City Bites – Chicago

Yesterday, Matt and I decided to take our new (used) bikes out for a test ride.

10 miles of biking, gorgeous views of the city and lake front, unrestricted time spent together, a trip to Vietnamese town for lunch followed by some of the best barbecue in Chicago for dinner.. overall, it was a pretty awesome day.  :)

Vietnamese Town – Argyle/Lawrence – Uptown Neighborhood

Hon Kee Restaurant (1064 W Argyle St) is a pretty no frills restaurant.   BBQ ducks hang from hooks in front of the window, dripping fat into containers of various meat parts – tripe, intestine, etc.   There are little to no decorations on the walls and it is very likely that there will be a number of un-bussed tables.  We actually almost left after we waited for about 5 minutes in the half-empty restaurant with only a bare acknowledgement by the staff (all 5 empty tables were un-bussed), and then watched as the table that was being cleaned for us was taken over by a little old Vietnamese lady.  (As a warning, the ba gia are ruthless in Vietnamese town.  These little old ladies have no qualms against pushing your cart out of the way in the grocery store or taking your place at a restaurant.)

I was practically melting from the heat at this point and too lazy to walk over to Tank Noodle (our usual Vietnamese town favorite), so we ended up waiting for the next table to be bussed.  We were definitely glad we stayed.  For $12 (including tip), we were able to get a delicious bowl of rice noodle soup with BBQ pork and a huge plate of rice with roasted duck.  Hot tea was included with the meal.

Talk about cheap eats!

The food was incredibly tasty and satisfying, especially for these two hot and tired cyclists.   Just looking at the pictures makes me wish I could come back for more.  With every meal being only $4-$5, this place is great for a cheap and filling meal.

Smoque BBQ – Irving Park Neighborhood

Later that night, we ended up  meeting up with Dave and Sae (our co-food adventurers) for American-style BBQ at Smoque BBQ (3800 N Pulaski).

We got to the restaurant around 7pm and the line was already ridiculous.  Thankfully, the line moves relatively fast (or at least doesn’t seem interminably slow), but it was still an hour before we were able to order.  So, either plan to get there around 6pm (which will hopefully get you there right before the dinner rush) or plan to wait in line for some time.  The place is BYOB, so feel free to be like the college kids in front of us who decided that they were just going to drink their beer straight from their Piece jugs right there on the sidewalk outside the restaurant.  Parking actually isn’t too horrible if you plan on driving – we lucked out and got a parking spot right in front of the restaurant.  If you plan on taking public transportation, the restaurant is only a few blocks from the Irving Park Blue Line stop.

The BBQ here is amazingly good and worth the drive to the Irving Park neighborhood.   The meat is deliciously smoky and moist.  The ribs were perfectly cooked and I thoroughly enjoyed my chopped brisket (Matt thought Dave’s sliced brisket was slightly better).   The sides are just as delicious (and in fact were my favorite part about the meal) – vinegar-based coleslaw, hot and cheesy macaroni, candied jalapeños, hearty and flavorful chili, hot peach cobbler.  I highly recommend this place for some amazing BBQ in Chicago!

The restaurant is also very efficient.  Check out the menu (located on the huge blackboard that faces you as you enter the restaurant) while you are standing in line so you know exactly what you want to order when you get up to the front of the line.  You can order a la carte or as a platter (+2 sides and coleslaw).  The platter was only $2-$3 more or so, so for value, I would go with the platter since the small sides individually are $1-$2.   While you are waiting in line, at some point, a Smoque employee will ask how many are in your group.  This is such a tightly run ship that by the time you order, they’ll have a table waiting for you and your group (these guys are super fast at bussing tables and extremely polite while doing so, even despite the tight space).   Another Smoque employee will call your number when your dinner is ready (less than 10 minutes).  Make sure to pick up your utensils and wet naps located near the counter where you get your food.

Bring your tray back to your table and proceed to dig in with gusto!

And now it’s time to go bike off those BBQ calories.   Hope everyone had a great weekend!