115631 Tue Mar 23 20:58:06 -0800 2004 7 7 Chicago Area 0 631003 While preparing for the previous barbecue expedition I came across a report from the end of January that I almost forgot about. It includes only one place never mentioned here before (I think) and a little more on a few others. The trip started without me with another visit to Honey One. The others were kind enough to bring me some of the "hard ends" that Robert Adams trims from the tips after cooking. Suffice to say what Honey One throws away is much better than what most Chicago barbecue joints serve. One of the real good Chicago places. Robert spoke highly of KW Spice is Nice so of course we had to check it out. Most of the places we’ve investigated cook in Chicago-style stainless steel and glass pits using hickory and/or oak, sometimes with some charcoal added. KW uses a Southern Pride gas/wood hybrid cooker for most of their meat. All in all, a workmanlike effort. Light smoke flavor and some chew in both ribs and tips. Links were fine textured and moderately spicy. The mild sauce was very ketchupy and did nothing for me. The hot, with the addition of chipotles perhaps, was a little better. While looking for the long-gone Rib Ranch on Ashland I stopped in Johnson’s Soul Food to ask a few questions and to pick up some banana pudding for later. Soon Gary and the others poked their heads in and before we knew it we were in the kitchen eating hot-off-the-griddle johnnycakes and sampling their chicken-n-dumplings and a few other dishes. I’ve linked to Pete & Will’s excellent post on Johnson’s below. Definitely worth a trip. That unexpected detour filled us up a bit so we made only one more stop, Rose BBQ on State near Garfield. In all our expeditions we have always ordered our meat plain, with sauce on the side (as we’ve been taught it’s really the only way to evaluate barbecue). This time we made a tactical error and didn’t specify so our rib tips came covered with sauce. These were the Chicago tips I remember from maybe 20 years ago: very fatty, very charred, and swimming in a very sweet sauce. Nothing pretty but not too bad. Even though nobody had any enthusiasm, our teacher insisted on getting another order without sauce. It was quite informative, with some of the defects (probably due to poor fire management we were told) becoming more apparent. This was real down-n-dirty barbecue. Still, Rose is a place I’ll probably revisit. Honey One BBQ 5135 W Division St Chicago 773-626-5436 KW Spice is Nice 10526 S Halsted St Chicago 773-445-8740 Johnson’s Soul Food (used to be Rib Ranch) 8233 S Ashland Av 773-488-5700 Chicago Rose BBQ 5426 S State St Chicago 773-268-3401 Link: http://www.chowhound.com/topics/show/114873#625800 Tue Mar 23 20:58:06 -0800 2004 0 Rene G 1 631016 Since we are picking up places that have not yet been reported on, as well as discusssing Southern Pride, I recently visited Uncle Bub's in Westmont based on a coworker's recommendation. Let me say I did not go in with a very positive attitude as my experience with sit-down suburban joints had been that they feature overly tender meat as a vehicle for usually lousy sauce (Famous Dave's anyone?). But away we went. Bub's also uses a Southern Pride smoker, and smokes their ribs for at least 4 hours with a mix of hickory and apple wood. The result is a fairly tender, but not at all mushy, rib with excellent smoke flavor during my one visit. Decent sauce of the allspice/clove variety, but not too much sugar. Spicy sauce is not spicy, but a little more pepper and vinegar - they also have a very large selection of pepper sauces to dose it with. Bub's makes their own hot links, which are ground twice to give a smoother consistency than others I have tried, good spices, medium heat. A decent link. Pulled chicken was white meat, very lightly smoked, tender without a lot of flavor. Rib tips were a product called riblets and should be avoided. Chile also was workmanlike and unexciting - far inferior to the Texan in Lombard which is excellent. The owner spoke proudly of his brisket, which I will sample and report on later (on the other hand, he said nothing about his pulled pork). They also serve a range of other smoked meats as specials, including corned beef, and ham. Been there for 6 years and while he was not too busy on a Friday during Lent (hmm, why could that be?) he reports they get pretty crazy most days. Uncle Bub's is in Westmont, on Cass Avenue, just south of the railroad tracks. Definitely good ribs. d Wed Mar 24 07:26:41 -0800 2004 631003 0 dickson d 2 631017 The location must be very close to Lao Sze Chuan. Maybe we've found a suburban version of Albany Park. Wed Mar 24 08:17:43 -0800 2004 631016 0 Ann Fisher 3 631019 First, as to Uncle Bub's. We went once, and were not that impressed. It smelled wonderfully smokey when we entered, and our hopes were very high, but the meats were thoroughly leached of any of that lingering smoke by their water-bath holding cell. Now, to the Albany Park claim. Uncle Bub's is close to Lao Sze Chuan the way, say anything in Westmont is close to each other, but they are not like Albany Park close. LSC is on Ogden and Uncle Bub's is on Cass in "downtown" Westmont. Still, it should be noted that the whole area around Westmont, Lombard and Downer's Grove is a bit Albany Parkish. There are all sorts of places one would expect less in the burbs. Even an outpost of the Tahoora Sweet Shop is going up in Lombard, and there are plenty of other Middle-Eastern, Indian and Pakistani places. Of course, there is nothing in Chicago remotely like the International Mall in Westmont. So, if you think suburban proximity, maybe you do have another Albany Park. Rob Link: http://vitalinformation.blogspot.com Wed Mar 24 08:52:04 -0800 2004 631017 0 Vital Information 4 631063 Searching for more Westmont possibilities, I came across this site at Argonne Laboratories listing local places. What makes it more valuable than it might otherwise be (I don't think we care about the location of the local McDonalds or Fuddrucker's) is that someone has obviously scanned in some menus of places that don't have websites of their own. A quick glance revealed a promising Middle Eastern place and perhaps a worthy hot dog stand. Link: http://www.aps.anl.gov/xfd/communicator/useroffice/restaurants.html Wed Mar 24 15:32:19 -0800 2004 631019 0 Ann Fisher 4 631120 VI - Out of curiosity, how long ago were you at Uncle Bub's? The smokiness was quite strong in the ribs, and I did not get any sense of them having been held in anything other than the smoker, so perhaps it has changed, or maybe I was just lucky and at busier times they smoke and hold in an unfriendly way. In any case, I am planning to try again this eve after a soccer game in Westmont. Yes, Westmont is a quirky little chow destination. In addition to the places mentioned, the mall at Ogden and Cass offers 2 Indian places, a Dumpling House and what appears to be an iffy Thai place (have not tried it). There also is what some claim to be a wonderful diner-type place which I also have yet to try - Moonlight Cafe or some such. More to explore, too. And let's not forget Pappadeaux (smile). Anyway, I have had a taste of Westmont project ongoing, but it is moving at the same pace as Erik's catalog of Argyle. Slow, but steady. d Thu Mar 25 08:00:53 -0800 2004 631019 0 dickson d 5 631139 D, there has been some discussion of the places you mention here before, including by me (family in Darien brings me to the area many a weekend). The Chinese place is Katy's; I like it. There is one S. Indian and one "generalist" Indian in the mall. Dasai are pretty good at the S. Indian. Skip the Thai. The Indian guys say that the beef place (Johnny's (?) -- no relation to Johnnie's) is very good. A couple of searches should bring up lots of stuff. PS, the whole area is packed with Indian restaurants, with new ones opening up in strip malls all the time. Some interesting stores too. There's an African market off of 75th near 355 that proudly proclaims "cow skin" for sale. Brookhaven Market, which was at Cass & 75th (Mexican/Filipino/Indian/Polish store with great produce) has been so successful it's moving to the space once occupied by Eagle on 63d (I think). Culvers is right there. Apparently, it's no Kopps, but not bad for a burger, some walleye and a custard. Other decent Chinese can be had, IMO, at Uncle Lou, down from Bubb's, and at Jockey (which is right next to Indian Garden/Mysore Woodlands on Cass). Mexican is fairly weak out there, but Asi Mi Mexico off of 75th in Woodridge is pretty good with a wide menu: soups and parillada are best. Teddy's near Culver's in Darien has good hot dogs and very good Italian ice. Then there are the more well-documented places on Ogden and in Oakbrook/Lombard... PS, I think VI visited Uncle Bubbs fairly soon after I gave it a generally positive review. I get it often enough as takeout to think it's mostly consistent and pretty good. Ribs and brisket are the safe bets. See if they will give you sliced, rather than chopped, brisket. Thu Mar 25 11:20:18 -0800 2004 631120 0 JeffB 6 631162 Well, you know shortly after meeting Wiv (what now seems forever, but is not that long ago), he started haranguing me on 2 subjects: my utter failure to use an oven thermoneter when smoking meats and my equally haphazardness in preserving and otherwise archiving old chow experiences. Now, I have both an oven thermometer (which is horribly discolored already from smoke) and Chowbase. My own database of chow experiences. It's even on the Palm Pilot, where I can whip out a Izakaya idea for Meridith when necessary. OK, this is a long way of saying, to answer Dickson's question, I looked up Uncle Bub's in Chowbase. I went to Uncle Bub's in August, 2003. Review linked. Rob Link: http://www.chowhound.com/topics/show/113506#617272 Thu Mar 25 15:33:40 -0800 2004 631139 0 Vital Information