The Last Pit Stop Barbeque

This Lincoln Square BBQ restaurant opened a week ago. A DNAinfo article about the opening touted the former pitmaster from Smokin' Woody's as being a co-owner. And there he was at the restaurant, sitting at a nearby table, larger than life, apologizing to a customer on the phone for a disappointing experience.

Both the pulled pork and the brisket had a stewed, flavorless texture, as if the meat were roasted or boiled. No rub, no seasoning, no smoke flavor. The brisket was very thinly sliced, and the pork came with grease on the plate. Both meats were slathered in sauce, which was a bit sweet but otherwise fine. The portions were large.

Sides were basic. Boring canned beans, iceberg lettuce salad with commercial-grade dressings, good cole slaw, no-sauce mac and cheese (just cheese melted over pasta).

Service was pleasant but slow, and amenities were scarce (no wine opener for neighboring table, paper cups for wine). Room was bright white with several TVs, a blank canvas for the most part.

This was a very disappointing experience. I hope they reassess their cooking process and improve the quality of their meats and sides.

The Last Pit Stop Barbeque
1964 W. Lawrence
Chicago, IL 60640

Thanks for taking one for the team.

spinonejay wrote:...and strategic napkin placement got us out of an awkward refusal of a to-go container.

Did you decline an offered container or your request refused?

BrendanR wrote:

spinonejay wrote:...and strategic napkin placement got us out of an awkward refusal of a to-go container.

Did you decline an offered container or your request refused?

I'm guessing they put used napkins on the plates of food to cover what they didn't eat thus sparing them the embarrassing conversation with the server that the uneaten portion of food wasn't worth saving for later and should be disposed of.

spinonejay wrote:
The bottom line here is that there really is no BBQing, smoking, or even grilling going on here.

I was at Last Pit on Thursday and was not a big fan of the tips, ribs or chicken (although the chicken was pretty good and had more smoke flavor eaten cold the next day) but the brisket was indeed a BBQ disaster as described by spinonejay.

But there is big difference between saying that one could not detect any smoke flavor in the food and saying the food is not smoked. Calvin gave me a tour of the kitchen and when he opened the door to his filled rotisserie unit, smoke billowed out along with the distinct aroma of hickory.

Everyone is entitled to their own opinions, but not their own facts.

Let's calm down here. I walked by the other day and there was no mistaking the smell of smoke. You could smell it from more than a block away. That being said, the place has been open exactly one week. There are multiple very good bbq spots in town where I've eaten shortly after they opened and I probably should never have returned based upon their opening performance. But it takes time -- time to figure out temperature fluctuations; time to figure out smoker performance; time to figure out the timing of customer visits. It's not enough that they have years of experience smoking. Hell, I've been doing it on a very small scale at home for years and I still have trouble perfecting the best way to hold the meat when a meal gets delayed.

So while I don't doubt the OP's meal was well short of expectations, give it time. BBQ places in particular seem notorious for starting off slower than most.

BR, I respectfully suggest that you visit, order a meal, and let me know what you think. I have made many pounds of pulled pork in my day, and I would move to Mongolia before I served the pork that that I had here last week.

Scottsol, there was no smoke smell or flavor in the meats I ate. That's a fact, jack. At home I have mesquite, apple, cherry, sassafrass, alder, oak, and hickory woods. None of them were present during my visit. They may be smoking something, but not the pork or beef that I ate.

Zoid, you are correct, my wife masterfully hid the food so that no to-go box was offered.

If you open a restaurant, you need to be prepared to serve quality product to customers on day one. Go on Yelp, and you will see that most of the reviews are negative. Most of the positive reviews are the only review that posters have written, which suggests that they are fake.

spineojay, I don't doubt that your meal was bad and I agree that restaurants should be ready to serve quality food from day 1. That being said, I've seen this time after time from bbq places in town, some of which have survived and are very well respected now. And it could be a combination of not enough wood, not enough time in the smoker, or holding too long in liquid for service (this dissipating the smoke flavor and ruining the texture). In any event, I'm sure I'll visit -- I'm just going to wait a while. Like you, I've been burned.

Understood, BR.

spinonejay wrote:
Scottsol, there was no smoke smell or flavor in the meats I ate. That's a fact, jack. At home I have mesquite, apple, cherry, sassafrass, alder, oak, and hickory woods. None of them were present during my visit. They may be smoking something, but not the pork or beef that I ate.

As I indicated, I too found the Brisket a big mess and I have no problem with you stating that you experienced neither the taste or smell of smoke. I only object to concluding that "The bottom line here is that there really is no BBQing, smoking, or even grilling going on here." This is very different than stating that you could detected no trace of smoke in the Brisket or Pulled Pork.

From a legal standpoint, the quoted statement is libelous since it is a false and defamatory declaration of fact. Your comments on the taste of the food are fine as they are an opinion.

scottsol wrote:

spinonejay wrote:
Scottsol, there was no smoke smell or flavor in the meats I ate. That's a fact, jack. At home I have mesquite, apple, cherry, sassafrass, alder, oak, and hickory woods. None of them were present during my visit. They may be smoking something, but not the pork or beef that I ate.

As I indicated, I too found the Brisket a big mess and I have no problem with you stating that you experienced neither the taste or smell of smoke. I only object to concluding that "The bottom line here is that there really is no BBQing, smoking, or even grilling going on here." This is very different than stating that you could detected no trace of smoke in the Brisket or Pulled Pork.

From a legal standpoint, the quoted statement is libelous since it is a false and defamatory declaration of fact. Your comments on the taste of the food are fine as they are an opinion.

LOL

Lighten up, Francis.

No one is going to sue LTH or spinonejay, but I though it would help elucidate the difference between an opinion and a statement of fact.

scottsol wrote:No one is going to sue LTH or spinonejay, but I though it would help elucidate the difference between an opinion and a statement of fact.

You don't need to clarify the difference. This is street talk. The statement means that there was no smoke flavor in the meat. I take those statements with a grain of salt because many people have no idea how the food is prepared, or just assume. What IS a fact here, is that there was no smoke flavor with his food and I'm with him on this. If the owner, who should be doing quality control all day, knows the food maybe subpar, and isn't apologetic because he knows he's working out the kinks of a new operation, then he's clueless. He needs to be in 'please bear with us' mode, especially if he knows the product isn't up to par yet. At most, he should be talking to all the customers to see how things really were. I'd tell him.

And speaking of libel/lying, what about all those Vienna Beef purveyors who proudly show the glorious natural casing Vienna beef hot dogs on the posters all over their establishments/food trucks etc, and then pull out a skinless hot dog, usually without a poppy seed bun? To me, that is pure deception. I was just in Steamboat Springs, Colorado and saw a Vienna shack on the main drag. I went up and said hello, noticed natural casing posters and asked, "Do you serve natural casing Vienna's?" He said, "No." I said, "Tell your owner I hate him."

spinonejay wrote:The bottom line here is that there really is no BBQing, smoking, or even grilling going on here.

Ram4 wrote: The statement means that there was no smoke flavor in the meat.

Is that what that means? I was trying to figure that out myself. I agree that it's important to separate fact from opinion, lawsuits or not.

Scottsol, I have been a litigation attorney for 28 years. I have handled several libel and slander cases. I must respectfully disagree with the legal conclusion in your nitpicky response. However, I went back and deleted the sentence that upset you from my original post. All we are happy now?

This post has become really amusing.

Let's please get back to the food, folks. Even (or especially) in 'cue land, original data takes the conversation in the most rewarding directions.

Matt / Santander
for the moderators

I tried Last Pit Stop BBQ this past Wed and can share my experience. The prices are pretty cheap compared to other BBQ places like Honey 1 for example for same amount of food. I ordered the Large Rib tips with sauce on the side for about $11.99 price point. The Rib tips did not have the pronounced smoke flavor and had lack of any spice/rub on them. I did like the BBQ sauce which tasted great with the side of fries that came with the large order of tips. I agree with the other reviewers who mentioned the lack of smoke smell/taste in the end product i tried.