Bro-N-Laws BBQ

-Grubbing in Chicago
Where the locals eat.

If you hadn't already heard it's with sad news that I inform you Honey 1 has taken off for Bronzeville. Of course it could be much worse and they could be completely shutting down giving the city one less Chicago style aquarium smoked BBQ. But it still makes for a drag for those on the Northside who frequented their now old Bucktown location. The good news is there's a relatively unknown smoke shack located West on Chicago avenue that may be able to satisfy your tips and link craves.

Chicago Style Smoke Shack on the city's West Side 

I first heard of Bro-N-Laws rebirth when Mike Sula did a little piece on them for The Reader, or maybe it was over at LTHforum, either way the respective people that wrote each review visited the new location together. Bro-N-Laws used to be a little bit East until moving into new digs last year.

Restaurant Artwork on the Wall

The Q received some good words from both guys who tried it and one day when riding by I got a whiff of smoke and decided to see if the consistency was there. It's not easy to put out consistently good meat but it seems as if lunch hour is the time to get here. I ordered a small tips/links combo and came away quite pleased. Pungent smoke aroma filled my car and the well rendered meat was just at the point where it resists for a split second before giving into your craves. I'm not saying it's better than Honey One but it's good and is probably the closest Northside option for this style now. 

Rib Tips and Hot Links 

Bro-N-Laws BBQ
3820 W Chicago Ave
Chicago, IL 60654
(773) 227-8344

Mott Street

-Grubbing in Chicago  
New to the 'Scene'

After a good year+ on my "to get too" list I finally got over to Mott St. for dinner recently. The Asian fusion restaurant from Edward Kim of Ruxbin down the block opened up to mostly good reviews. The normal weekend diners much like myself certainly like it as it was packed around 10p on a Saturday. There were a few seats open at the bar so we just walked in and sat down. The front of the house was on point as they made sure to let it be known I could park in back which saved me tons of time searching for a spot in an area without many.

Newly Popular spot on Ashland

Our dinner would end up being a step below the service. Our bartender was great and everyone working at the place seemed to genuinely be happy that they were there. The food was hot and miss though, I hate to be critical but it just wasn't what I was hoping for. I wouldn't be opposed to going back but that would have to be with a group of people of which one of them organized a dinner there. With there being just two of us on this trip we still ordered four items but none of them have made for craves afterwards. The chicken wings were massive, not the way I like them. Too big but they were pretty good. I enjoyed the tzatziki sauce served on the side. The brussels sprouts were again, too big. I like one bit pieces not portions I have to eat with a knife and fork. The crab brain fried rice was pretty good, loved the crispy bits but thought there was a lack of funk, certain flavors were missing. Lastly the stuffed cabbage had potential but didn't meet it.  Napa kimchi stuffed with pork butt and sticky rice, pan seared sounded terrific but ended up being way too salty. Maybe it was an off night.

EVERYTHING WINGS - crispy wings glazed with soy, jaggery and dried chilis, tossed with sesame, poppy seed, fried shallots and served with tzatziki

BRUSSELS SPROUTS - wok fried with lamb pancetta and maple brown butter

CRUNCHY CRAB BRAIN FRIED RICE - crab brains, chinese sausage, coconut, bean sprouts, lime

STUFFED CABBAGE - napa kimchi stuffed with pork butt and sticky rice, pan seared

Mott St.
1401 N Ashland Ave
Chicago, IL 60622
(773) 687-997
Website

Son of a Beef

-In Chicago: Every Dog Has it's Day

Son of a Beef was first brought to my attention by a poster over at LTHforum. Located not far from 26th and California by the Cook County jail they've been open for about a year now, maybe less than that. I've stopped in twice and while I haven't been brave enough to see if their Italian Beef truly is homemade I have ordered a couple other interesting items off their menu.

Chicago style fast food stand in Little Village

On my first visit I went in with the intent to try one of their state fair style hot dogs that was showcased in the post where I learned of the place. But then after browsing the menu and spying carne asada fries on it I switched up my plan. I've only seen this San Diego specialty at a few spots in town and that's too bad. Basically this popular regional eat is nachos using fries instead of chips and when done right it can be really good. Think about it, take your favorite fries and throw your favorite steak taco meat on top with some guac and other common toppings, whats not to like?

Carne Asada Fries

While these weren't quite up to par with the other offerings I've tried they did have some good stuff in them. Specifically the fries which come fresh cut and seasoned. The steak seemed to be either steak-umm meat or some thing to that effect. The toppings were just ok. Not bad but nothing special. Then there's the tornado dog which is made by taking two wieners and putting a stick thru them. They then wrap a drilled potato around the outside and deep fry the entire thing. You can get them Chicago style but that isn't ideal for eating the thing. Actually there's no good way to tackle it. I tried mine with chili, cheese, and raw onion and still had to eat it with my hands. When I did this I was immediately transformed back to the State Fair which we attended a couple times in my youth.

Tornado Dog with Chili and Cheese

Son of a Beef
2524 S California Ave
Chicago, IL 60608
(773) 847-3080

PikoRiko Pollo

-Grubbing in Chicago  
Columbian Eats

A few months ago a dope restaurant caught my eye on North avenue that specializes in Colombian style Pollo al Carbon. PikoRiko Pollo is a family owned Colombian Rotisserie that has an indoor rotisserie machine that holds charcoal which they rotate some heavily seasoned birds over.

Humboldt Park

One of the best cheap eats meals I've ate of late is a half chicken served with some pretty normal sides of boiled potatoes and plantains but they work well as a whole. The succulent smokey chicken meat dipped in housemade salsa verde is tongue candy. Same price as a case of water at the store.

Half of Rotisserie Chicken served with potato and sweet plantains

Last month I tried the mini Bandeja Paisa platter. This is a much loved Colombian style lunch plate popular in it's homeland for the amount of food it includes. That was obvious in the fact a mini could've passed for a large and I wouldn't of thought twice about it. PikoRiko serves a traditional plate as far as what comes on it. You get steak, chorizo, chicharon, arepa, egg, plantain, rice, and beans. At $8.95 this is yet another great bang for your buck meal. I ate the whole thing as a late lunch and was good until later the next day. They also do a daily soup special I've been wanting to try. Check them out.

Mini Bandeja Paisa Platter

PikoRiko Pollo Colombian Rotisserie
3625 W North Ave
Chicago, IL 60647
(773) 666-5059
Website

The Port Washington Smelt Fry

Eating like a local:
Regional food specialties
-The Start of Spring in Wisconsin

Next week is the most popular weekend of the year in the beautiful lakeside town of Port Washington. Located about 20 minutes north of Milwaukee, the towns local American Legion will be putting on their 64th annual Smelt Fry April 10th and the 11th of 2015. Back when the now gone fisheries were still hauling in super-loads from Lake Michigan little smelt fish were the sign that Spring was here. These days the smelt fry has taken over the duty. I got to attend the 63rd annual fry last year and waited until now to post about the experience, giving you plenty of time to make plans to take your first post-winter daytrip to one of the more iconic dinner socials in Wisconsin.

 American Legion Bar Post 82 

When the Legion held it's first of many fry's the little fish that are fried whole were so abundant in the lake that people fished them with buckets, hauling in 100's on each scoop. Sometime around the 90's the population took a drastic downturn but the festival never stopped. The smelt comes from up the lake and the people that attend come from all over the region. A few things I remember were how damn near everyone knew each other and there were 100's of people by the time the party got going. I also remember the average age median to be over 50 but that dropped a decade by going into the bar attached the dining room filled with the early birds on my visit. No worries the line moves fast.

a peek inside 

Smelt might sound unappealing but they have a mild fishy taste that when fried and made crispy can become flat out addictive. You'll see people putting them down like fries. Last year the entry ticket was $12 and that got you a plate which could be used for all the little fried fishy's you can eat as well as fries, rye bread, and one complimentary drink which could be either beer or pop. It's a great deal, smelt were always cheap and because of that and the fact you're easily able to fry them whole propelled them to a popular party eat. Smelt Fry's are still a thing and this one is the headliner.

Fried Smelt Plate

I enjoyed my first plate with a High Life at the bar and then went for round two which I took to one of the picnic tables across the street. The Legion is located right on a public park which sits right on the lake. After the brutal winter that was, this was one of the most gratifying meals I had all year.

Port Washington, Wisconsin

American Legion - Port Washington
435 N Lake St Port
Port Washington, WI 53074
(262) 284-4690
Events Page

Maoz Vegetarian

-The Sammy's of Chi (land)

Before recently taking off for a winter wedding in Mexico I needed some sandals, new swimsuit etc. So I headed over to the Fashion Outlets in Rosemont. In case you've never been it really is one of the best outlet stores I've ever shopped. They have a huge food court and since today starts my journey as a vegetarian I thought this stop was the perfect fit. Yep you read that right, I'm switching up my diet and going green. It wont be easy but as least I have spots like Maoz Vegetarian to help me ease into it. When I spied this stall while snooping around I had a flashback to when one of my good friends had told me of his plan to bring this awesome falafel shop from Amsterdam to Chicago.

Located in the Fashion Outlets of Chicago Food Court

Damn! I said as I realized this was the place he spoke of some 5-10 years ago. He'd found Maoz on a trip to Amsterdam and was really passionate about bringing them to the States. Looks like someone else beat him to the punch. I tried a piece of falafel they were handing out as samples and thats all it took to get me to order a sandwich. It's a Chipotle like setup in line. You choose your sandwich, bowl etc and then point out what you want on it from the colorful condiment bar. I got whatever looked good and it ended up being a satisfying lunch. The line was deep by the time I ordered so the falafel balls were being fried fresh helping the sandwich hit the spot. Oh yeah, April Fools, I aint eating no damn salad for the rest of my life. Plenty of non-vegetarian posts to come.

Falafel Sandwich from Maoz Vegetarian

Maoz Vegetarian
5220 Fashion Outlets Way
Rosemont, IL 60018
(847) 928-7500
Website

Velvet Taco

-Grubbing in Chicago  
New to the 'Scene'

The first Velvet Taco to open outside of the Dallas-Fort Worth area was destined to be in the Viagra Triangle. The taco shop with a funny name has plenty of sexual puns in it's menu descriptions. I recently found out that if you can look past them, you may come to like this fast casual taco shop.

Newly Opened in the Gold Coast neighborhood

Lets get the fine print out of the way first. I tried Velvet Taco after they reached out via email and invited me to come on in and give my opinion. Sure why not, I'd heard of Velvet Taco thru my travels to Texas and took note of the Chicago opening when I first heard the news.

The Menu Board (click pic to enhance)

Velvet taco specializes in "chef driven" taco creations. The word fusion gets thrown around here and there when it comes to tacos but these would be a prime example of them. Broken down by meat on the menu board each taco is basically a specialty dish, from a cuisine other than Mexican, that gets put into a tortilla. The offering of a fried piece of paneer allows for most all of the options to be ordered Vegetarian. You can also replace the tortilla with a lettuce wrap. You just walk in and walk up to the counter and place your order and get a number which they find you by when your tacos are good to go. There's two floors and the upstairs consists of a handful of large communal tables with lots of light shining in thru the windows overlooking State street. Liquor is available and as should be the case with an import from Texas, they make a formidable frozen margarita.

Frozen Margarita

Aside from tacos they have a few other eating options including a "backdoor" rotisserie chicken. Served as a to-go item you just walk up to the backdoor and purchase one of their fire roasted rotisserie chickens whole. It comes with two sides of elotes, six housemade corn tortillas and a trio of salsas. The pre-taco option of crisp tater tots served with herbed goat cheese, smoked cheddar, avocado crema, real bacon bits, and a local egg on top is a winner. They stay open late so I expect this dish to be popular with the after-bar crowd though I still loved it during the day when sober.

Crispy Tots

Onto to the taco options. They have 15 of them including two frittata breakfast style offerings. While those are available all day I chose to go with six different lunch/dinner options. Pictured in order below from left to right are the Rotisserie Chicken, Crisp Tikka Chicken, Cuban Pig, Crisp Pork Belly, Bacon Burger and the Fish n' Chips. Delivered on the ever so trendy taco racks.

Velvet Tacos

First up you have to try and be open to enjoying this place and understanding of the fact that if you go in expecting credible Mexican flavors you may leave disappointed. That said the only Mexican taco option, the Rotisserie Chicken, was a winner in my book. They made the usually boring chicken taco much better without frying it or any ingredient in it. Hand pulled chicken from the birds they roast in the open air kitchen is topped with white queso, roast corn pico de gallo and a smoked poblano salsa. The corn tortillas are made on site. This one was simple and that's all it had to be.

Rotisserie Chicken (L) Crisp Tikka Chicken (M) Cuban Pig (R)

Other options were hit and miss. I liked the overall flavor profile of the Cuban Pig but thought it was a little dry. Adding on salsa took away from the intended tastes so maybe a little bit of pickle juice or something else can step that up. The Crisp Chicken Tikka taco was seriously spicy yet I kept taking bites. I should note these aren't one, two or even three bite tacos. They're large and two should be good for the average eating being. The Pork Belly taco was an ode to the Chicago style hot dog, as it's only available at this location, but they must not of got the memo that a Chicago dog uses an all beef wiener. The bacon burger actually took on the exact flavors of a well made bacon cheeseburger as did the fish n' chips with it's intended taste. The latter of which was my favorite with a perfectly fried piece of beer battered cod topped with a perfectly paired curry mayo and some malted fries hidden inside. Elevated fast food in a neighborhood that could use the option of it. Can you dig it?

Fish n' Chips taco

Velvet Taco
1110 N State St
Chicago, IL 60610
(312) 763-2654
Website

Eat the Vote

- Best of Chicago Awards

Greetings readers, hope you're gearing up for a fun and or relaxing weekend. I interrupt nearly 8 years of regularly updated roadfood posts (771 to be exact) to let you know that the annual Chicago Reader's 'Best of Chicago' awards are currently being voted on. Truth be told I'm a little behind in posts as I work on a few collaborated projects and just didn't have the time to put one together this weekend so I just thought I'd throw it out there to regular readers should you want to vote. Feel free to vote for 'Smokin' Chokin' & Chowing' or 'The Chicago Taco Tour' or any other blog out there you regularly read. Another truth to be told, you must sign up and answer a minimum of 20 questions so I don't expect anyone to do it but should you already be voting, S'C'&C is for the people!

See ya Monday @chibbqking 

Mojo's East Coast Eats

-The Sammy's of Chi (land)

Remember the days when "suburban food" equaled a few franchised restaurants a pizza place and a Chinese restaurant next to the dry cleaners? Yeah me too, it wasn't so long ago. These days it's much different. You can pretty much go to most any Chicagoland located suburb and find a quality mom and pop type spot to feed you. It might not always be better than your favorite example in the city but it will always beat a Big Mac or Whopper. Take Mojo's in Downers Grove for example.

East Coast style sandwich shop in Downers Grove 

I'd read up on this place thru the Grub Seeker aka jimswside on LTHforum. He does the 'burbs and wherever he goes justice when it comes down to finding the best local spots to eat at. On his review over at LTH he mentioned how he'd been on a major cheesesteak kick and Mojo's was the reason why. He talked to the guy who owns the place who hails from Doylestown, Pennsylvania originally. He's bringing the preferred way to lunch out East to the Western burbs. As to be expected the lead role here is their cheesesteak sandwich which is made of freshly sliced ribeye and served on a traditional Amoroso's roll. Eight ounces of chopped up meat goes into the bread and itty bitty bits of sauteed onions and the melted cheese of your choice rounds it all out. A fine example.

Cheesesteak Sandwich from Mojo's

The steak sandwich is pretty great for those of us that enjoy the aroma of meat and onions though I actually prefer the cheese steak hoagie. It's just a regular cheesesteak with lettuce, tomato and mayo on top but it all works so well together reminding me alot of the now defunct Hoagie Hut from Lincoln Park. Sometimes you just crave for these flavors and need them, that happened to me after the first time I tried Mojo's. I was back within a week, lucky for me I was already due out that way so I killed two birds with one stone. Unluckily for me, I haven't been back in the area since so I still haven't tried a hoagie or anything else. Fries are freshly cut and come with the option of Old Bay seasoning which can also be an addictive pair. I know where I'm eating next time I'm out there.

Cheesesteak Hoagie with Old Bay Spiced Fries

Mojo's East Coast Eats
2758 Maple Ave
Downers Grove, IL 60515
(630) 796-2832
Website

The Red Lion Pub

 -Grubbing in Chicago
Where the locals eat/drink.

There was a time in my youth when my fake ID could get me into any bar in Lincoln Park located on Lincoln avenue, with the exception of one. The Red Lion Pub has been a fixture of the neighborhood since 1984. The owner knew our age thus we wouldn't be drinking there until we turned 21. There was a period when Red Lion wasn't around for a few years due to the rebuilding of the entire inside. I was happy to hear of their reopening last year. Even though we weren't allowed to drink there the owner Colin was always happy to have us in when it came to the food, a favorite of my buddy that lived down the block. Lets check out the reincarnation.

Locals Favorite in Lincoln Park

No word on whether or not the construction scared the ghosts away but the buildings history remains, it's just alot prettier inside now. You get an idea of why it took so long to rebuild upon stepping inside. It's much more open now and still has two levels for patrons to enjoy food/drink.

a peek inside

Beer at the Bar

Speaking of food, they stepped it up here. The menu is basically the same but the quality of ingredients has increased greatly. One of my favorite wintertime eats is a nice serving of Shepard's Pie. At Red Lion they're making theirs with beef and lamb and instead of ground meat they're using small chunks cooked down into tender bites. An excellent example of this English pub favorite.

Shepard's Pie

Another example of the kitchens growth is in an old favorite of mine. The Red Lion Burger was once in my regular diet when I was growing up a few blocks away. These days it's as good as ever. They use Kilgus Farmstead beef and smash two balls down into thin patties while cooking. HP marinated onions, pub cheese, and a perfectly fluffy bun top off this simple but succulent delight. Fries are cut fresh and come with the option of a curried version served with a cup of mint yogurt on the side.

Lion Burger

I couldn't do a post on one of Chicago's premier English pubs without sampling the fish and chips. This plate stacks up well to the rest. Three nicely fried filets of ale battered cod sit atop a nice pile of fresh cut fries. Just like many of the other items the tartar sauce is now made in-house. It's great to have the Red Lion back and it's even better to see many of it's neighbors making it a regular stop.

Fish and Chips

The Red Lion Pub
2446 N Lincoln Ave
Chicago, IL 60614
(773) 883-2422
Website