Bar-b-Q?

[tjbrown]

Thanks for the vote of confidence. I was concerned about the Steve Raichlen reference...

He's a little odd, but I got one of his cookbooks as a gift a few years ago. It's tremendous!

[forkserker]

bump

Went to Fat Willy's Rib Shack tonight.

Started with the red bean soup, the waitress warned me there was meat in the soup, and I told her that really shouldn't be a concern in a BBQ place. Good soup, lots of bacon, a little too much cilantro though.

Had 1/2 rack of baby backs with a baked sweet potato. I personally like when I get ribs and they're sauced a little at the end of the smoking, rather than drowning in sauce. This is how I got 'em. The waitress brought out mild & hot BBQ sauces in pankace syrup pitchers. I tried some of the hot sauce on one rib, and found it really wasn't needed.

Afterward, the waitress told me the coconut cream pie was good. After BBQ though, I prefer pecan pie. I ordered up a slice of that. Waitress brought out the goddamn coconut pie. She was nice and apologetic, and came back with the pecan pie. Nothing to get excited about.

The 'cue, which is the reason for going, was excellent. Best I've had since being back in Chicago. I'll definitely return.

[thehawk]

Glad you liked Fork, my ability to find restaurants luckily is better than my ability in selecting sports teams.

[forkserker]

Glad you liked Fork, my ability to find restaurants luckily is better than my ability in selecting sports teams.

Although, Dinosaur BBQ in NY is setting up a site for mail-ordering their 'cue, which is still the best I've ever had.

[Pre]

Went to Fat Willy's Rib Shack tonight.

I love Fat Willy's.  It's one of the few local type places I've ever been to that got more popular, expanded, and is still just as good.  They even validate parking if you park in the movie theater by it.

[The Slak]

Went to Fat Willy's Rib Shack tonight.

I love Fat Willy's.  It's one of the few local type places I've ever been to that got more popular, expanded, and is still just as good.  They even validate parking if you park in the movie theater by it.

Saw Fat Willy's on Check Please and it looked incredible. Unfortunately for my taste buds (fortunately for the rest of me) I decided to get in shape about three or four months ago. I'm over halfway to my goal and my eating habits aren't conducive to BBQ or anything of taste whatsoever. Oh well.

[forkserker]

Went to Fat Willy's Rib Shack tonight.

I love Fat Willy's.  It's one of the few local type places I've ever been to that got more popular, expanded, and is still just as good.  They even validate parking if you park in the movie theater by it.

bump.

So, are you in rib-eatin' shape yet?

Saw Fat Willy's on Check Please and it looked incredible. Unfortunately for my taste buds (fortunately for the rest of me) I decided to get in shape about three or four months ago. I'm over halfway to my goal and my eating habits aren't conducive to BBQ or anything of taste whatsoever. Oh well.

[Corn-fed]

Anyone try the new place in Lincoln Square yet?  I think it's called Horseshoe.

I had friends living on Lincoln when the Horseshoe first opened. It was kind of a great place, and as early adopters it was interesting to watch it develop.

For quite some time, we could walk in there late on a Friday or Saturday and find seats, no problem, in one of their three sweet high-backed booths. The food was cheap and pretty decent. The beer was reasonably priced. And the atmosphere was straight-up hick chic. Chicken wire on the walls, a wood fence behind the urinals. A bluegrass band on the stage, PBR tall boys behind the bar, Arkansas Hand Fishing on the TV.

I'd say the BBQ is beat out by that of Smokin' Woody's across the street, and I wouldn't have called it destination dining, but overall it was a great go-to place to start or end our nights in Lincoln Square. Brisket was tasty.

At some point it was flooded over by the Chicagoland rockabilly/punk/rollerderby scene and it gradually became impossible to even walk through the place, let alone sit down anywhere. We eventually gave up trying.

We went back again recently, on the Friday night before the Super Bowl, and the place was totally dead (a friend who's been there a few times recently said it's been dead). They were also out of PBR. Food-wise they were out of pulled pork, brisket and cornbread. A BBQ joint with a limited menu. On a Friday night. Who's buying for this place?

The capper: $4.50 for Budweiser bottles.

I've been to Smokin Woody's a couple of times. It's hit or miss.  The first time I had it I thought it was great, then the second time I had it (I guess I should explain "it" as being their pulled pork...this is turning into an Ebay commercial - noooooooooooo) it was very disappointing.

That's too bad. I've had their pulled pork a number of times, and have never been disappointed.

Fat Willy's rib shack... Just west of Western just north of Fullerton, across from the AMC Theater, has amazing food, brisket is fantastic and really really good sides

I actually swore off Fat Willy's after trying their brisket. I found it totally flavorless, and considering how relatively pricey it is ($10.95 for the sandwich and fries), I decided that was that. Maybe I should give them another go. (I've never tried their ribs, but hear they're very good.)

[Corn-fed]

Just a quick update re: the Horseshoe.

Stopped there last night on a quest for food with our beer and... it's closed.

There's a sign on the front door that says they'll be back in March.

[Fork_The_Third]

Anyone try Smoque on Grace & Pulaski yet? I might recon on Sunday night, was wondering if it's worth the drive.

[Down In Front]

Anyone try Smoque on Grace & Pulaski yet? I might recon on Sunday night, was wondering if it's worth the drive.

Tribune just happened to write it up the other day.

http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/dining/chi-0703080003mar08,1,6292623.story?coll=chi-ent_dining-hed

[BananaHands]

Anyone else try the pulled pork sandwich at Feed on Chicago, near Sacramento? It's fantastic. All their food is good.

[Fork_The_Third]

Went to Smoque tonight, got there at 7:30.

They were out of all the meat except baby back ribs & St. Louis ribs. The girl behind the counter said they were so busy they sold out of everything. You go to the counter and place your order, then grab a table.

Got a half-rack of the St. Louis ribs, with BBQ beans & fries. They give you slaw automatically.

The ribs are smoked with a spice rub on them. They gave me a little plastic cup of sauce, which I never opened. The ribs were tender & meaty. Just awesome. The BBQ beans had huge hunks of pulled pork in them. The fries were seasoned and fresh. The slaw was vinegar based.

If no BBQ place better than Smoque opens in the Chicago, I'd say Chicago is still pretty damn well off.

[Kwyjibo]

Smoque will be featured as part of the SSM series on places where Kerm can score some ribs.

[Corn-fed]

Part 2 in a series on places to eat on Howard between Clark and Western...

It's: Bar-B-Que Bob's, in the small plaza at the SE corner of Howard and Hoyne.

http://www.barbquebobs.com/

Visible in full blurry detail here.

Decent enough place. Their ribs are pretty damned smoky.

And you can tell it's run by authentic black people because they often screen bootleg DVDs on a small TV above the front counter.

Biggest downside: they're closed Sundays and Mondays.

I can't even tell you how much potential business they've lost from me because they're always closed when I get a hankerin' for some Sunday football ribbage.

No... This I simply do not approve of.

Neither, incidentally, does Angry Kerm*...



Whad'ya mean "No ribs on da Sabbath"?!

*I tried, dammit. It's really damn hard to make Ribs Kid look authentically angry.