Oh, forgot to add that I had the Texas sausage link for the first time as well. Thought it was very good- well seasoned and juicy.

Went to Smoque tonight and it was smoquin' good -- fabulous, in fact. Absolutely loved the brisket -- fatty, tender, juicy and just delectable with or without sauce. Also had the St. Louis ribs, as we wanted whichever ribs would be fattier (those or the baby backs), and they said to go with the St. Louis. They were great. We also enjoyed our sides of baked beans, mac 'n cheese, cornbread, and coleslaw. The coleslaw is probably the one item that doesn't do a ton for me, but make no mistake, we love this place. Also had their special caramel pecan bread pudding, which was terrific. Service was excellent and so hospitable, and there were many waitstaff on hand clearing tables, bringing take-home containers to tables, and so on. This place is such a winner.

Edit: I just noticed that there are a few threads on Smoque and I looked at a couple of them and wasn't sure where to put general postings about the restaurant, so please feel free to move this to the appropriate thread.

Great minds think alike. I delivered their renewal GNR certificate tonight and got carryout, despite the fact that I'm smoking a brisket at my house on Sunday. Brisket (ordered fatty) was excellent, as were the St. Louis ribs. Smoque just keeps smoquin' along.

So, I went to Smoque on the saturday before Memorial day.

The good:

The chicken. Moist, good smoke flavor, not too much, not too little.
The service. Helpful, friendly, quick.
The ambiance. The place is nice. The neighborhood is nice. Parking's not hard to come by.
The sweet tea.

The mediocre:

The sliced brisket sandwich was not bad, but not great either. The texture/moister was right, but all I could really taste was the sauce. No discernible smoke, not much beef flavor either.

The ribs. I tried spare ribs. They had good smoke flavor, good pork flavor, nice bark. But they were overcooked and as a result, the meat was dry.

If I lived in the neighborhood, I'd order more from them and try sausage, pulled pork, and come back for the chicken. I don't live in Chicago, so I'll probably go to other places the 3-4 days a year I'm lucky enough to be eating in Chicago.

grinsfelder wrote:The mediocre:

The sliced brisket sandwich was not bad, but not great either. The texture/moister was right, but all I could really taste was the sauce. No discernible smoke, not much beef flavor either.

Solution: make sure to order sauce on the side next time.

Smoque is a place that's quite frankly astonishing to me. I dabble in smoking meat as a weekend hobby so I have some small inkling of how hard it is to turn out great BBQ shift after shift. The food here is so consistently good that it's almost "boring." I never have to wonder if I'll have a good meal there because the answer is YES. If I have friends coming in from out of town and I get to take them to only ONE place, Smoque is on my short list of places which are 100% certain to provide a great meal.

BR wrote:

grinsfelder wrote:The mediocre:

The sliced brisket sandwich was not bad, but not great either. The texture/moister was right, but all I could really taste was the sauce. No discernible smoke, not much beef flavor either.

Solution: make sure to order sauce on the side next time.

I find this strange as I have never had to ask for sauce on the side at Smoque, everything has always come that way.

scottsol wrote:

BR wrote:

grinsfelder wrote:The mediocre:

The sliced brisket sandwich was not bad, but not great either. The texture/moister was right, but all I could really taste was the sauce. No discernible smoke, not much beef flavor either.

Solution: make sure to order sauce on the side next time.

I find this strange as I have never had to ask for sauce on the side at Smoque, everything has always come that way.

same. I've never experienced them putting sauce on for me.

Absolutely shocked to receive some incredibly dry brisket at Smoque on a recent visit. Since we were there right at opening, I have to assume they tried to sneak in the previous day's meat. First time I've ever not finished my brisket there. Track record is great (and so was the sausage, again, on this visit) so I assume this was a still-very-rare dip in quality control.

MarlaCollins'Husband wrote:Absolutely shocked to receive some incredibly dry brisket at Smoque on a recent visit. Since we were there right at opening, I have to assume they tried to sneak in the previous day's meat. First time I've ever not finished my brisket there. Track record is great (and so was the sausage, again, on this visit) so I assume this was a still-very-rare dip in quality control.

Dry Smoque.jpg

If you had informed the management of your displeasure they would have made a satisfactory replacement or refund as they are very customer service oriented. The next time you are at Smoque you should tell management about your poor previous visit and they will make it up to you.

lsher wrote:

MarlaCollins'Husband wrote:Absolutely shocked to receive some incredibly dry brisket at Smoque on a recent visit. Since we were there right at opening, I have to assume they tried to sneak in the previous day's meat. First time I've ever not finished my brisket there. Track record is great (and so was the sausage, again, on this visit) so I assume this was a still-very-rare dip in quality control.

Dry Smoque.jpg

If you had informed the management of your displeasure they would have made a satisfactory replacement or refund as they are very customer service oriented. The next time you are at Smoque you should tell management about your poor previous visit and they will make it up to you.

So True about a year ago I had picked up an order, came from Northbrook. I had ordered 3 slabs of BB ribs and 3 brisket platters
One of the brisket platters the meat was dry and tough. Called them on the phone and they offered to replace if I wanted or refund the dinner. Since I came from Northbrook, I told them to just credit my CC. to my surprise when I got my credit I noticed they gave a $50.00 credit. I had called them up and said I think you made a mistake I only had one bad platter. They said no mistake that should never happen! Been going to them for years and that was only time I had any issues.

Rif

MarlaCollins'Husband wrote:Absolutely shocked to receive some incredibly dry brisket at Smoque on a recent visit. Since we were there right at opening, I have to assume they tried to sneak in the previous day's meat. First time I've ever not finished my brisket there. Track record is great (and so was the sausage, again, on this visit) so I assume this was a still-very-rare dip in quality control.

Dry Smoque.jpg

I had a similar experience a few weeks back. Went for dinner labor day weekend, place was busier than I've ever seen. Both brisket plates we received were near inedible, but their fries were pretty darn good . Its obviously not typical to the product they put out, but left very upset

long101 wrote:

MarlaCollins'Husband wrote:Absolutely shocked to receive some incredibly dry brisket at Smoque on a recent visit. Since we were there right at opening, I have to assume they tried to sneak in the previous day's meat. First time I've ever not finished my brisket there. Track record is great (and so was the sausage, again, on this visit) so I assume this was a still-very-rare dip in quality control.

Dry Smoque.jpg

I had a similar experience a few weeks back. Went for dinner labor day weekend, place was busier than I've ever seen. Both brisket plates we received were near inedible, but their fries were pretty darn good . Its obviously not typical to the product they put out, but left very upset

You shouldn't have to leave upset. Take the food back, places that really care about their product will be very concerned and apologetic. Restaurants are not perfect, nor is the food they serve. I don't understand why people pay for food, and then settle for mediocrity when they don't have to. A couple of friends of mine are like that, they just don't want to make waves.

You shouldn't have to leave upset. Take the food back, places that really care about their product will be very concerned and apologetic. Restaurants are not perfect, nor is the food they serve. I don't understand why people pay for food, and then settle for mediocrity when they don't have to. A couple of friends of mine are like that, they just don't want to make waves.

i'm with you, Ram4; if there's something wrong with your food, tell the manager and they will be glad to give you fresh food. you'll leave happy instead of grumbling. i don't know why this is so hard for people to do.... i'm positive restaurants want to make it right and want the customer to leave happy.

justjoan wrote:

You shouldn't have to leave upset. Take the food back, places that really care about their product will be very concerned and apologetic. Restaurants are not perfect, nor is the food they serve. I don't understand why people pay for food, and then settle for mediocrity when they don't have to. A couple of friends of mine are like that, they just don't want to make waves.

i'm with you, Ram4; if there's something wrong with your food, tell the manager and they will be glad to give you fresh food. you'll leave happy instead of grumbling. i don't know why this is so hard for people to do.... i'm positive restaurants want to make it right and want the customer to leave happy.

Counterpoint -
Dear Restaurants:
Stop assuming your patrons care enough to tell you about a sub par experience. Don't put the onus on ME to tell you that your food is slipping. This is Chicago. I can find another restaurant that offers your product and cares about consistency pretty damn quickly, and guess what? I think it's FUN to find new places. Matter of fact, I've been in the middle of a sub-par meal at an old standby several times, and said to the wife, "Well, looks like we need to find a new middle-eastern/sushi/enchilada roja/italian sub/split pea soup/reuben sandwich/etc/etc joint." No big deal to me. Kinda stinks when a place jumps the shark, but, this is Chicago. Another place will pick up the slack. I have a car. I am employed. I'll go elsewhere but still look back on and enjoy the times we've had together.

So a quote like, "I don't understand why people pay for food, and then settle for mediocrity when they don't have to" - there are different ways of not settling. Some people just go elsewhere as their way of not settling. Especially in a city like this.

Ok folks, before this veers any farther off into Tangentville, let's bring it back to Smoque.

Thanks,

=R=
for the Moderators

I'm a semi-regular at Smoque since I live a just a blocks away, and only a desire to shelter my wallet and waistline from serious damage keeps me from eating there several times a week. I've never had a bad meal there in all the years since I started going there -- which is right after they opened -- and I let them know that by way of repeat business. If I was ever unsatisfied, I'd let them know that too. The idea that restaurants are supposed to remain successful and be aware of potential quality issues without customer input is just bizarre to me.

I hope we can reign in the "blame the victim" mentality. Personally, as someone with mild social anxiety, the idea of sharing my dissatisfaction (in person) with a restaurant owner/manager just stresses me out. I find those conversations to be very, very difficult. I agree that in an optimal situation, it would be an easy and pleasant discussion, but the simple fact is that not everyone is able to offer that kind of feedback in person for any number of reasons.

chgoeditor wrote:I hope we can reign in the "blame the victim" mentality. Personally, as someone with mild social anxiety, the idea of sharing my dissatisfaction (in person) with a restaurant owner/manager just stresses me out. I find those conversations to be very, very difficult. I agree that in an optimal situation, it would be an easy and pleasant discussion, but the simple fact is that not everyone is able to offer that kind of feedback in person for any number of reasons.

I think what's being said is that restaurants, at least well-run ones, value customer feedback . . . even if not everyone is capable of -- or comfortable with -- providing it.

Let's move on . . . please.

Thanks,

=R=
for the Moderators

ronnie_suburban wrote:
Let's move on . . . please.

Better late than never! Still my favorite brisket after all these years.

From Smoque's facebook page:

Where there's smoke, there's fire...at least there was Saturday night.

Due to a small kitchen fire on Saturday night, we will be closed on Sunday January 13th, while we do the necessary repairs and cleanup. We hope to re-open on Tuesday, January 15th, but please check first. We will keep our phone message and website updates with current status.

We apologize for any inconvenience and we look forward to feeding you soon!

Oh man did this scare me for a second.

Glad the damage is not too extensive and they'll only be closed briefly.

I'm a little more cautious about my optimism; restaurants almost invariably underestimate how quickly they can re-open after even a small fire. Thankfully I work within easy walking distance of their pop-up spot in Revival Food Hall.

Cathy2 wrote:From Smoque's facebook page:

Where there's smoke, there's fire...at least there was Saturday night.

Due to a small kitchen fire on Saturday night, we will be closed on Sunday January 13th, while we do the necessary repairs and cleanup. We hope to re-open on Tuesday, January 15th, but please check first. We will keep our phone message and website updates with current status.

We apologize for any inconvenience and we look forward to feeding you soon!

Franklin BBQ copycat

Twelve years in and still a line out the door on Saturday noon. Juicy smoked chicken for me, pulled pork/brisket for the bride. Sides tip-top, guys working the floor quick on the draw and friendly/polite. Ellen dropped her fork and had a new one in seconds.

Kudos to Mr. Sorkin, who was not in-house, and team.



Though it does not look like big portions in the pic we ended up taking home food, made for a tasty snack.

Smoque, count me a Fan!