Honky Tonk vs Smoque

Any thoughts, opinions or reviews?????//

Thanks

walter wade wrote:Any thoughts, opinions or reviews?????//

You'll find plenty in these topics:

Honky Tonk Barbeque, Pilsen
Opening in December - Smoque BBQ

I like them both...

I like Smoque more than I like Honky Tonk. But I like Honey 1 more than either of them.

Thanks. Has anyone eaten at both recently???
This is a lot of old news. I ate at Smoque last yr. Baby backs are good. Balance of the menu is
so-so.

Time to venture out again. Back to Smoque? or Honky Tonk??
Thanks,
Wally Wade

i was just at Honky Tonk about a month ago....
i had a sampling of a lot of his offerings..everything was good but the two things that stood out the most for me were the pulled pork and the short ribs ..
I have not eaten at Smoque since last year..had the brisket which was good..will be going back soon as iwant to try the new Texas links
what didnt you like about the menu? I always thought his menu was fine

They have different products, methods, and goals; I value both quite highly. On the items they both prepare, I slightly favor Honky Tonk for pulled pork, sliced brisket, and sauces, and Smoque for pork ribs, chopped brisket*, and beans. Smoque may be a slightly better value for the inexpensive "additional meat" add-ons, but geography and creativity at Honky Tonk bring me back more often - several beef rib preparations, salads, shrooms, fried green tomatoes in season, Chefrain's Latin-infused specialties. From a seating perspective, Smoque can be cramped, whereas Honky Tonk is usually open, but the front room can be cold in the winter due to the single entry door. If you're going on a weekend evening, the warmer (in temperature and decor) side room at HT is really enjoyable, often with live music.

I rarely find myself in a situation where I have to make a choice between two restaurants in the same category: visit one this week, the other next week, maximize enjoyment and learn something in the process. Like many of these excercises, I'd have a really hard time living with one place.

* "but aren't they just slicing and chopping the same brisket, making this nonsensical," you may ask. Answer: not exactly. Based on numerous visits to both places, I've determined the Smoque's higher volume, turnover, and machine setup results in more bark and loose burnt ends; they tend to chop these crispier bits and smaller pieces that fall to the cutting board for their "chopped" portion. The sliced brisket at Smoque comprises only the prettiest whole center slices, which are more uniform and less interesting to me. Willie's work at HT is more of a labor of love**, and so the sliced portion is his selection of the best mix of pieces from the whole brisket, typically very moist and flavorful. Chopped (on request) is the same mix of pieces, which lose some juice in the process.

** "can anything cooked on a Southern Pride machine really be a labor of love, when there are so many hand-built aquaria requiring much more effort and skill in the city?" Yes. Absolutely. Just talk to the pitmasters at either place and taste their product over a period of time. The tinkering and care is abundantly evident.

Santander wrote:** "can anything cooked on a Southern Pride machine really be a labor of love, when there are so many hand-built aquaria requiring much more effort and skill in the city?" Yes. Absolutely. Just talk to the pitmasters at either place and taste their product over a period of time. The tinkering and care is abundantly evident.

just an FYI - Honky Tonk cooks on a Stumps as well

THANKS TO ALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Healthy & Happy New Year.

AND good Q'ING.

Wally Wade

i liked them both a lot
as well as the owners and how and why they do what they do
willie has a chef and more offerings
barry is learning and doing a fine job of it
i give extra props to willie for 3rd place pork at memphis in may 2008
both are great examples of authintic chicago bbq
and both are putting their hearts and souls in to doing the best they can
our group just went to honky tonk and had a great time and that inspired us to go see mr adams at honey 1
fun fun fun
barry is hosting a bbq event for us in late jan or febuary on a monday evening at smoque
i have spoken to dave hammond and gary and asked them to get some lthers
to come join our group of chefs, competiton bbq(including joey mack smokestack grand champion american royal in kc 2008) , restrarant bbq'ers, competiton judges, pork producers, and again i asked dave and gary to bring some of y'all to represent back yard bbqer's... not that gary is unable to to do that himself he he
happy new year everybody
the goal being to come out hang out eat some good q and talk some bbq smack
we hope to hit 6-8 more places and then finish up by having our own bbq
you bring the q and food we will all eat it and judge it and then we will all know a little more than we know now
looking forward to meeting you and eating with you and q ing with you

Any thoughts on Honky Tonk??
Want to try in a few weeks.
Thanks

baby ray
i love how your posts
are free-form verse
or an extra-long form
of haiku

... haiQ?

i enjoyed smoqe , all items . have not been to honky tonk yet .

I enjoyed Smoque. Baby Backs & Fries are very good. Balance & sides are average.

Going to Honky Tonk in a few weeks.
Will advise.

Smoque - great brisket, prefer it chopped. I would love to see them offer a smokey sweet sauce, as the ones they have are a little vinegary for my preference, but they definitely do the job. Also check out the great mac n cheese side.

Honky Tonk - the beef short ribs here something special. They look like claymore mines. It's called potroast on a stick for a reason, What you get is a square-ish slab of heavily marbled beef with two rib bones jutting out of the bottom. What a sight to behold. Grab a knife and carve away. The fried green tomatoes are outstanding as well.

ps - if you're ever in Long Grove, check out Smokin T's BBQ for a fantastic beef rib sammich. Ungodly tender, buttery fat lacing the meat, and a plethora of sauces to sex it up if you so prefer.

Ghazi wrote:ps - if you're ever in Long Grove, check out Smokin T's BBQ for a fantastic beef rib sammich. Ungodly tender, buttery fat lacing the meat, and a plethora of sauces to sex it up if you so prefer.

I agree..ate that same dish there last month..very impressed

Stopped by Smoque today and the girl at the register told me that the sliced brisket is from the fattier portion of the brisket, so i opted against getting the chopped brisket as i usually do.

She was right. It was incredbily, tender, buttery, and juicy. No sauce needed. Just a rosary.

Ghazi wrote:Stopped by today and the girl at the register told me that the sliced brisket is from the fattier portion of the brisket, so i opted against getting the chopped brisket as i usually do.

She was right. It was incredbily, tender, buttery, and juicy. No sauce needed. Just a rosary.

I can definitely appreciate this but also enjoy the chopped brisket because of the larger proportion of bark. I used to always order the sliced but now that I've tried the chopped, I tend to alternate between the 2.

=R=

Ghazi wrote:Stopped by today and the girl at the register told me that the sliced brisket is from the fattier portion of the brisket, so i opted against getting the chopped brisket as i usually do.

She was right. It was incredbily, tender, buttery, and juicy. No sauce needed. Just a rosary.

Stopped by where? (I assume Smoque because of the infamous registergirls?)

Santander wrote:

Ghazi wrote:Stopped by today and the girl at the register told me that the sliced brisket is from the fattier portion of the brisket, so i opted against getting the chopped brisket as i usually do.

She was right. It was incredbily, tender, buttery, and juicy. No sauce needed. Just a rosary.

Stopped by where? (I assume Smoque because of the infamous registergirls?)

Oops! Smoque.

I didn't realize their registergirls are infamous. .. probably due to my serious man-crush on Barry and his culinary mojo. I will pay more attention next time. It would be ideal to find a spouse who worked at Smoque.

Was there Saturday evening 4-04. Got there around 5:30 or so & parked on the street.
Place was busy but not crowded, yet.
We ordered short ribs , baby backs & fried green tomatoes.
Short ribs are excellent!!!!!!! Green tomatoes are very good, probably much better in the summer.
Baby backs are average at best. Meal came with cole slaw that you can forget, along with a dry piece of bread.
Baby backs at Smoque are very superior to HT.
Both sauces at HT are VERY good. Took home pulled pork, nothing special & brisket which was tender & moist. I do not understand the fascination with brisket & DO NOT CARE TO.
Live entertainment was good, added to the evening. Saving grace about this place is BYOB.
When we left around 7:30 or so, the place was packed. Entrance was full & a lot of people were on the way in.
Enjoyable evening, average food. If I had a taste for short ribs, I might return,. for takeout.