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The basics: To call Flat & Point, Logan Square’s singular Alpine-inspired smokehouse, a barbecue joint would be an egregious over-simplification. So without further ado, roll up your sleeves, tuck that napkin into your collar, and get ready to sink your teeth into a barbecue landscape that, according to Charlie McKenna, owner of Lillie’s Q, ranks as “one of the most underrated in the country.” From tri-tip ninjas to Texas barbecue whisperers, these insiders are more than qualified to guide smoke-curious Chicagoans through this meat-centric labyrinth, as evidenced by the following rundown of noteworthy joints from Irving Park to South Shore. To help us dip our toes into our local barbecue scene’s saucy waters, we consulted local experts-pitmasters who know their way around a smoker, as well as barbecue-loving chefs who appreciate a finger-licking feast as much as the next diner. Starving yet? With summer on the horizon, and thus the unofficial green light to eat smoked meat with reckless abandon for months on end, cravings for brisket, ribs, and pulled pork are reaching a fever pitch. There are a lot of people doing much better barbecue now.”
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In Chicago it’s rib tips and saucy, and the scene has definitely evolved. John Manion, culinary director at Babygold Barbeque and executive chef-owner at El Che Steakhouse & Bar, echoes those sentiments. So what we have here is a diverse and eclectic spectrum of barbecue options that you couldn’t say about some of these other classic barbecue cities.”
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“The nice thing about being in a city that doesn’t have a deeply rooted style of barbecue is that chefs, as they discover barbecue, have license to do whatever they want. “Chicago’s really become an amazing barbecue town,” says Barry Sorkin, owner of Smoque.
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Rather, Chi-town pitmasters are free to tinker with new styles and techniques, draw on myriad influences, and even invent their own contraptions, like the legendary glass aquarium smokers found at South Side institutions Honey 1 BBQ and Lem’s Bar-B-Q. The fact that Chicago isn’t the kind of city tethered to regional pastimes frees it up to innovate its own styles of ‘cue-unbound from the more rigid traditions that define iconic cookery in, say, Texas or the Carolinas. But this is a city that layers sausage into deep-dish pizza the same way bakers frost a cake, so this is clearly a city that takes meat seriously, including the smoked kind. This isn’t Kansas City or Memphis, after all. In the pantheon of iconic barbecue regions (ya know, the kinds of places that take their barbecue so seriously that people will fight you with a cleaver over something as trivial as sauce), Chicago doesn’t typically take top billing.