P&P BBQ Soul Food

Today for lunch I tried P&P BBQ Soul Food, a relatively new soul food place on Division. P&P has gotten a little bit of press in The Reader and Time Out, but other than a brief mention in the Honey 1 thread, I couldn’t find anything about this place on LTH.

Besides have a small steam table serving daily specials form a rotating list of specialties, they also have a brand spanking new aquarium smoker burning straight hickory logs. It was nice to see the smoker in action. It was still so shiny and new it almost seemed like a prop, but prop it not. Pitmaster Barry had a small fire going and was cooking up his BBQ at a nice low and slow temp. We had the good fortune of getting some tips fresh from the smoker as part of our tip/link combo. The tips are chopped in very thin slices, rather than the bigger chunks that I prefer but were good tasting, if a bit salty. The sauce, served on the side by request, was homemade and very good. It wasn’t too sweet and had a nice full flavor. The links, on the other hand seemed to be pre-sliced and held. They tasted like standard issue Moo & Oink, only dried out. My recommendation would be to stick to the tips, which are worth getting.

P&P BBQ Soul Food Tip/Link Combo


In the soul food dept. we tried two dishes. I had the smothered pork chops, while GWiv had pork neck bones. My pork chops, which came with two sides, were nothing special (I chose stuffing and mac ‘n cheese). They were perfectly fine, but could have used a bit of Mama’s special seasoning or something. I’ve had better versions at other places in town, though these weren’t bad by any means.

P&P BBQ Soul Food Smothered Pork Chops


I’ll leave it to GWiv to comment on his neck bones in detail, but to me the fact that they were served straight up with no gravy or sauce with them wasn’t to my liking.

The people that own and operate P&P BBQ Soul Food are as nice as can be, and quite a bit of effort went into fixing the place up. It’s nice and clean and very welcoming. I’d say that P&P is a real diamond in the rough. If they survive, hopefully they will get their act a little bit better in the kitchen, but judging by the BBQ, they’re off to a good start. Although the soul food is nothing special, the BBQ is solidly at the top of the 2nd tier of BBQ in Chicago and is worth checking out.

P&P BBQ Soul Food
3734 W. Division
Chicago, IL
773-276-7756

In the second photo, what is the bit of gelatinous red stuff? It looks like cranberry sauce, but I don't know what it would be doing there...or what it is dwelling on top of.

Suzy Creamcheese wrote:In the second photo, what is the bit of gelatinous red stuff? It looks like cranberry sauce, but I don't know what it would be doing there...or what it is dwelling on top of.

That is approx 1 tsp of canned cranberry sauce served atop the stuffing.

My first guess was some sort of jam on top of a cobbler, a more appealing prospect to my way of thinking.

Nothing against stuffing, but everything against canned crapberry sauce.

Suzy Creamcheese wrote:Nothing against stuffing, but everything against canned crapberry sauce.

Actually the sweet, slightly astrigent note was a nice counterpoint to the starchiness of the rest of the food. Almost like a palate cleanser.

stevez wrote:

Suzy Creamcheese wrote:Nothing against stuffing, but everything against canned crapberry sauce.

Actually the sweet, slightly astrigent note was a nice counterpoint to the starchiness of the rest of the food. Almost like a palate cleanser.

Oh, I'm sure. And I'd be right there with you if it wasn't canned. Don't mind me, I am still suffering trauma from childhood Thanksgivings.

Not being a rib fan (don't hurt me), I am wondering what other pork products were on offer? I am always looking for a good pulled pork to approximate the ones I enjoy in Memphis.

Suzy Creamcheese wrote:Not being a rib fan (don't hurt me), I am wondering what other pork products were on offer? I am always looking for a good pulled pork to approximate the ones I enjoy in Memphis.

In the BBQ dept, there were also spare ribs and, I think, chicken. That's about it. No pulled pork. I'd think of P&P more as a Soul Food steam table restaurant than a BBQ destination, even though the BBQ seems to be the best thing they serve.

Hi,

My experience ordering pork neck bones in a soulfood restaurant was an overwhelming experience. It may not seem like it, but that take-away container (I ate in) weighed at least 4 pounds).

Charlie's Coney Island, Gary, Indiana (Rene G)


I am looking forward to Gary's comments on his experience.

Glad more people than Mike G have visited P&P BBQ and Soulfood! Do you recall the hours, I remember hearing they close early.

Regards,

stevez wrote:

Suzy Creamcheese wrote:In the second photo, what is the bit of gelatinous red stuff? It looks like cranberry sauce, but I don't know what it would be doing there...or what it is dwelling on top of.

That is approx 1 tsp of canned cranberry sauce served atop the stuffing.

Growing up in a "soulfood eating environment" I knew EXACTLY what that side dish was, and the picture even invoked a little bit of Pavlovian Response.

I'm also interested to hear about the neckbones. No gravy or sauce type substance? Hopefully they were well seasoned.

seebee wrote:I'm also interested to hear about the neckbones. No gravy or sauce type substance? Hopefully they were well seasoned.

Nope. They were pretty much not seasoned, like the rest of the food. As I said, not to my liking.

seebee wrote:I'm also interested to hear about the neckbones. No gravy or sauce type substance? Hopefully they were well seasoned.

Seebee,

Neckbones were served unadorned, lightly seasoned, if at all, and no gravy or sauce. Neckbone meat was tender and rich, though in the future I will ask for gravy or spaghetti sauce. Speaking of neckbones, 15 or so years ago there was a church basement kitchen where I volunteered, twice a week they would make up a delicious simmering cauldron of neckbones in tomato sauce to serve over spaghetti, those remain my neckbone benchmark.

Neck Bones w/black eyed peas, mac and cheese



Rib tips, as Steve mentioned, were solid, fresh from the smoker flavorful with a tasty, if mildly salty, outside crisp and moist pig flesh. I prefer a larger chop, but the smaller chop is a style decision by the pitmaster. Links were a bit dry and very dense, though they were perked by the tangy lightly sweet house made BBQ sauce.

Rib Tips/Links



Of the side we tried yams were my favorite, which is surprising as I typically detest Soul Food style yams, finding them mushy, characterless and headache inducing sweet, P & P's yams were quite restrained in the sweet department and still retained structural integrity.

P & P Yams



P & P made us feel welcome, everyone nice as can be, Barry, who has been working the pits at local BBQ joints for 20 years, particularly so, after all what real BBQ man doesn't like to talk about BBQ.

Barry, P & P BBQ Soul Pitman



Hickory burning in P & P BBQ Soul Aquarium Smoker



Tips and Links on P & P BBQ Soul Aquarium Smoker



Far as C2's question about P & P's hours: 8am to 8pm every day but Thursday when they open at noon.

While P & P is not yet a destination, unless one factors in the overall warm feelings one gets from the restaurant, I will be back to try other soul food daily specials and tips from the hickory wood burning Aquarium Smoker.

As an aside, there is a Honduran restaurant a few blocks west on Division, north side of the street, that looks promising.

Enjoy,
Gary

Cathy2 wrote: Do you recall the hours, I remember hearing they close early.

When we went, they were closing up shop at about 6:50 on a Thursday evening. It looked really slow, but the ladies inside were sweet as could be.