---k---
is One Chatty Farker
- Joined
- Sep 7, 2010
- Location
- Chicago, IL - West burbs
My wife took me to 'Chicago Q' last night for dinner. Chicago Q is an upscale BBQ restaurant by co-owner Lee Ann Whippen in Chicago's Gold Coat neighborhood. http://www.chicagoqrestaurant.com/
I'm not a BBQ competitor and haven't had the opportunity to dine at any of the BBQ legendary restaurants. Mostly, I've eaten my own BBQ and chain places like Rudy's, Bandaras, Famous Dave's and a few others locals here and on the road. We don't really have a lot of great BBQ places around here (that I'm aware of, please speak up if you know places in the western burbs), so I was really looking forward to eating at a place that should have 'real' bbq.
First, Chicago Q is an "upscale" bbq place. The prices and atmosphere may turn a lot of people off, but considering the neighborhood where it is located, it fits in. Yes, you can get good BBQ cheaper elsewhere, but you can also get good steaks cheaper than at Ruth Chris's. Walking up, the restaurant is a little off the beaten path in what looks like a large house. But, based upon the smoke in the air, I knew I was in the right place. Bar in front, dinning in back, and more dinning/party room upstairs. I thought the dining room was very nice. The wait staff was as attentive as any upscale restaurant as I've been in (plenty). I think they've pulled off the upscale part, enough so that I was very comfortable with the prices and left thinking it was very reasonably priced.
When you sit down, they treat you to a dish of homemade potato chips and pickles. These were amazing. You must fight very hard to keep from eating too much and spoiling your dinner. For dinner, I figured if I was there, I was going to go all out. I ordered the Q3 combo of 1/2 slab, pulled pork, and brisket with a side of cole slaw. My wife got the pulled pork sandwich. The food didn't take long to come out. They serve it with three sauces: mild, spicy, and Carolina vinegar.
I'm going to pause now to say that the food was very good. Probably the best restaurant bbq as I've ever had. I would definitely recommend people to go there and check it out. But, as you all who cook know, it is easy to become overly critical and hard to be generous. I am not a trained KCBS judge or anything like that. So take my comments with that in mind.
I started with the ribs. They come out with a very light glaze and you are encouraged to experiment with the sauces. I first did plain, then mild and then the hot. I found the tenderness and texture of the ribs perfect. They were juicy enough, but not dripping. I put my glasses on, but I couldn't find a smoke ring. But, I took another bite and decided I didn't care about the smoke ring. I also didn't taste a lot of smoke. The flavor was good. The rub was sweet, no bam or heat. The mild sauce was sweet and tangy. I like a little spice with my BBQ, so I moved on to the spicy sauce. This sauce tasted a lot like the mild sauce, but with some red pepper added. It was good. My wife liked the mild a lot. I would have preferred more smokey, tangy, with very mild heat. But that is a personal preference.
Moving on to the pulled pork. It came out with a light finishing sauce on it, I would imagine to allow it to be kept warm throughout the night. It was very good naked. Pulled pork is my favorite bbq dish, and this hit the spot. I would still have liked a little bam and crunchier bark, but I’m not going to quibble here. With the pork, I tried the vinegar sauce. I like a light little vinegar, but I’m not big on the vinegar sauces. I think I used a bit too much the first time, and pretty much stuck to the spicy sauce after that; but I really didn’t use too much. My wife’s pulled pork sandwich came on a huge fancy roll/bun and was overflowing with pork. She tried a bit of all the sauces, but used the mild sauce on her sandwich. She was very satisfied. She very much liked the sweet sauce.
Finally, the brisket. The meet flavor was fantastic. I bit into the first bit and was like, ‘oh yeah, that’s good.’ They call it Kobe brisket on the menu. Maybe that is the reason. The slices were very thin, a little too thin for my preferences. I like my brisket thick. I tried doing the pull test, as I’ve seen on TV
, and the brisket didn’t snap. It stretched a long way before snapping, maybe a little rubbery due to keeping it warm for extended time. But again, I took another bite and was like, who cares. Yummy! Around this time, the manager came over to our table asking if everything was all right (did he see the brisket not snapping?). I had no problem answering yes to this question. One problem I did have with the brisket was that I was looking for a good Texas style BBQ sauce to go with it. I struggled with this one. I ate most of the brisket naked and was satisfied.
The portions of the food were not overwhelming. I’m a bigger eater, but often have food left over at restaurants. However even though I ordered the triple combo platter, I was able to eat all of the food. This was somewhat disappointing, but we were headed to a concert afterwards and wouldn’t have had any place to put leftovers. It was enough that I was satisfied, but I didn’t have that loosen my belt feeling that I expected from the triple combo platter. My wife and I actually ordered a piece of chocolate soufflé cake to finish the night off. It was very good.
Near the end of our food, Lee Ann Whippen came to our table and introduced herself as one of the co-owners. She told us a little bit about the restaurant history and goals. She was very approachable. Never once did she mention TV shows or give the impression that she was trying to cash in on recent TV appearances. This was a honest long-term restaurant, not a Planet Hollywood. My wife spoke up and said that I do smoking. She asked me about my pit and offered encouragement.
That ended the night. All-in-all, it was very good bbq. Maybe for all of us here that have had it fresh, and customized to our own tastes, it wasn’t knock-your-socks-off best ever; but it was good. I think for most people, it will be the best ever. I have a job site two blocks away and am already starting to plan my next site visit around lunch time and a visit to Chicago Q.
I'm not a BBQ competitor and haven't had the opportunity to dine at any of the BBQ legendary restaurants. Mostly, I've eaten my own BBQ and chain places like Rudy's, Bandaras, Famous Dave's and a few others locals here and on the road. We don't really have a lot of great BBQ places around here (that I'm aware of, please speak up if you know places in the western burbs), so I was really looking forward to eating at a place that should have 'real' bbq.
First, Chicago Q is an "upscale" bbq place. The prices and atmosphere may turn a lot of people off, but considering the neighborhood where it is located, it fits in. Yes, you can get good BBQ cheaper elsewhere, but you can also get good steaks cheaper than at Ruth Chris's. Walking up, the restaurant is a little off the beaten path in what looks like a large house. But, based upon the smoke in the air, I knew I was in the right place. Bar in front, dinning in back, and more dinning/party room upstairs. I thought the dining room was very nice. The wait staff was as attentive as any upscale restaurant as I've been in (plenty). I think they've pulled off the upscale part, enough so that I was very comfortable with the prices and left thinking it was very reasonably priced.
When you sit down, they treat you to a dish of homemade potato chips and pickles. These were amazing. You must fight very hard to keep from eating too much and spoiling your dinner. For dinner, I figured if I was there, I was going to go all out. I ordered the Q3 combo of 1/2 slab, pulled pork, and brisket with a side of cole slaw. My wife got the pulled pork sandwich. The food didn't take long to come out. They serve it with three sauces: mild, spicy, and Carolina vinegar.
I'm going to pause now to say that the food was very good. Probably the best restaurant bbq as I've ever had. I would definitely recommend people to go there and check it out. But, as you all who cook know, it is easy to become overly critical and hard to be generous. I am not a trained KCBS judge or anything like that. So take my comments with that in mind.
I started with the ribs. They come out with a very light glaze and you are encouraged to experiment with the sauces. I first did plain, then mild and then the hot. I found the tenderness and texture of the ribs perfect. They were juicy enough, but not dripping. I put my glasses on, but I couldn't find a smoke ring. But, I took another bite and decided I didn't care about the smoke ring. I also didn't taste a lot of smoke. The flavor was good. The rub was sweet, no bam or heat. The mild sauce was sweet and tangy. I like a little spice with my BBQ, so I moved on to the spicy sauce. This sauce tasted a lot like the mild sauce, but with some red pepper added. It was good. My wife liked the mild a lot. I would have preferred more smokey, tangy, with very mild heat. But that is a personal preference.
Moving on to the pulled pork. It came out with a light finishing sauce on it, I would imagine to allow it to be kept warm throughout the night. It was very good naked. Pulled pork is my favorite bbq dish, and this hit the spot. I would still have liked a little bam and crunchier bark, but I’m not going to quibble here. With the pork, I tried the vinegar sauce. I like a light little vinegar, but I’m not big on the vinegar sauces. I think I used a bit too much the first time, and pretty much stuck to the spicy sauce after that; but I really didn’t use too much. My wife’s pulled pork sandwich came on a huge fancy roll/bun and was overflowing with pork. She tried a bit of all the sauces, but used the mild sauce on her sandwich. She was very satisfied. She very much liked the sweet sauce.
Finally, the brisket. The meet flavor was fantastic. I bit into the first bit and was like, ‘oh yeah, that’s good.’ They call it Kobe brisket on the menu. Maybe that is the reason. The slices were very thin, a little too thin for my preferences. I like my brisket thick. I tried doing the pull test, as I’ve seen on TV
, and the brisket didn’t snap. It stretched a long way before snapping, maybe a little rubbery due to keeping it warm for extended time. But again, I took another bite and was like, who cares. Yummy! Around this time, the manager came over to our table asking if everything was all right (did he see the brisket not snapping?). I had no problem answering yes to this question. One problem I did have with the brisket was that I was looking for a good Texas style BBQ sauce to go with it. I struggled with this one. I ate most of the brisket naked and was satisfied.The portions of the food were not overwhelming. I’m a bigger eater, but often have food left over at restaurants. However even though I ordered the triple combo platter, I was able to eat all of the food. This was somewhat disappointing, but we were headed to a concert afterwards and wouldn’t have had any place to put leftovers. It was enough that I was satisfied, but I didn’t have that loosen my belt feeling that I expected from the triple combo platter. My wife and I actually ordered a piece of chocolate soufflé cake to finish the night off. It was very good.
Near the end of our food, Lee Ann Whippen came to our table and introduced herself as one of the co-owners. She told us a little bit about the restaurant history and goals. She was very approachable. Never once did she mention TV shows or give the impression that she was trying to cash in on recent TV appearances. This was a honest long-term restaurant, not a Planet Hollywood. My wife spoke up and said that I do smoking. She asked me about my pit and offered encouragement.
That ended the night. All-in-all, it was very good bbq. Maybe for all of us here that have had it fresh, and customized to our own tastes, it wasn’t knock-your-socks-off best ever; but it was good. I think for most people, it will be the best ever. I have a job site two blocks away and am already starting to plan my next site visit around lunch time and a visit to Chicago Q.
