Count me among the folks who liked Q-BBQ overall with minor reservations.

The ribs and sides are the best things in my book. Not impressed with the brisket, and couldn't taste the pork because it was swimming in sweet sauce. But the ribs were very nice. Moist, crisp bark, not too much sauce.

He has 4 sauces on the tables, and they are pretty standard, although the "Memphis" is a bit heavy on the molasses and nothing like anything found in Memphis. The herbed South Carolina Mustard Sauce is superb, but I'm among the few who loves mustard sauces. The herbs made it not really authentic SC, since they usually leave it simple and unadorned. But he has definitely amped it up, much to my liking. Next time I'll try the pork without sauce, and add the mustard sauce at table if needed.

The sides were all very nice, and I especially liked the hush puppies. Certainly sweeter than anything found south of the Mason Dixon line, but hard to stop eating. Good crisp fried, better than average confetti chopped creamy slaw that was not too sweet, etc.

They have a decent beer and wine selection too. For a BBQ joint that is.

I think they are off to a good start and with time will likely tame the brisket and other minor issues. I see he has just added a holding oven, so that should help some.

It's nice to have good Q in LaGrange.

Noticed they deleted my post I had on the facebook page below.
http://www.facebook.com/pages/La-Grange-IL/Q-BBQ/131026188934
Was thinking that was kinda grim. The write up was not to bad just said what I had was so/so. I did include a link to this post and it did stay on there page for a few months then canned! Overall not a big fan off this place we have been to this place 3 times and the last visit about 2 months ago will prob. be it. BIG let down in the rib dept.

I have been catching up on my bbq lately and finally made it to Q. The ribs were the best part of what we had, brisket and pork were also good, links just so so. Sauces were pretty good, but to me the Memphis sweet was not the Memphis I know and love. The side of beans seemed straight out of a can with a bit of brisket added to try and redeem them. The slaw... borrrrring; mac and cheese fair.

Went to Q-BBQ for lunch a couple of weeks ago.

Seems like it's trying to be a direct knock off of Smoque. Decor, menu board, metal trays the food is served on, foil muffin tins that the sides were served in all just made me think of Smoque. Unfortunately the food doesn't meet the level that Smoque does. I had the sliced brisket. Decently tender and moist, but there wasn't really any smoke flavor. I couldn't tell you if that was cooked in a smoker or just in the oven. I liked the hush puppies quite a bit. The cole slaw and fresh cut fries were ok. They initially brought out some green beans covered in cheese instead of fries by mistake. I had to try it and what an abomination this was. Canned mushy green beans with a glob of cheese on top of it. Vile

It was decent enough that I'll be back to try the ribs and pulled pork before I give up on it.

Working soccer games at LT on homecoming night, and had 90 minutes of downtime between the sophomore and varsity games, so I was wandering downtown LaGrange, remembered I had read something about a BBQ place and, voila, found myself at Q's. Very cute place, very cute (well more perky and funny) staff, but I will not bore you with that. Asked what I should have and was pointed to the ribs, so I ordered a slab and then went and sat in the parking lot outside the LT stadium during the pep rally on a glorious fall evening as the sun went down, the band played and the cheerleaders, well, led the roaring cheers.

I was up to here in happy Americana, with a soccer game to go - pretty much blissed out, really with a slab of ribs at my side.

As for the food, I liked it well enough, but it was not without issues.

Hush puppies were fried into crispy submission, overdone really. Tasty enough, but they needed to do some QC there.

Ribs were quite smoky, decent taste and well done given their process. They do use baby backs, smoke them nicely, and then (I bet, at least on Friday night at 5p) hold them somewhere in foil, or equivalent, until an order comes in. Then they sauce them and throw them on a grill to heat them up. The result is a pleasant enough caramelized surface, more sauce than pork taste (even though I ordered sauce on the side), and a softness to the ribs that was, as noted above, not to the point of meat jello, but did not offer the chewy resistance I prefer. The smokiness did hold up to the sauce, however, and I am pretty sure the smoke came from the smoker and nothing else, as I sampled all the sauces (none excited me, tho only the sweet one was bad) and there was no evidence of liquid smoke in them.

I suspect your experience would be very different, much better, if you got ribs right out of the smoker. And maybe I am completely wrong about their process, since I did not ask. In the spirit of science, someone should try to call ahead and see if you can get ribs right out of the smoker, no sauce, no grill. Because it seems like they do all the necessary work, and then go wrong with their hold, heat and serve approach. Not that their approach is an uncommon or terribly bad one, it just does not do justice to the meat and smoke the way I like.

That is what I found anyway.

As for comparisons - Smoque was much better on my one visit specifically because they do not play the sauce and grill game, but this place is better than other west suburban joints (much better than FD's and Chuck's, and somewhat better than Uncle Bub's on most days). Odds are it will be a while before I go back, just because it is not terribly convenient to me, and I tend to Q my own Q, otherwise I might try to dissect the pork and brisket, and see what happens when one gets the ribs right out of the smoker.

It's also their 1st anniversary today - free rib samples until 9 PM. I have not been back recently due to travel route more than product; I find them a significant notch above Famous Dave's and Uncle Bub's and like that you can have decent beer or wine with the offerings right there, without getting to a Lillie's level of overproduced atmo.

I work about 10 minutes away, and have never been tempted to go back. Just average "bbq"(but then again I am spoiled).

Choosing between Q vs Chuck's, Famous Daves, SBR's, and Uncle Bub's is like debating who is the tallest midgit, none are anything special.

I'll defend Chuck's for everything else on its menu, but I avoid the BBQ. It's a pretty mighty midget, though, even if you factor out the 'cue

mtgl wrote:I'll defend Chuck's for everything else on its menu, but I avoid the BBQ. It's a pretty mighty midget, though, even if you factor out the 'cue

Absolutely!!

For inexplicable reasons, and despite the hefty doses of crap I give her about it, the Bride is quite fond of Chuck's pulled pork. She hates to share, so my working hypothesis is that she knows she will never have to share that - I do usually take one small bite to confirm it is still watery and mostly tasteless, and then return to the tasty (and usually Mexican, but sometimes southern/cajun) dish I have ordered.

Obviously Chuck's Q sells, but the attraction eludes me.

As for tall midgets, I nominate myself - I have never had better Q in the western suburbs than mine. But if someone else thinks they do better, let me know. I volunteer to sample and report.

I have been meaning to try this place and I did today for lunch. I had ½ slab of ribs and some brisket. My two sides were beans and fries.

I guess I agree with Meathead. The ribs had a very nice dry rub on them. It reminded me of Memphis style. Although I think the ribs in Memphis are St. Louis and these were baby backs. I thought Q’s ribs were excellent and I would recommend them.

Their four sauces, as have been mentioned, are ok to good, but nothing special. I have always thought sauce was a more a matter of individual tastes. I used a little of the Memphis style on my ribs and I thought that went well. But I would caution just a little.

Jerryg thought that the brisket tasted like pot roast with barbeque sauce. I probably would agree with that. It was extremely tender, but on the dry side with no smoke taste. I would not recommend it.

I didn’t like the beans as much as others. Mine were not like what Santander described. But I did think they had a nice flavor and were not mushy or like something out of a can. The fries were good and fresh cut.

Oh, the meal came with ‘Q-puppies’, their version of hush puppies, which were very good. I can see me going back

D.

Recent data point: very good smoky ribs with a flavorful rub, excellent chicken wings (which very well may have been smoked, then dusted and deep-fried, then sprinkled with rub), nice snappy sausages, average pulled pork, and pretty damn poor chopped brisket (I've had much better there). Hush puppies and fries were crisp, beans a little too sweet this time but tasty. I was honestly happier walking away from this meal than the last several upstart suburbanque visits; it's not going to impress the orthodox but is a clear step up from the franchises.

Q has now opened a place in downtown Naperville, and I went for lunch today, ignorant of the fact it was the same place I had visited in LaGrange. We ordered the sampler platter - couple of ribs, pile of pulled pork, pile of shredded brisket, pile of pulled chicken, 2 hot wings a hot link, 2 sides and Q puppies.

The puppies were much better. The ribs were the same lacquered beauties, so I withdraw my guess that you might get some better ribs right out of the smoker - this is how they do it. Chicken was slightly dry with minimal smoke flavor. Brisket was mushy, again minimal smoke flavor. The pulled pork was better somehow, a little more texture and pork flavor (still no noticeable smoke flavor), though it also seemed to be a pile of crispy bits. The wings were nice, crisp, lightly breaded. The sausage, which seemed mostly like a slightly spicy polish was not bad either. Nice snap, slight tang, slight smoky flavor.

I did not try the cornbread, but was told it was nothing special. Cole slaw had no flaws, but could have used some more seasoning.

So I think the main reason to go to Q is for some smoky wings and a few puppies. As for barbecue, Austin Barbecue in Wheaton, whose quality has been variable, is much better even on its worst day.

Q BBQ is coming in from the suburbs. The barbecue joint, which started in La Grange nearly five years ago, is opening in Lakeview. It will be the third spot for Q BBQ, which also has an outpost in Naperville.

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/ ... to-chicago

Not to be confused with Lee Ann Whippen's Chicago Q on Dearborn.

Dave148 wrote:

Q BBQ is coming in from the suburbs. The barbecue joint, which started in La Grange nearly five years ago, is opening in Lakeview. It will be the third spot for Q BBQ, which also has an outpost in Naperville.

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/ ... to-chicago

Q-BBQ Opening Its Doors Today in Lakeview

http://chicago.eater.com/archives/2014/ ... keview.php

Mrs Willie & I had the mega sampler platter at Q in Naperville on Sat night.

Turkey was outstanding, moist, great smoke, simply divine.

Links were ok but not near the quality/taste of Barbara Ann's or Uncle John's

3 kind of brisket on this sampler platter: burnt ends, chopped, & sliced. Chopped was the best, but that isn't saying much, I'd rather have had 3 kinds of the turkey.

pulled chicken - DRY !!! DRY !!!! DRY !!!! sawdust taste

pulled pork - so-so

ribs - very sweet rub, I did enjoy these as they had a bit of chew and were not jello

two types of wings - spicy & regular - as others have stated above, they seemed smoked, then fried. Good but not up to par with Barn & Co.

gooseberry wrote:I’m no bbq expert but I know what I like and I like Q. This place kind of is like the chipotle-zation panera-zation of bbq in terms of food and atmosphere meaning good quality good tasting food in a cute trendy décor.

If I were the owners, I'd hate to read this.
Last time I was at Chipotle, the steak was inedibly salty, and none of the salsas had any flavor.
The last time I was at Panera, the turkey was a processed, formed, loaf.

I realize that a lot of people enjoy ersatz turkey for some reason, and for some reason, many think that salt should be the primary flavor for overcooked, overchewy steak bits, and paying a premium for those things, I hope to never understand, but, to each, his or her own. If I were a restaurant owner that wanted to champion my food, however, I doubt I'd appreciate a favorable comparison to Chipotle and Panera. From a BUSINESS standpoint, sure. From a "great food" standpoint, absolutely not.

seebee wrote:

gooseberry wrote:I’m no bbq expert but I know what I like and I like Q. This place kind of is like the chipotle-zation panera-zation of bbq in terms of food and atmosphere meaning good quality good tasting food in a cute trendy décor.

If I were the owners, I'd hate to read this.
Last time I was at Chipotle, the steak was inedibly salty, and none of the salsas had any flavor.
The last time I was at Panera, the turkey was a processed, formed, loaf.

I realize that a lot of people enjoy ersatz turkey for some reason, and for some reason, many think that salt should be the primary flavor for overcooked, overchewy steak bits, and paying a premium for those things, I hope to never understand, but, to each, his or her own. If I were a restaurant owner that wanted to champion my food, however, I doubt I'd appreciate a favorable comparison to Chipotle and Panera. From a BUSINESS standpoint, sure. From a "great food" standpoint, absolutely not.

Thats pretty harsh on Chipotle! I think the product they provide is good and fairly priced -- would not describe it as paying a premium. To me a comparison to Chipotle is a positive thing. That said, I would not compare Q to Chipotle, I think they are different in terms of business models and product they are selling

Not really a fan of their bbq offerings I have tried I was drawn to the Naperville outpost by a picture of a smoked corned beef sandwich they have on special right now. Thick cut corned beef, "housemade" sweet cabbage, horseradish sauce - sounded and looked good

It was:

couldnt decide which pic I liked better:






salty corned beef, tender- a really tasty product - worked great with the sweet cabbage - next time im asking for extra of that on there.. at $10.99 plus a side a pretty good deal Ill be heading back for before its done.

Tossed it up on the LaGrange thread as it is offered at all of their locals right now.

Fresh off its first-place win in the People's Choice category at this year's Ribfest Chicago, Q-BBQ is opening new restaurants in Oak Park and Schererville, Ind. They'll be the fourth and fifth locations for the barbecue joint, which got its start in La Grange nearly seven years ago and has since opened outposts in Lakeview and Naperville.

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/ ... d-heats-up

Dave148 wrote:

Dave148 wrote:

Q BBQ is coming in from the suburbs. The barbecue joint, which started in La Grange nearly five years ago, is opening in Lakeview. It will be the third spot for Q BBQ, which also has an outpost in Naperville.

http://www.chicagobusiness.com/article/ ... to-chicago

Q-BBQ Opening Its Doors Today in Lakeview

http://chicago.eater.com/archives/2014/ ... keview.php

Q-BBQ is permanently closed at 714 W. Diversey Parkway, a restaurant rep confirmed.

http://chicago.eater.com/2016/9/21/1300 ... hard-water