whitesnake wrote:posauce/sauce on the side, and can't recall which is the best way to go.

Whitesnake,

In my Barbecue world view BBQ sauce is a condiment and belongs on the Side to be used as you would ketchup with french fries or tarter sauce with crisp fried shrimp.

Ask for sauce on the side.

Enjoy,
Gary

grant wrote:What is a hot link? Italian sausage? Also what does llRC mean? I'm new around here so go easy! Thanks!

A hot link is not an Italian sausage. It is similar, I guess, in that it is a sausage and it's seasoned but that's where the similarity ends. Good hot links are ground more coarsely and have a higher fat content. Certainly someone else will be able to provide a better description than me.

As to IIRC - If I Recall Correctly. For things such as these Google is your friend, but a quick search turns up what appears to be a pretty good reference for internet acronyms and shorthand: http://www.gaarde.org/acronyms/

HTH (Hope That Helps)

G Wiv wrote:

whitesnake wrote:posauce/sauce on the side, and can't recall which is the best way to go.

Whitesnake,

In my Barbecue world view BBQ sauce is a condiment and belongs on the Side to be used as you would ketchup with french fries or tarter sauce with crisp fried shrimp.

Ask for sauce on the side.

Enjoy,
Gary

Tartar sauce on fried shrimp? Next thing you know, Gary, and you'll be putting mayo on pastrami! While I'm no Homer Simpson I do like my tartar sauce - but fried shrimp get only lemon juice & hot sauce or cocktail sauce, never tartar. Ick.

YourPalWill wrote:If you're in the new Honey1 neighborhood, I encourage you to try Calvin's Barbeque reviewed herein.

I've dined there three times now and been very satisfied each time with my take away booty of smoked meats and southern style veggies and desserts.

I DO recommend sauce on the side at Calvin's.

It's on Armitage east of California.

FYI: Calvin's

Kman wrote:Tartar sauce on fried shrimp? Next thing you know, Gary, and you'll be putting mayo on pastrami!

Kman,

Pastrami on white w/mayo, big glass of milk and a side of lime jello. My standard order at Manny's.

Chilled tartar sauce on hot crisp fried shrimp, yep, love it, though just a quick dredge, not shrimp drowned in tarter sauce.

Speaking of tarter sauce, had fried shrimp and scallops at the Fish Keg a few weeks ago, good as ever, which is to say, pretty good, but not great.

Enjoy,
Gary

Fish Keg
2233 W Howard St
Chicago, IL 60645
773-262-6603

Cathy2 wrote:Hi,

Careful on the definition of well-done for the links. I'm sure you mean links which are longer cooked. I read where someone here asked for well-done then they dropped the links into the deep fat fryer.

Regards,

That was me, and a nasty shock it was, too The next time there I specified
"the more well done pieces, dont drop them into the fryer please", and it was
all ok Actually, even the normal pieces are very good - if you dont want
to take the risk just forget about the "well done" part and you'll be fine
anyway IMHO.

Just read this thread today, so I know its too late - dinner is certainly over
by now for the OP. But Id like to say that Ive been to BA's maybe 8 times in
the past couple months (including a stop by this Saturday), and I have yet
to get past the tips and links though I keep telling myself I must go with
the slab one of these days. My standard order is the tip-link combo -
9.52 for the large (including a mess of tips, 2 links, fries, slaw, and 2 pices
of white bread). If youre ordering separately for several people... sure,
go with a slab, and with a large tip if you like. But you cannot possibly
go with a small link - never. The links are *the* best thing there IMHO,
by a long way (and theyre also IMHO the best in the city by a long
way - to me, at any rate). My suggestion would actually not even be the
large link - it would be the special advertised out front, which is not
readable from the parking lot. This is the "super large link". You get 2
links in the small (for about 6 bucks maybe, dunno, never tried it); about
4 links in the large (for about 9 bucks I think?)... and you get 7 in the
super-large for 11 bucks, a ridiculously better deal. In addition, if you
put the links in the oven even a couple days later, they still come out
pretty damn well - so leftovers would be a great thing in this regard
(however, my bet would be that, with 5 people there who seem to be
fond of bbq, there would be no link leftovers whatsoever

c8w

grant wrote:What is a hot link? Italian sausage?

A hot link is a spicy smoked sausage, more like zipped up kielbasa than Italian sausage.

The hot links that are used at places such as BA, Lem's, I-57, Leon's, Kenny's, Honey1, Coleman's, Best's, etc. do not necessarily start out as smoked sausages in the style of a smoked polish, but they end up grilled/smoked after some time in the aquarium -- right? In my own limited experience, the Chicago link, with its ties to Mississippi and surrounds does not seem that closely related to the German-Bohemian links of TX, which are really like smoked Polish. But that's just my perception. The course grind and spiciness of many Chicago hot links reminds me mostly of certain Italian sausages. The heavy use of sage and red pepper, I think, makes the sausage taste most like Southern (Carolinas, GA) breakfast sausage, though the treatment, the grind and the encasement make them something altogether different.

But to the OP: this ain't the Golden Bowl we're trying to describe here. Go pick some up and taste them.

Made what I think might have been my first weeday trip to BA's yesterday - was
in the vicinity at almost 5pm IIRC, and so dropped by. And it was closed! Had
a "closed" sign on the door too. I could see a couple of people inside -
Mack, and one of the other guys. They signalled closed - I mouthed the words,
asking for how long... my lip-reading skills arent great, but I seemed to
get "a few days" in reply.

Does anyone know more? Did I get it wrong? They arent usually closed
on Thursdays near 5pm, right? I suddenly cant seem to locate their
menu, so cant call either.

IF anyone knows more, would be appreciated. It looks like I may be in the
area near 5ish again tomorrow, and was really hoping to stop in again - its
been about 3 weeks since I last went, and have a hankering for the links.

c8w

I would like to say that, along with my recent visit to and post on Little Three Happiness, I'm intentionally and programmatically trying to inject recent reviews into the main threads for older GNRs, to avoid the issues we had with the last renewal round where nobody was posting on a place because everybody goes there and it's been written to death, or because it's the particular favorite of a founding member.

Unfortunately, that wouldn't be a true statement (it's not that formal). In this case, my GNR arrival was random, because some motherf*cker stole my license plate sticker, resulting in a $20 ticket from the enlightened serfdom of Oak Park, and a last-minute trip to 9901 S. King Drive to get the additional $20 replacement before I leave town for ten days. [Helpful advice from Village Hall: "Oh, don't worry if you can't get the sticker today. Just contest all the tickets you get at once when you get back. It'll probably just be like 5 or 6, they don't check every night. And if you get booted, just bring the new sticker here and we'll send somebody out to the car. Everything will prolly be dismissed."]

So, when I saw Barbara Ann's on the way back, shimmering over the pavement heat like Hell's merry-go-round, did I screech to a rubber-laying halt, taking out three pigeons and an elote cart in the process, before ploughing through the brick wall of the $27/hour day rate hotel behind it and emerging, bloodied and glasses-lens-shattered, with a cackling smile on my face and a $10 bill in my sweaty fist?



I was delighted to see the GNR award certificate first and foremost on their pride wall, just in front of the coolest refrigerator doors in the city (love that old wood and glass icebox access). Tip and link combo is up to $9, but it's still worth it. People working couldn't be friendlier. The default is still two ladles of mild, tomato-paprika sauce all over everything with two slices of white bread on the top but honestly, I need that every once in a while. The links are as unrefined and chunky as ever - cubes of fat, big pieces of sage, lots of snap to the casing, intense pork flavor, a true Chicago link. Love 'em, and still crave this style with my Chicagocue no matter what Smoque brings out. Tips were massive - not just cut big, but meaty and almost Flinstonesque in bone diameter. I have no idea where they're sourcing these animals.



Really just what I needed. I hope people are still going, and that it's not just becoming "the former home of Uncle John's Mack Sevier."

edit for first paragraph intent

Santander wrote:I'd like to say that, along with my recent visit to and post on Little Three Happiness, I'm intentionally trying to inject recent reviews into the main threads for older GNRs, to avoid the issues we had with the last renewal round where nobody was posting on a place because everybody goes there and it's been written to death, or because it's the particular favorite of a founding member.

A truly noble aspiration that is much appreciated.

The JeffB family goes all the time. BA's is terribly convenient for anyone who uses the Skyway, which is our reason for frequent stops.

JeffB wrote:The JeffB family goes all the time. BA's is terribly convenient for anyone who uses the Skyway, which is our reason for frequent stops.

Jeff,

I am assuming convenience is not the only reason you are stopping at Barbara Ann's. I still very much enjoy the post Mack Barbara Ann's which I'd put in the top 5 Chicagoland BBQ joints along with Honey 1, Uncle John's and Lem's.

Enjoy,
Gary

I just had my first Barbara Ann's experience, and while the links were a complete knock out (unquestionably besting Honey 1 as my favorite in the city), the tips were very fatty and lacked any semblance of smokiness. Maybe I had an off batch?

The lack of smoke makes me think it might have been an early / off batch, but as mentioned above, the tips are unusually moist and large compared to Honey-1 and Uncle John's (my gold standard). I prefer more bark and chew than BA's tips, but the flavor is usually excellent, matching their ribs.

Santander wrote:The lack of smoke makes me think it might have been an early / off batch

That'd make sense, as I was first customer through the door after they opened at noon.

Ralph Wiggum wrote:I just had my first Barbara Ann's experience, and while the links were a complete knock out (unquestionably besting Honey 1 as my favorite in the city), the tips were very fatty and lacked any semblance of smokiness. Maybe I had an off batch?

My experience with Barbara Ann's (and Honey 1, for that matter) is that its consistency is all over the map. Barbecue is a fickle and variable product, so I'm very forgiving of inconsistency, and always give a place at least two, if not three, shots to impress me. The only rib shack I have yet to have a mediocre batch from is Uncle John's. Maybe I'm just lucky, but it has been--for me--the most consistent barbecue in Chicago, plus they've got the same links as Barbara Ann's (which I much prefer to the finer ground Honey 1 links, although I know many have the opposite preference.) I'm sure one day they'll miss with me, but so far I'm batting 1.000 with UJ's (with about 20 at-bats.) Barbara Ann's bats around .670 for me, and Honey 1 around .750.