Some press (with amusing pictures) for Rub BBQ--I guess sometimes a spare pig mask comes in handy!

http://www.dnainfo.com/chicago/20140107 ... ecord-cold

Via the Rogers Park/Edgewater edition of DNAInfo.com, posted this evening:

Rub's Barbecue Shut Down by City for Health Violations

From Rub's Facebook posting:



Rub's Backcountry Smokehouse
9 hours ago
As a famous Chicago sports figure once said "We're back!" Passed our re-inspection with flying colors, the inspector said he's never seen such a clean place - especially the basement, which was their main concern. Thank you all for your support, we'll be here today cooking for tomorrow and re-open for lunch at 11am Wednesday...

Hi y'all. I haven't posted (I don't think) since Charlie Orr died when I replied to the excellent RIP thread someone started. However, this evening I had, what I consider to be, the best meat cooked with wood smoke that I have had in Chicago. For me, it evoked everything I love (and miss) about "BBQ" in the South, where I grew up. In fact, I felt like I was in the South while I was there, so excellent was their Southern-style hospitality.

When Larry Tucker closed N&N long ago, I was at a loss to find a place to compare. Along came Honky Tonk (good stuff) and Smoque (very good stuff). I put aquarium smoking in its own class and Mr. Robert Adams at Honey 1 should get some kind of award for keeping that discipline alive and well in Bucktown of all places. To carefully tend embers all day with a water hose at your side is quite something in today's hurry up world. But back to Rub. I had high expectations when I could smell smoke a block away. I'll just say this and sign off - my high expectations were exceeded at every turn. I am going back as soon as I can with 20 of my closest friends. The brisket and pulled pork were full of smoke, yet perfectly moist. The close slaw was very good too. That is all I had time for, as I pulled over at a whim with my 6 year-old daughter.

Watch us tonight on Chicago's Best TV on WGN at 10pm! They are featuring our smoky delicious ribs as some of the best in Chicago...you'll also get a peek in our Pit Room, at our (Chicago's Only) AN Bewley 1100 Smoker. This is one of the only 100% wood burning pits in the City - proudly built by the fine folks at AN Bewley in Dallas, TX. Tune in, or watch it tomorrow on the interweb....Thanks to all of our customers who appreciate the art of 100% wood smoked BBQ....

Jared
Rub's Backcountry Smokehouse

In case you missed it, here's the video from our Chicagos Best segment last night:

Great segment. I'm not a big rib guy (yet!), but those look really good. Looking forward to trying your place soon Jared.

Jared,

The Chicago's Best ribs looked like they were pretty much fresh off the smoker. Is there a time of day when one is likely to get the freshest ribs- without having to buy out the smoke room or taking a class?

Scott

PS. Your homemade soda was quite good, although there was a creamy component that made it a bit less refreshing than it could have been.

The Chicago's Best ribs looked like they were pretty much fresh off the smoker. Is there a time of day when one is likely to get the freshest ribs- without having to buy out the smoke room or taking a class?

Ribs come out of the smoker twice each day - once in the morning @ 11am (limited quantity for lunch) and the bulk of of our ribs come out around 430-5pm. We load the 2nd round of ribs at noon every day - and they take about 4-5 hours to finish.

Had a hankering for BBQ today and decided to give Rub a try instead of rolling on down to Smoque.

Great sign outside and wonderful BBQ atmosphere indoors. Picnic tables, do-rag country napkins, mason jars, menus out of old blues record albums. If "effort" was all that mattered, Rub would score high marks. Rub definitely wants to be good, it just isn't.

When the food arrived It actually looked very good.

The beef brisket appeared to be cooked properly but lacked any taste whatsoever. It was incredibly bland - devoid of any even nuanced flavor profile. Surprising and disappointing.

The ribs were similar....appeared to be cooked properly but incredibly bland, moreso than the brisket which at least had some fat portions that added a semblance of texture.

Perhaps the quality of the product needs to be reexamined as well as the seasoning. A shame really as the food was cooked properly.

Now, if you are a "portion is the priority" person than Rub's will serve you well....as the quantity of product on the plates was large.

Even the signature rootbeer disappointed. Served in a properly frosted mug my hopes were high, but the rootbeer was served room temperature warm...yuck!

I'm sure that I've had worse BBQ experiences, I just can't remember an instance at present.

Take a pass.

Sorry to hear about your experience. We've always enjoyed what we've gotten from Rub's - especially the brisket. We had Rub's cater a party for us last fall (about 30 people, from all across the country) and to a person, each raved about the ribs, brisket, and sides. Sure, Chicago is probably a much better BBQ town than where some of them came from (places like Memphis TN and Raleigh NC), making Chicagoans more particular about their BBQ, but IMHO Rub is among the better of the North Side options.

Jared,

On average, would you say that the catered food is about the same as at the restaurant, a little better or a little worse?

Feel free to keep your trade secrets and not answer this.

Scott

Just saw few posts I didn't know existed - with questions - from earlier in this (very busy) summer....

So, to Scottsol - catered food better or worse or same? Part of that depends on how it's being served.

Food does travel better in large batches - piles of moist, smoky meat sitting together in a pan tend to stay moist/full of flavor - while individual portions start to dry out as air penetrates slices/pulls of meat.

The one caveat to this is delivery distance/serving time. We work with our clients to ensure freshness of product, and offer setup-serving options, as well as buying chaffing frames/sternos from us. However, occasionally we'll deliver a catering order that sits on a table (no-chaffing frames/sternos) for an hour/two before it's served. In these cases, it's sub-par (and not our fault)...

So, I guess the short answer is it's totally variable and depends on the situation. Just curious - did you order catering from us, or was this just an "In general" question?

...and now that I've worked for it, here's a plug - watch our latest TV appearance on the food network - Eating America w/Anthony Anderson!



It's aired a few times, next airing time is September 14th, 3pm CST on the Food Network

Quick question about that video. I saw about a 2 second shot of a sign that said Salt Creek. What was that about? Did you have some involvement with the Salt Creek BBQ on Devon or was it just a random sign?

Nope, guy in Spearville, KS that builds smokers -

Salt Creek Smokers

BTW - if you look at his website, now he's building pellet cookers - when he first started (and built my pit) he was building real wood burning smokers...guess the demand for set-it-and-forget-it was too high

Just browsing his website, here's pics of my actual pit(one of his first builds) ..pretty cool to see the build start to finish..

Really nice reverse gravity flow all wood burning pits. We used to use it in the restaurant, but outgrew it and bought anAN Bewley 1100 from Texas. Now the Salt Creek pit accompanies the Rub Tub to festivals and will be up at the Rock River BBQ Ranch...

rubbbqco wrote:Nope, guy in Spearville, KS that builds smokers -

Thanks for all the info. I haven't been to your place yet since I rarely get back to Rogers Park. But if it had anything to do with Salt Creek BBQ, well let me say, it would be off my list. Tried it once and wasn't impressed.

midas wrote: if it had anything to do with Salt Creek BBQ, well let me say, it would be off my list. Tried it once and wasn't impressed.

Let me guess!

Too salty?

kenji wrote:

midas wrote: if it had anything to do with Salt Creek BBQ, well let me say, it would be off my list. Tried it once and wasn't impressed.

Let me guess!

Too salty?

No, too creeky.

I had the Hungry Guy meal from here tonight (and should maybe state that it was about 8pm - near closing time), and the ribs and pork were ok, but the chicken was fantastic! It was moist and very flavorful (almost a bit of a carribbean rub?). I could have eaten a whole pound of that chicken, and I normally never get chicken at a BBQ place. The brisket was disappointing though, very dry. Is this an anomaly, or is the chicken their strong suit? Or was I just too close to closing time?

Whenever I've been there, I've always thought brisket was their strong suit. An off night, perhaps?

We had take out brisket from them several months ago, and even after an hour + of travel time, the brisket was still moist and delicious.

mdpilam wrote:I had the Hungry Guy meal from here tonight (and should maybe state that it was about 8pm - near closing time), and the ribs and pork were ok, but the chicken was fantastic! It was moist and very flavorful (almost a bit of a carribbean rub?). I could have eaten a whole pound of that chicken, and I normally never get chicken at a BBQ place. The brisket was disappointing though, very dry. Is this an anomaly, or is the chicken their strong suit? Or was I just too close to closing time?

I stopped going on Tuesdays because the head chef had the day off and the product was not consistent. Not sure if things remain that way.

The brisket comes out of the smoker at opening and the ribs for dinner service are typically ready between 4:30 and 5 PM.

I stopped going on Tuesdays because the head chef had the day off and the product was not consistent. Not sure if things remain that way.

I have some insight on this ... First , the Chef/Pitmaster never has the day off...that's me.

I have given my lead cook, Omar (who's been 14/hours/day 6 days/week for 5 years), Tuesdays off. Early Spring/Summer this year, we had some growing pains running the place without him on Tuesdays. When I need to leave to shop/fix things/run the other side of the business, we have counted on Mr. open-to-close 6/days a week Omar, and that was a difficult adjustment (he had a baby and let his personal life get in the way of work dammit!)...

We brought in a few experienced cooks from the industry (with great resumes) and none of them could seem to serve the BBQ properly and/or know when it's done... Our 14 pound PAB Briskets smoke overnight; with some of the briskets coming out right away for lunch service (11am), and other briskets being timed to come out later in the day for (5pm) dinner service...

Ribs are cooked fresh, twice each day - one round for lunch, one for dinner. Chicken is smoked for 3 hours several times throughout the day as needed. This was a harder technique to train (experienced & educated cooks/chefs) than I imagined. Cooking with wood-buring smokers and unique techniques (tenderness/texture testing rather than specific time/temp cooking) - it takes a lot of gusto to really do it (BBQ) properly. A chef does not a pit master make...

So, we've got a guy running lead on Tuesdays now - with me - that "gets it". He's been with us about 3 years, so it's just sticking around long enough to understand our equipment & system, developing their gusto...

We're also open Wednesday through Sunday Hope to see you again soon Scott, I promise it'll be as good as ever - though a Friday night dinner is always a guarantee - very busy day w/Omar in the kitchen=easy to serve great BBQ!

(edited for minor punctuation/grammar)

rubbbqco wrote:

I stopped going on Tuesdays because the head chef had the day off and the product was not consistent. Not sure if things remain that way.

I have some insight on this ... First , the Chef/Pitmaster never has the day off...that's me.


We're also open Wednesday through Sunday Hope to see you again soon Scott, I promise it'll be as good as ever - though a Friday night dinner is always a guarantee - very busy day w/Omar in the kitchen=easy to serve great BBQ!

(edited for minor punctuation/grammar)

Hey Jared,

I've been around plenty, just not on Tuesdays. I never see you though, probably because you are off somewhere working on your plans for the future RUB BBQ Hegemony. That's why I think of you as the Imperial Chef, not a mere Head Chef.

Tuesdays are very important as all my fave spots are closed on Monday and I start getting the shakes.

Scottsol thx for clarifying, glad we didn't lose you...

mdpilam wrote:I had the Hungry Guy meal from here tonight (and should maybe state that it was about 8pm - near closing time), and the ribs and pork were ok, but the chicken was fantastic! It was moist and very flavorful (almost a bit of a carribbean rub?). I could have eaten a whole pound of that chicken, and I normally never get chicken at a BBQ place. The brisket was disappointing though, very dry. Is this an anomaly, or is the chicken their strong suit? Or was I just too close to closing time?

Went back for a second shot at the brisket, closer to coming out of the smoker time. I got there just after 6pm, and ordered the big guy meal again, with intentions of taking half of it home. So I just ate the ribs and brisket, and both were good. The brisket was definitely better this time, and not dried out; however, I will say that I guess it's just a leaner brisket and I tend to like mine more fatty. It was good and tender with a nice smoke ring though. Ribs were solid. Looking forward to having the chicken and pork for lunch tomorrow!

When you order the brisket you can specify that you want it cut from the point so you will get more fat and bark.

On another point, after many months of avoiding Tuedays I tried it the other day and this time things were within range except for the Meaty Beans which were tepid at best.

Who cares enough about BBQ to bring Post Oak wood all the way from Texas? We do!



This is a pile of post oak - you don't see this wood anywhere else in Chicago.. We've been working on getting this for our AN Bewley smoker for 2 years (Post Oak doesn't grow around here) - and we've finally worked out the logistics to have a steady supply of this heavy white oak wood. It makes a big difference cooking Texas style brisket with this dense, heavy wood from our favorite BBQ state.. #realbbq #texasbrisket

When did you start using the post oak?

Just this past Saturday...