Pitmasters traveled from across the country last week for Windy City Smokeout, a barbecue showcase of meats and sauces, to cook up their own distinct styles. Attendees could enjoy smoked beef with banana pudding from Texas, brisket and beans from St. Louis, and slow-smoked pulled pork from Mississippi, just to name a few.
A handful of local vendors set up shop as well, showcasing Chicago’s own barbecue culture. But what is Chicago barbecue? Other states have distinct flavor palettes, side pairings and even types of wood over which they cook the meat. On the national scene, however, Chicago has yet to carve out a distinct identity.
We went straight to the source and asked five pitmasters to define Chicago barbecue. Interviews have been lightly edited for length and clarity.
Barry Sorkin, co-owner and pitmaster at Smoque BBQ.
The award-winning restaurant has been a Northwest Side staple since 2006. 3800 N. Pulaski Road, Old Irving Park
“Chicago certainly has its barbecue traditions, but I think when looking at Chicago barbecue today, what makes it distinctive is that it doesn’t have really deep roots. Chicago barbecue isn’t steeped in hundreds of years of Chicago barbecue tradition. I think Chicago is a great culinary city first and a great barbecue city second.
“I think barbecue chefs in Chicago don’t feel bound by any of the rules or traditions that other regions might feel bound by, and so, I think there’s a lot more creativity here. There’s license to take the craft of smoking meat and do whatever you want, whatever feels right. And I think that’s what makes Chicago barbecue special.”
Heather Bublick, sommelier and CEO at Soul & Smoke
The restaurant started as a catering business in 2015 before transitioning to a brick-and-mortar operation during the pandemic. 1601 Payne St., Evanston; 500 W. Madison St., West Loop; 3057 N. Rockwell St., Avondale
“We are home of the meatpacking district, and this is where a lot of the nation’s cows were slaughtered and sent to other places. Things like ribs that went to Kansas City, those get cut off, and then the discarded rib tips were left here in Chicago. So, that became Chicago-style barbecue.
“We definitely own rib tips, hot links, things like that. But I also think that because Chicago is a melting pot, we’re able to have and pull from different regions and have all these different styles represented in town, which is awesome.”
Gabriel Govea, Bub City pitmaster
In addition to its menu, this restaurant is known for its rowdy live music. 435 N. Clark St., River North; 5441 Park Place, Rosemont
“Chicago barbecue is a combination from all over the United States. We take some of the best from everywhere and try to incorporate that into our cuisine, and try to give honor and respect to all these other [places] like Texas, Kansas City, Memphis and whatnot and just try to make our spin on that.
“We’re blessed to be in the Midwest, where we have all these great barbecue people around us, and just take those flavors of what we like and choose to serve what we like. That’s what makes Chicago barbecue, to me, awesome.”
Dave Bonner, Green Street Smoked Meats pitmaster
The restaurant brings Texas-inspired barbecue to the West Loop with a local twist. 112 N. Green St., West Loop
“At Green Street, we actually do central Texas–inspired barbecue, but we don’t just dive into that one area. We kind of evolved a little bit. So, just — you know, great food. Chicago loves sauce, so we always try to be creative with our sauce.
“Today, we’re doing tacos, very popular in Chicago as well. And then we mix in the barbecue, we smoke the bellies, we fry them in beef fat, crisp them up, and get some chicharrones in there. And that’s our twist on Texas barbecue, little Chicago style. We have a great Hispanic community in Chicago, so [we’re] just trying to show respect to them and do a great taco that’s barbecue-inspired as well.”
Dominique Leach, owner and pitmaster at Lexington Betty Smokehouse
Leach has competed in multiple Food Network programs and was the Season 4 winner of “BBQ Brawl.” 756 E. 111th St., Pullman
“Chicago-style barbecue is influenced by Southern regions that thrive in barbecue. It’s very similar but with our own little flair. Specifically, our sauce type resembles a Chicago mild sauce [a ketchup-barbecue-hot sauce blend popularized on Chicago’s South and West sides]. We like our rib tips, we like our chicken wings and we like them on a bed of fries.”
What features do you think make up Chicago-style barbecue? Let us know at arts@wbez.org.
Contributing: Zubaer Khan
Camila Trimberger-Ruiz is an intern on the WBEZ Arts & Culture Desk.