What about Chicago area?

I don't know if this counts, because it's not a BBQ joint , but the best filet mignon I've ever eaten in a restaurant was at the Chicago Chop House on Ontario St. What a steak

Welcome to the board bbqcommandante!

I'll tell you one place to stay AWAY from. I live in Chicago, but work in Highland Park. I was craving some BBQ today and looked up several places. One isn't open for lunch and another didn't serve pork (kosher). So I was left with Ravinia BBQ. Great reviews on several Chicago websites.

After I picked myself off of the floor after looking at their prices, I called to ask about a few selections. The BBQ pork was not pulled, but instead you got some slices. Now, If I'm going to eat a pork sandwich, it's gonna be pulled with brownies, sauce, and grease.

So I decided on a BBQ chicken sandwich. It wasn't bad, but I could have saved myself some money and gotten a chicken sandwich at McDonald's for a lot less and the taste would have been comparible. I think that they grilled a plain breast, then put sauce on after it was sitting on the bun. Sitting in my little styrafoam box were some pathetic, limp "fries" straight from the Ore Ida bag. If I'm paying $10 for a sandwich, they could at least have some homemade fries or pair their dishes with a real baked potato.

Plus, I could tell that this was going to be phoney-baloney BBQ the second I walked in the door. It smelled like a Bennigan's... kind of like the scent of pre-prepared food sitting out to thaw

This was yuppie BBQ cateting to the upscale clientle on the North Shore and not a place that I would ever try again. If I'm going to a BBQ joint, I want a hole-in-the-wall place that is going to get my fingers messy and my belly full.

Smoke Daddy's is really good, but very, very smokey... it's almost a little overpowering. The portions are ginormous with lots of options. The sweet potato fries are excellent.

blakstne11 wrote:

Baby Back Blues in Plainfield, RT 30 West of I55. Slow cooked. not boiled.

the best in the city.

They only make so many a day, and when theyre gone, they are gone

BB Blues is pretty good. There's another place in Shorewood, down Rt. 59 called Fat Terry's. Hickory smoked spares and the wife liked the pulled pork, good stuff!

I've started work on a map of real BBq and other good grilled foods in Chicago (I'm a huge kabab fanatic as well as BBQ). This is completely biased towards what I like - i.e no boil and broil, and not many of the Chicago ribs places that are well known (i.e. Carson's, because there are many better places).

Chicago BBQ/Grill map

Welcome, bbqcommandante!
Good to have you here!

That's a neat tool Chris.

I don't know what some of these guys are talking about, but Heckey's in Evanston(just n. of the windy) is some of the best bbq i've had. Non homemede that is. Also Carsons downtown is o.k., but it's way commercialized and not smokehouse quality Q. Hillary's in Waukegan (far n. suburb) is pretty good, sauce is too vinagary for me, but wify loves it. I'd give Heckey's a shot...

Anyone mention Smokin' Woody's up on Lincoln Ave? I haven't been to this location, but my wife has and loved it. However there is a tiny shack on Red Arrow Highway in Sawyer, MI by the same name. We chatted with a guy and he said the same guy owns both. I had the pork loin sandwich (or something close to that name). My wife and I love to visit that area, you have the dunes (where we got engaged), some nice antique shops, quaint harbor towns, etc.. And we just stumbled across it. And a couple miles north of Smokin' Woody's was a side of the road type place (literally) with a guy smokin out back behind the trailer. We picked up some ribs while we were camping at the dunes. Excellent! Couldn't even tell you the name of the place though. Big white trailer on the east side of Red Arrow Highway in Sawyer.

Sweet Baby Ray's has two locations in the Chicago suburbs - in Wood Dale and Elk Grove Village. Haven't been to the one in Elk Grove Village but like the one in Wood Dale.
Place called The Pit on Roberts Rd. just north of 95th St. - think that's Hickory Hills down there - is real good.
Even had a decent pulled pork sandwich at The Patio in Willowbrook the other day. Like The Patio's sauces.

I haven't been to sweet baby rays. Get their sauces all the time, and to be honest I'm getting kind of sick of them! You're right, the Patio sauces are good. I haven't been there yet, I was going to take my grandparents last month (they live right there) but it was really cold so they opted to make dinner. But my grandma has bought some of hte sauces for me. I like the spicy one.

Anyone mention Robinson's??? I used to live by the one in Oak Park. It was hit or miss. Sometimes it was great, sometimes not so great. They have a small location at the Ogilvie Transportation Center downtown now too.

This is in the burbs but Chuck's in Burbank, IL is pretty good.

Here's their webpage:
http://www.chuckscafe.com/

A new place opened up by the Irving Park Blue line stop a few months ago. I'm not too crazy about the name, but it is GREAT BBQ! It's called Smoque.

I need to go back a few more times, but it may be the best place in Chicago right now.

I work next to Ogilvie and eaten at Robinson's. The sauce is different, which is good, and you have to eat the pork sandwich with a fork. Real messy!

If you get to the southside, try Hog Wild in Midlothian. Just order the pork. I ordered chicken and I thought I heard them laughing at me.

I've also had Mindy's and Nicks and they're the type of BBQ where all they do is add bbq sauce to the meat. But Greek owned and therefore huge portions

I second the Hog Wild suggestion. I actually forgot about them when I made my previous post. They have unbelievable pork chops in addition to pulled pork. You definitely have to go there!