The Pilgrims were not invited to the first Friendsgiving in 1622. The year before all that Puritan-flavored canned cranberry sauce, chalky white meat, and bland so-dry-you-choke-on-it stuffing taught the Wampanoag a lesson. So a few days ahead of November 24, they secretly gathered on the shady side of Plymouth Rock and pregamed their dreary holiday […]
Tag: Barbecue
Texas returns to Mexico with Heffer BBQ at the next Monday Night Foodball
Texas was once Mexican. Texas is Mexican again this November 14 when Heffer BBQ returns to Monday Night Foodball, the Reader’s weekly chef pop-up at the Kedzie Inn in Irving Park. I’m sure you remember back in September, the last time someone parked a 500-gallon offset smoker outside the bar and the sweet haze of […]
Umamicue and Friends smoke out the neighborhood at the next Monday Night Foodball
The mad rush for limited walk-in orders begins at 5:30 PM this Monday, September 19, but you can secure your preorders for this barbecue supergroup right now.
Umamicue brings Texas barbecue—via Asia—to the next Monday Night Foodball
Her name is Odesza. Charles Wong’s bright red, 22-foot, 500-gallon mobile road pit comes from Texas, and so does the barbecue she smokes—at least in terms of method and material. But the flavors and textures of his brisket banh mi and smoked crab rangoon come from other lands. “I’ve always wanted to marry the Asian […]
There’s as much Desi-barbecue, masala cheesesteak, and chocolate as you can handle from Dhuann BBQ Company and Maa Maa Dei at Monday Night Foodball
Sheal Patel’s wife Shelly does not eat beef. That’s not unless it’s the Philly Masala, the gooey Desi-cheesesteak mashup that’s the signature of the Dhuaan BBQ Company, the weekly Pilsen-based pop-up he’s maintained for more than a year. I’ve flipped a couple vegetarians by barbecue over the years, so I know how satisfying that can […]
Dhuaan BBQ Company smokes meat Desi-style
A weekly Pilsen pop-up is moving toward permanence.
Cookbooks for isolates
Lose yourself in two more local food books, about barbecue and ramen
Grill your way through the pandemic
Leela Punyaratabandhu’s new cookbook Flavors of the Southeast Asian Grill is a remedy for isolation.
Give yourself a tongue lashing at Friend BBQ and Gao’s Kabob Sports Grill
Two new Chinatown spots warn of the coming northern-barbecue outbreak.
Smoke is in the air at the Slab BBQ and the Full Slab
Two new barbecue joints shore up south-side barbecue supremacy.
Lamar Moore takes the kitchen at the Currency Exchange Café
Theaster Gates’s Washington Park restaurant may be setting the stage for a soul-food comeback.
Strawdog’s Barbecue scores an 11 on the Honey Boo Boo scale
Robert O’Hara skewers the showbiz of race in this sly satire with a twist.
The Chicago moviegoer’s guide to bucking summer blockbusters
Skip the popcorn movies in favor of a season full of dynamic screenings.
Myron Mixon’s Smoke Show BBQ vs. Rylon’s Smokehouse is a no-contest barbecue showdown
Two new barbecue spots perpetuate low standards.
Dan Whitaker & the Shinebenders work hard for hard-working country fans
Dan Whitaker & the Shinebenders work hard for hard-working country fans, Myth Fest debuts with an ambitious bill of international electronic music, and more.