Anybody been recently? I've got a nephew's 21st b-day on Sunday, and was considering this place. Thanks.

Stewed Coot, here's my $0.02 worth. We were there Saturday night and the place was packed with folks seemingly having a good time. Complimentary pickles were great but chips failed to make the grade. I loved the chicken wings app but didn't care at all for the St. Louis ribs (soft, falling off the bone...no "chew") or pulled pork (dry). Cornbread was fine but hushpuppies were dry, heavy and mealy...certainly not even close to any of the seafood dives in Tidewater, VA where I was first introduced to them...or the light as a feather ones you'd get at an Eastern North Carolina BBQ joint. Sides - mac/cheese was ok, Kobe beans - too long on the steam table - dry and "reduced" . Not enough liquid. Oh...the brisket was dry...machine sliced. We gave our leftovers away.

Very disappointing at a $45 per person price point but seems to be a big hit with the conventioneers. Service was terrible and didn't appreciate having BBQ sauce spilled on my jeans by the busser.

All I could think of was Honey One...

Evil Ronnie

Thanks Ronnie, but unfortunately I found out for myself on Sunday. Brisket was a one bite, push-away item. Ribs tasted ok, but were, as you say, too soft. Greens were fine, side dish of brussels sprouts, and mixed veg were okay. They got quite busy by 6:00. My favorite item was the housemade bread and butter pickles. Oh well...

Had lunch there today, would give it a C+. I loved the pickles and the chips. Unlike some posters who just tasted salt, I definitely noticed some type of spice rub and enjoyed the mildly burnt flavor of the more well-done chips. The brisket sandwich was another thing -- brisket cut into strange (at least to me) 1/2 inch by 1/2 inch cubes, like stew meat. The meat was rather dry and didn't have much of a smoky flavor. The fries were very good, but if I cared about fries, I wouldn't eat at Honey One, which is vastly superior to this place.

My family and I had a really nice meal at Chicago Q last week. The space inside is much larger than it looks from the street, but the upstairs is quite intimate and lovely. We were grateful to have the French doors separating us from a large, loud group of drunken marathoners.

I very much enjoyed the pickles, which were maybe a little sweeter than I usually prefer but otherwise the spicing and cut were very good. My family loved the potato chips so much that they ate them all before I could try one. We started with the appetizer sampler, and then ordered more samplers for our mains. My expectations might have been middling--as it is for most restaurants serving barbecue--but I really enjoyed the pulled pork and found both styles of ribs quite respectable. The chicken was a big hit at my table (I'm not really a chicken gal) as was a single cut pork chop and mac and cheese (perfect bread crumb topping). Like Kasia, I didn't care for the cut of the brisket, and I believe they can do a lot better with their cornbread and fries--I wanted a more discernable crumb for the former and more potato for the latter. The beer list is good. Skip the derby pie with its impenetrable crust.

This was a celebratory meal, and portions were huge, so I actually thought value was OK. In my mind, Chicago Q is raising the bar for restaurants serving barbecue. No, it likely wouldn't beat Uncle John's or Honey 1, but it's better than 90% of "barbecue" in this city. Before a late lunch or early dinner at Chicago Q, I recommend a visit to the nearby Graham Foundation, which some LTHers already know. It's a beautiful building, but I also recommend the exhibit there now through December 17, Nancy Holt: Sightlines. It's an extremely important contribution to the discourse on land art and happens to have been curated by a classmate of mine. Barbecue and land art!

stopped other day for lunch
had smoked chicken wings that where great good smoke
bacon sausage is on the way

I dined at Chicago Q this weekend and I'd say there were some mild positives about the experience even though I was not enamored with the bbq. The space is beautiful, so if you want bbq but you're with a crowd that is pickier about the atmosphere/ambiance, Chicago Q may make for a nice compromise. Service was good throughout the evening. And there were some positives on the food front.

We started with the potato chips and the pickles - both were very nice. The chips were definitely seasoned well - those who could not taste the seasoning in the past must not have been given much or any, because there was no missing the seasoning here. We also had the hushpuppies and I liked them. There were a little denser then the best hushpuppies I've enjoyed over the years, but they were still tasty.

The only meat I tasted was my half slab of St. Louis ribs. They were way too tender for my liking (but not jello), but the flavor and smoke satisfied me.

As for sides, my favorite was the cornbread with honey butter - nice crust, good crumbly dry to moistness ratio, and I liked the way the honey butter melted into the huge slab. Other sides were less impressive. Though some at the table enjoyed the baked beans, I found them too sweet and not smoky. The mac & cheese had a nice texture (crust and pasta) but could have been a little creamier, and I thought the cheese mixture was a little bland.

So I probably wouldn't return to Chicago Q for the bbq unless I had a very strong hankering for bbq and was dining with people who didn't want to eat at one of the non-tablecloth-type places in town. But I was not at all disappointed that I'd protest, as I most definitely do when it comes to Twin Anchors (and sorry, I don't mean to compare the two places).

stopped for late lunch on fri.
brisket chili was outstanding
also had a taster sampler of bacon hush puppies, grilled shrimp,and fried green tomatoes all items where great.
mac and cheese was tops also