Restaurant review - Smoque, Chicago

Our family went to Smoque the other night after hearing so much hype about this restaurant and its barbeque.  After doing some reading, I was concerned that we will have a huge wait. I called around 5p to do a carryout, but the woman said that the next pick up time was 6:50.  We decided to risk it and go to the restaurant.  We got there around 6:15 and ordered our food by 6:30.  You don't sit at at your table and order, but instead you wait in line then walk up to a counter and order.  You get assigned a table and wait for your number to be called.  We were shocked as to how short the line was, as well as the fact that there was relatively no line the whole time we were there on a Sunday night.

Here is what I shared with our son....a full slab of baby back ribs, mac and cheese (lower tin foil container), corn bread (other tin foil container), coleslaw and I also ordered a "taste" of their St. Louis ribs (top left of picture).  You can see that these ribs all have a heavy dry rub on them.  I wasn't crazy about that gritty crust the rub made, but the flavor of the meat was great.  Heavy smoke flavor - I liked the flavor, but the kids thought it was too much.  The St. Louis ribs were more moist.  The coleslaw was great - vinegar based, which I love.  This review of the mac and cheese came from our son...."Perfect. Crunchy on the outside and creamy inside." Our little foodie....we are so proud of him!

My husband wanted me to make sure to take a picture of his onions.  He was SO happy that when he asked for extra raw onions, they actually gave him a large amount.  Most of the time, when you ask for extra onions, restaurants give a few slices.  Not here and that was a wonderful thing.

Here are their baked beans.  All loved it...you can see that there are vegis in it as well as some meat shredded in it.