Lone Star BBQ Bar - new Texas-style bbq in Dunning area

A new Texas style BBQ restaurant opened in the Dunning area of Chicago on Harlem at the former site of Caponies pizza. The owner grew up half the time in Chicago and half the time in San Antonio. Post Oak is used on the grill.

There are many texas style items on the menu.. like King Ranch chicken. I am not that familiar with texas style cuisine. Noticed both the mac and cheese and the bbq had a kick.

I had the brisket sandwich and it was served alone on a brioche bun and with a bottle of sauce on the side so I could add how much I wanted on my sandwich. I didnt even use the sauce. The meat alone on the bun was good enough for me. You could taste the smokiness.

Had strawberry pretzel pie for dessert. Heard their tres leche cake was good.

Pretty new place.. already changed items on the menu. Had biscuits and cactus jelly.. no one was ordering so changed to biscuits and apricot butter.

have to go back and try other bbq items.

http://www.lonestarbbqbar.com/

Lone Star BBQ Bar
3350 N. Harlem Ave.
Chicago, IL, 60634
PHONE: 773-887-4002

MONDAY: Closed
TUESDAY-THURSDAY: 11:00am - 10:00pm
FRIDAY-SATURDAY: 11:00am - 11:00pm
SUNDAY: 11:00am - 8:00pm

Jane Franklin, this place looks like the real deal. All wood cooking. No gas. I'm there ASAP.

Yes .. They pride themselves on that.. The PitMaster Patrick takes pride in what he does. No timers, no computer stuff... just meat, wood and fire.

Again.. I am not well versed on what constitutes good bbq.. but I did like the brisket alone without sauce on the bun.. not smothered under tons of sauce... which I liked .

Unfortunately I think having the same name as Lone Star Steakhouse also in the Dunning area could lead to a lot of confusion and missed opportunities.

I did enjoy the King Ranch chicken which was like a Mexican lasagna casserole. I have never had that before.

The owner Lou is very nice and so is the pitmaster.

Here's a few articles from Texas Monthly on the King Ranch Casserole.

http://www.texasmonthly.com/articles/texas-primer-king-ranch-casserole/

http://www.texasmonthly.com/food/king-ranch-casserole/

FYI,
Dave

I bet this restaurant is the only one in the area that offers this king ranch chicken. I was expecting something else.. it was served in a square casserole dish . Had a lot of cheese. It was tasty. I would have it again.

Lou, the owner is a very nice guy. His father was in the military stationed in San Antonio during Korean war and that is where he met his wife, so Lou spent half his time in Chicago and Half his time in San Antonio Texas.

His history is in restaurant design and his family was involved with designing the very fuddruckers in San Antonio or texas, forgot which one he said.

I checked their site and yes, this sure sounds great. I'm even more excited to see what could be a true Texas style chicken fried steak with cream gravy on the menu. I'll give it a try one day when I'm not tempted to have Mr. Beef and Pizza which is also on Harlem in Dunning.

We had a wonderful lunch at Lone Star BBQ Bar yesterday. I am very picky about my barbecue, having lived in Memphis for two years, and this barbecue was terrific. We arrived at 2:00 p.m. and we were the only patrons, other than two guys sitting at the bar.

We started with complimentary pickled vegetables - half-sour delicatessen-style pickle spears, carrots, red peppers and onions. These rivaled the quality of the barbecue.

Next, I had a full rack of ribs with coleslaw, a biscuit and a side. I had ordered collard greens as my side, but the server brought me barbecued beans by mistake so I had two sides. The ribs were great - a nice, smoky flavor and just the right amount of pull. The sauce provided at the table was also nicely balanced between sweetness and acidity. The biscuit and compound butter were "meh" (not sufficiently flaky) and the coleslaw was just OK. However, both side were very good - the greens had just the right amount of crispness, and the beans weren't overwhelmed by molasses.

My wife had the grilled meatloaf sandwich on ciabatta bread and was quite happy with her choice.

We both had plenty of leftovers to box up, enough for 1 or 21 more meals!

The service was great - very attentive without being obtrusive. I spoke with the proprietor, who said that they really needed more business. While it wasn't conveniently located from our home in Wicker Park, Lone Star BBQ Bar was well worth the trek. I urge my fellow LTHers to check out this restaurant because it could really use some love.

I have to say that his prices might be too high for that neighborhood. $25.00 for a brisket platter? I can get that at Smoque with 2 sides and cole slaw or corn bread for $14.00. If you get a ton of brisket and it's amazing then maybe it's worth it. But are people in that area going to shell out that much?

I visited Lone Star last month - nice, upscale bbq joint with a bar.





Yep, see all of the wood and bbq tools in the background?





Very nice folks too. But I was the only person in the joint during prime lunch time. So that's a concern. But my brisket also raised a big red flag:






It was sliced way too thin (had to have been machine sliced) and was terribly dry. And this is really too bad because otherwise it was some of the most perfectly seasoned brisket you could imagine. And I'm not just talking about salt, pepper, etc.. I'm also saying that the wood was a seasoning - no more, no less prominent than any other seasoning. I've long tired of the pitmasters that feel a need to prove their smoke masculinity to me. But thin crowds and thinly sliced brisket are a bad combo. Perhaps a better crowd and thickly sliced and they're onto something big.

By the way, the brioche bun was terrific. And I liked the fries-crispy on the outside, soft on the inside . . . and served in a cute glass Texas boot:






Some housemade pickles too (adequate, a bit too tender):






I wish I had the nerve to talk to the guy and ask why the hell he's slicing the brisket so thin. Maybe someone else will. He's also going to have to figure out how to manage the brisket (and probably other meats too) when business is thin or fluctuates. But he's got the smoke and seasoning part nailed. That's not insignificant.

Sounds like he could have a winning place here, but doesn't realize it. Yeah, you gotta have thick sliced, fatty brisket. As to why you didn't want to mention it - I would have, especially if it might be an improvement. Dunning doesn't seem like the right place for an upscale BBQ joint. I guess he just needs to get involved in the Chicago BBQ community and get some publicity going. If people know about it, they will come.

Ram4 wrote:I have to say that his prices might be too high for that neighborhood. $25.00 for a brisket platter? I can get that at Smoque with 2 sides and cole slaw or corn bread for $14.00. If you get a ton of brisket and it's amazing then maybe it's worth it. But are people in that area going to shell out that much?

Well I moved out of the neighborhood about 2 years ago. But those prices are too rich for my blood.

This business is no longer open