Fredine's BBQ House (West Side)

Have not seen anything on this establishment so I stepped in yesterday and thought I'd post. Having been in the west 'Humboldt Heights' area (gotta love the creativity of realtors and landlords) a number of times during the past 3 months for work, I had noticed this storefront on the north side of Chicago Ave. but just made it in yesterday with a co-worker. It's just down the street from Feed, and I'm sorry I had not gone in sooner. The first good sign was the telltale plume of smoke rising from the chimney atop the roof. Inside, the furnishings don't even approach spartan - a narrow standing room only galley order area replete with 3 inch glass and lazy susan food distributor separating the kitchen from the customer. But, it was clean, and the folks behind the glass including Ms. Fredine (overseeing the kitchen), a grillman and a cashier were all smiles and very friendly which you don't always get in places where you have to order through glass. They use the standard issue aquarium smoker though when the grillman opened the firebox to spray some water on the fire the wood smoke smelled like combination of hickory and oak rather than straight hickory.

The menu focuses of course on bbq, though they do also serve wings, fish and sandwiches. I ordered the mini-tip which at $5.00 was a value and plenty of food for the money. The tips were solidly good. Nice char on the outside, good smoke flavor and chopped and sauced to order from the smoker. Two things I liked about the tips:
1) they were chopped into just the right size for my taste. I like them chopped somewhat thin against the grain of the cartilidge and these were perfect in that respect - nice thin 1/2 to 1 inch chunks. It's one thing that I'm not so crazy about with H1 and Heckys - the big chunks of tips.
2) They have a lighter sauce that gives the tips good zest/zing without overpowering or drowning the tips. It's a little thinner and tasted like it had a little vinegar base to it. Very complimentary to the tips.

I will say the tips were slightly on the chewy side, though I'd probably chalk this up more to our relatively early arrival for lunch (11:45am)rather than any quality issues with the meat. The mini-tips came with 2 slices of bread and fries which, aside from their primary role as an absorption medium, became quite a treat in and of themselves once they had a chance to marinate in the sauce. It was definitely enough for a full lunch for me, and I can eat.

Prices in general are reasonble, with full slabs running $15, half slabs $10, large tips $9 and small tip/link combo $9 as well. Catfish, buffalo, perch etc. dinners run @ $7.50-$8.00, and of course they had the ubiquitous pizza puff for a princely sum of $1.50. It's a separate topic, but what is up with the pizza puff and why does everyone have it on their menu? My son likes them well enough, but I just don't understand the attraction.

In summary, I liked the tips and especially the sauce, which if you are not a fan of the thick and sweet you might enjoy as well. It's definitely a place I'll be back to to try their ribs and wings and since it's been awhile since I've had it, the buffalo...

Fredine's BBQ House
3334 West Chicago Ave.
773.826.5419
Mon-Thurs: 11am-2am
Fri/Sat: 11am-4am