Hillery (Hillary) & Cook BBQ in Maywood

Having seen only a cursory, not-so-positive mention of this place on LTH, I thought I'd post about my lunch today. I've been doing some work in Maywood, and Hillery & Cook was recommended by a friend in the police department. I usually find that cops are an excellent source of good-eats recommendations. Today was further evidence of that.

I ordered the rib tips, pictured below (my first LTH picture post!), and really enjoyed them. Crispy blackened outside and reddish, smoky interior topped with a mild, vinegarry sauce. The friendly folks running this place use a relatively standard aquarium smoker, from what I could gather. The fries were the ho-hum frozen type, but were fried to a nice, well-done crisp. While not destination bbq, Hillery & Cook is worth a stop if you find yourself in the neighborhood.





Note conflicting spelling of Hillery in the 2 signs. "Hillery" as opposed to "Hillary" was used on the menu and inside signage:


Hillery & Cook Barbecue
1200 S 17th Ave, Maywood
(708) 344-3599

I've eaten a Hillary and Cooks a number of times, owing to my time spent in residency at Loyola. Like most (if not all) barbecue joints, this place suffers from a bit of inconsistency. I have had wonderful, smoky, porky, chewy tips but have also had tasteless tough shoe leather with barbecue sauce tips. Fries were good - sloppy soggy from tips placed on top. The "homemade sausage" was oily and hot - but I don't generally like hot links anyway...

I think the bad reports on the forum reflect that H&C are probably off more than on - although my own experience was about 50/50. I couldn't agree more with the OP, though - worth a stop if you are in the area but no reason to drive out there.

I must give them points for one item that is essential for any self respecting barbecue dive: cartoons of anthropomorphized animals often cannabalizing their own kind with large toothy smiles.

Best,

veeral

I was one who posted not so favorable comments on this place. I do realize that q joints can have off days, and I can only hope that if others go, they will not have the same experience I did. That being said, if I were anywhere near that area, and needed q, I'd choose the Coleman's that's practically right there with not really a thought about trying H&C again.

Coleman's BBQ:
1008 S 17th Ave, Maywood, IL 60153

Hmm. While searching for Coleman's info, I found this. Anybody have any intel?

Griffin's Heavenly Barbeque
50 S 19th Ave, Maywood, IL 60153

I miss Ernie's BBQ and Beauty Salon, that used to be on Fifth Ave.

I've had Coleman's a number of times and enjoy it. I also go to the Coleman's on Cicero Ave on the West Side. The Cicero Ave. locaton is more consistent in my opinion.

Recently I've swayed away from the Maywood BBQ in favor of Broadview fried chicken that you can actually sit down and eat and not have to take it to go:

Uncle Remus Restaurant
1426 W Roosevelt Rd
Broadview, IL 60155
(708) 681-4105

It's even better than the Remus that used to be in the back of the TNT Lounge at Lake St. and Halsted.

That Uncle Remus is just around the corner from a Harolds Chicken Shack. Is it better? I am a big fan of the 6 wing basket from Harolds.

I have an affinity for West Side chicken. Uncle Remus is better than Harolds.

That is good to hear, I may be moving into the building next door.

So, the topic of H&C came up again, and I figured I'd give them another go. Today's visit was not nearly as bad as the first time.

Saw this sign on the side of the bldg:


Specials Board:


Went with a tip link combo:


Overall, I wasn't hugely disappointed.

Tips:

The tips had very little smokey flavor if any, so it was kinda like eating roasted pork, and the barky like outer layer was like eating a nicely caramelized bite of ham. Wish they had a LOT more smoke flavor. This part of the 11.50 combo was kind of ripoffy. I understand the price of bq because of the care it takes to smoke properly. This was not smoked well at all. It was roasted pork. It was definitely made in the smoker, but something wasn't tended to properly.

Links:

Very fine grind on these. They were very lightly spiced, not aggressive at all, and I kinda liked them. Not very salty like some can be. If they packed more heat, and a coarser grind, I'd like them a lot.

Sauce:

The sauce is a majorly weak point here. I've had a super duper cheap foodservice brand that this reminded me of. Can't place the name of it tho. This was better suited as a french fry dip than bq sauce, IMO. Reminded me of watered down Open Pit, doctored up with ketchup and vinegar.

Slaw, white bread, fries:
Fries were limp, greasy foodservice garbage. I am prejudiced regarding slaw. One bite or whiff of cheap, orvill kent, sugar laden slaw will ruin a meal for me, so I didn't bother cracking the cover on it. There are some places that I just assume use sugar slaw for their sides.

I'd have to be pretty hard up for Q to go back here since I know how to smoke my own, and I also know of a place on 69th that can smoke rings (tee hee) around Hillery & Cook's, but really, it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.

And for those who lamented the loss of the Coleman's down the block from H&C, guess what I saw in the old space...

seebee wrote:So, the topic of H&C came up again, and I figured I'd give them another go. Today's visit was not nearly as bad as the first time.

Specials Board:


Went with a tip link combo:



This part of the 11.50 combo was kind of ripoffy.

You must not have been there between 11 and 3? As Kennyz said it is not "destination bbq" but the small tip combo special still beats the pants off any fastfood chain combo meal. That and its proximity to the xway make it worthy of a once a year stop in my rotation.

I called in and ordered a tip/link combo around 12:30. I had no idea there was a smaller special until I got there and saw the sign. I'd bet that when the tips are on, that's a pretty good lunch special indeed! I'll stop in for that lunch special in the future, I'm sure, as I've been doing a lot of half days in the office, half days at home (like yesterday) and it's generally on my way home. If I could get them on a good tip day, I'd be ecstatic.

How has the customer service been?

LAST time I stopped in, the woman was sweeping the floor. I held open the door for her so she could sweep the debris out and get the steps. I thought I might get a nob of ackowledgement or even a "thank you". Instead, she swept the crap onto my shoes and went back inside.

Third tier bbq is betther than a lot of the food out there but I ain't going back.