Chicken wings with mac and cheese and coleslaw at Q BBQ.
On a recent visit to Green Street Smoked Meats, the guy behind the counter taking meat orders was wearing a Franklin Barbecue t-shirt. Franklin, the lunch-only spot in Austin, Texas, is one of the most lauded barbecue places in the country, and it seemed like a knowing wink to our country's current barbecue obsession that he was sporting a t-shirt from there.
Chicago loves barbecue—in the past year alone, openings have included Green Street, Q BBQ, Smalls Smoke Shack & More, Blackwood BBQ, County Barbeque, Ravenswood Q, and I'm sure I missed some—but we don't have a place that inspires the fanaticism of Franklin. When I went on a barbecue tour of Texas last spring, Franklin was the clear highlight, despite having to wait in line for four hours before tucking into tender, falling-apart brisket, snappy sausages and a bottle of Big Red soda. And I'd do it again. But I haven't yet found a place in Chicago I'd wait that long for. Smoque comes closest, but four hours is a hell of a long time to wait for anything.
Early this month, two promising contenders emerged: Green Street is Brendan Sodikoff's latest restaurant, and he's shown us that he can basicallydo anything, while Q BBQ's two suburban locations get a lot of praise and it just opened one in Lakeview.
So I rounded up three friends (including one native Texan) to try them both last Saturday. Since Q is open for lunch, we started there, take a beer break in the middle to get our hunger levels back up, and then headed over to Green Street for dinner.