Pecking Order

-Grubbing in Chicago
New to the 'Scene'

When I first heard about the new Filipino grilled chicken spot called Pecking Order I was very excited about what I read. It sounded to me like it was going to be some genuine comfort cooking from Kristine Subio who stepped down as chef at the W Hotel's Wave restaurant. She recently opened this gourmet chicken shack over in Ravenswood on Clark street and brought some of her family recipes with her.


New hot spot on Clark Street in Ravenswood

After reading a few mixed reviews here and there I wanted to give them the time it takes to get everything going so that it's flowing perfectly as far as both food and service. The service part they seem to have down as our server was very good and really helpful.

A peak inside

So how about the food? I liked that too. My buddy who had wanted to check Pecking Order out and I decided to try a few things and when we left we were stuffed in that same way you were after leaving grandmas. We started with an order of wings which come by the pound and along with those we got a large bowl of their garlic rice and a half grilled chicken with plaintains and corn shucked off the cob.


Pecking Order's Fried Chicken Wings

The wings were fried a little past perfect but were still very good when flooded in the housemade banana ketchup and vinegar oil at each table. The sides were all pretty damn good especially the garlic rice which we also tried with chicken gravy on top but I liked it better plain. I had to get a large order to go so that I could eat some at home the next day.

Garlic Rice

The chicken comes in three different ways at Pecking. They do it fried with Filipino seasoning, roasted where it comes stuffed with lemongrass and ginger and is slow cooked rotisserie style while being basted with butter and you can get it grilled. Grilling takes a little extra time because they do it to order and baste the chicken with their secret marinade reduction while doing so. The chicken came deboned with the exception of the leg and we both thought it was very good.


1/2 Grilled Chicken from Pecking Order

They seem to be on track and we both said we would go back. This place doesn't necessarily fall into the "cheap eats" section of eating out however they do serve cocktails which are fairly priced at $6 a piece. We ended with the halo halo shaved ice which our server described as not the authentic version of the Filipino favorite but a very good one and he was right. This isn't much like the Hawaiian shaved ice you might be used to but it was very tasty with real chunks of fruit mixed in with the ice. I liked. See ya next time at S'C&C.

Halo Halo Shaved Ice

Pecking Order
4416 North Clark Street
Chicago, IL 60613
(773) 907-9900
Website