Honky Tonk Barbeque

I did find one other reference to Honky Tonk on this site, referencing a street fair on Southport, but that's about it. Well, this weekend I was excited by the aromas of wood burning . . . lots of wood . . . at the Andersonville Midsommarfest. And I noticed the offerings: brisket, pulled pork and chicken. And I also noticed stacks of wood. According to Willie Wagner (I presume the proprietor), he uses mostly applewood and some hickory.

So I tried a pulled pork sandwich from Honky Tonk and I loved it. He said he uses bone-in shoulder, smokes it for about 11 hours, and the results were fantastic. It was $8, slightly more generous portion than Honey 1, and I liked it much more (I'm a huge Honey 1 fan, but I only like, and not love, their pulled pork).

I believe Willie said that he will be opening up an actual restaurant later this year on the south or west side of the city. If the pulled pork is any indication, I would say that this will be a very welcome addition to the ever expanding barbecue scene.

Honky Tonk Barbeque

Agreed. Exceptional food for a street fest. If he shows up at Retro on Roscoe, I'll have a hard time deciding when to stop, what with the Polish nuns, Turkish and cevaps. Has he checked out any Chicago BBQ yet?

http://lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?t=9316

Tried Honky Tonk BBQ for the first time yesterday outside The Hideout's Summer Solstice party & I concur with reports here that it's some seriously good 'cue. I slightly preferred the pulled pork sammy to the brisket (I had two of each over the course of the evening), but both were very good indeed.

The owner's an easygoing guy named Willy, and he told me that he made his first trek down to the BBQ contest at Memphis in May a few weeks ago & took 12th place overall (out of 72 teams), just out of the money (apparently the top ten finishers win cash prizes). Not bad for a first try, methinks....

He also said that he's opening a restaurant on 18th Street near Racine (I mentioned that this had to be pretty close to Carnitas Uruapan & he said that it was, and also that he eats at Uruapan a lot & loves the food there - he highly recommended the Goat at Uruapan, FWIW). The scheduled opening is in late August & I immediately started thinking about doing a "Pork Howevermanywayswecanthinkof" side by side comparison once he gets his place up and running. The obvious two would, of course, be BBQ and Carnitas, but I figured LTHers would have some other ideas too....

I don't see Honky Tonk in the Ribbers list posted on the Naperville Rib Fest web site . Any recommendations from the posted list (see link below)?

http://www.ribfest.net/vendors.php#ribbers

Apparently, HTB is planning a "soft" opening of its restaurant next weekend:

1213 W. 18th St.
Chicago, IL
312.907.7895