you can place an order online and have it shipped to you HERE.

The Collaboration

So, exactly how did this collaboration come to be? A 2021 article from the Des Moines Register explains that the Iowa pork industry has had a relationship with since 1960, when Iowa sent corn and breeding hogs to the area after a couple of devastating typhoons. There were 35 hogs that made it over to Japan, and in just three years, those 35 hogs became 500! Obviously, the pork industry in the country was able to make a pretty big comeback.

But, the relationship didn't end there. In 2017, Iowa's Blue Ribbon Bacon Festival assisted in hosting the first ever Japan Bacon Festival in Kofu, and at the 2018 event, the CEO of Berkwood Farms Nick Jones met a British restauranteur living in Japan named Mark Spencer. It was actually a trip to the Iowa State Fair that sold Mark on the idea of an Iowa-themed BBQ restaurant in Japan, and, in 2021, that restaurant became a reality!

The Menu

The Big Iowa BBQ menu has all the items you'd expect from an Iowa BBQ restaurant: wings, mac & cheese, burgers, coleslaw, corn bread, jalapeno corn, brisket, beans, and, of course, pork. They even have desserts, like bread pudding and pecan pie. The only thing I'm not seeing is a traditional Iowa pork tenderloin. Maybe that's just a little TOO Iowan for Japanese folks?

The meat isn't the only thing that comes from Iowa. The restaurant also serves a few Iowa craft beers, including Exile's Ruthie, Hazy IPA, and Zoltan Ale Session IPA, which you can order in flight-form.

Big Iowa BBQ is even hosting a Super Bowl viewing party on the morning of February 9th (thanks to the time difference). What's on the menu? An American breakfast burrito bar, of course!

The Reviews

The state of Iowa isn't exactly known for its BBQ. At least, not in the way that southern states are. In the PageBro's TikTok, they gave the restaurant a review of 5 out of 10 and 6.5 out of 10, comparing it to the American BBQ they tried when they traveled to Texas.

The Google reviews of the restaurant are also very mixed. Some Iowans who have visited the restaurant were excited to discover a taste of home, while others were left a bit disappointed. Big Iowa BBQ has 3.9 out of 5 stars on Google, with a total of 234 reviews.

If you ever do end up visiting this Tokyo restaurant, be sure to check out the wall of Iowa visitors! There are polaroid photos of Iowans that have stopped by the eatery, as well as a map of Iowa where you can place a pin in the city that you're from.

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READ MORE: Where’s the Best BBQ in Iowa? [GALLERY]