LTH,

Finally made it to Calvin's, very BBQesque looking place, from the rolls of paper towels on the table to the slightly shop-worn, but clean as a whistle, interior. They even have, as has been mentioned, a parking lot. A big plus on a busy stretch of Armitage Ave.

I had a 1/2-slab of baby back ribs, no spare ribs on offer, and crisp fries. Fries had a nice crunch, good outside texture, but the slightly dense logs of food service fare were lacking in overall flavor. The sweet potato fries appear to be made in-house, I'm thinking that's the way to go, fench fry wise.

I'd rate Calvin's ribs 1/2-step below Fat Willy's which I consider edible, but not someplace I'd take a visiting BBQ man for lunch. I thought Calvin's ribs could have used another 45-minutes or so on the smoker, the meat was tough* and there were pockets of unrendered fat just below the surface. Sauce was pretty good though.

Ribs are cooked, as Rene G and Seth pointed out, on a gas fired rotisserie Southern Pride, held until service, then finished on a gill.

Overall, aside from the ribs themselves, I liked the place. It had a nice feel......Oh, I forgot to mention the best thing about my meal, the complimentary salad that came with the 1/2 slab. Nice mix of fresh lettuce and crunchy croutons lightly tossed with a tasty dressing.

Maybe next time out I'll try the Seth Z approved catfish and sweet potato fries.

Enjoy,
Gary

*I am not a fall-off-the-bone meat-jello BBQ kind of guy. When I say tough I don't mean toothsome.

So, we had tried Calvin's once before and found the tips decent (but not as good as Honey 1), and the pulled pork quite tasty, moist, and with lovely burnt bits. I wanted to get a pound of pork and a pound of brisket to bring to a friends house for a card game. After being told that Smoque was out of pork, we opted for Calvin's. The pork was decent, but not much smoke flavor and not as good as the first time. The "brisket" was undeserving of the name and hands down the worst I've ever had.


There was no smoke (or any other) flavor. It was gray, leathery, dry, and clearly sliced hours earlier and sitting in steam tray. I'm not exaggerating when I say that it seemed like boiled slices of meat. The couple reviews here that have mentioned the brisket have not been glowing, but more lukewarm than really negative. Understanding the inherent variability in BBQ, I thought it worth a shot. However, I have to think that any place capable of producing even decent brisket would not be willing to sell what I was sold.

Oh, and yes I would have returned it, except that I got it to go.[/img]

Just to add my two cents, both meats combined gave off the same amount of smoke as a videotaped campfire.

We had gotten the pulled pork by the pound previously. Combined with the Carolina Mustard sauce noted above, it was quite tasty. Griffin made this again for our friends last night, and indeed it was the highlight of the meal (the sauce, and by transitive property the pork, even though on its own the pork was less smoky and moist this time around).

For sides we got the greens. I did not find these oversalted (I expect a good amount of salt and the amount was not too much). There were some chunks of gray pork mixed in which was a little unattractive.

The sweet potato fries were greasy and limp. We only had to travel 2 blocks with them and I thought they'd be able to make it. Apparently not. Although I don't know if they were even crisp when we got them.

Cole slaw was mayo-based with some carrot. A little soupy. Not so interesting. The corn bread was good but a little dry.

To their credit, they did put the sauce on the side as requested.

griffin's wife wrote:Just to add my two cents, both meats combined gave off the same amount of smoke as a videotaped campfire.

I am so stealing that line.

I fully expect that line to be the new "quote thingy" at the top of the page soon.

Ribs aren't on the list of things I enjoy eating and Calvin's is not in my regular pattern of travel, so I'd not sampled any of the food from there until yesterday afternoon when I saw Calvin's booth at the RibFest on Lincoln Ave. There were long lines of people waiting to buy from other places, but nobody at Calvin's - not more than one or two people walking up now and then, as I watched from across the street. I passed the place by and had a rib sampler elsewhere - from Cordis Bros. Supper Club (they were okay to my taste, meaty, tender and there was a tasteful sauce). I had, also, a pulled pork sandwich from one of the Irish restaurant booths - okay fare, nothing special. Then, before I left I tried another pulled pork sandwich - from Calvin's (no wait, nobody, in line in front of me), and I was sorry I'd not had the Calvin's sandwich first. The pork was chunky, smokey, better to eat without sauce on it than with (but the sauce was good, too). That sandwich from Calvin's was one of the best of its kind I've ever eaten. Now I have a reason to make my way to Calvins, to try other things on the menu.

Calvin's is way good!

I like it not crowded -- so please everyone don't show up!

I love their Pulled pork (cheaper than H1, larger portion and better tasting IMHO).

Ribs are fantastic as well.

The only barbecue my wife will eat is barbecue chicken. There's something about the way they do it here that has earned them her affection. When it comes to their ribs, however, this is the lousiest attempt at southern-style ribs I've ever had. The meat was tough, they had virtually no smoky flavor, and they tasted like they were cooked with barbecue sauce on them. Plus they came drenched in more sauce after I had specifically asked for it on the side. To be honest, I'd rather have Carson's/Gale Street/Twin Anchors-type ribs than to these nasty things ever again.

They were probably smoked and then held in sauce, which would explain both the flavor and why they were drenched in sauce.

Next time, stop at Honey One for the ribs/tips/links and then pick up your wife's chicken.

I think that Calvin's sides, especially the potato salad, are pretty excellent. I'd get some ribs at Honey 1 and build out the rest of your meal at Calvin's. I have enjoyed the pulled pork there, too.

gleam wrote:They were probably smoked and then held in sauce, which would explain both the flavor and why they were drenched in sauce.

Next time, stop at Honey One for the ribs/tips/links and then pick up your wife's chicken.

I've been to Honey 1 three times now. Notwithstanding all the rave reviews it gets here, there won't be a fourth time. Every single time I've gone I have found their ribs to be tough and chewy. And two out of the three times when I asked for sauce on the side, the ribs came drenched in sauce anyway, and when I ordered a pulled pork sandwich without cole slaw, it came with cole slaw anyway. I can appreciate that even good places will have an off-day, but I tend toward a "three strikes and you're out" policy.

Hola Everyone:

Just spoke to Chef Calvin Woods (my pal & client) yesterday, he tells me he closed Calvin's BBQ this month. In case anyone wonders why, he said there were two things main factors that contributed to his decision to call it a day: 1. His lease was up and 2. He had open-heart surgery a couple of weeks ago.

I didn't speak to him long, so I have no idea what the future holds for him in the BBQ biz. Beyond that, here's wishing him well & getting quickly back to his fun, entertaining, larger-than-life old self.

marty

Hi,

Thanks for the sad news. Your information prevents people from planning a trip to a closed restaurant.

I hope his recovery is uneventful.

Regards,

Was just going to post that I had noticed Calvin's was closed with bright green City of Chicago stickers on the doors. Not sure which ones these are though as I didn't get close enough.