Man, what a
coterie of effete snooty-pants dilettantes!™
I've just been in
barbecue heaven, so I could pull out some world-class comparisons to judge Smoque by, but I have an easier comparison: how many times did I go there after the first time I tried it?
The answer is at least 10, maybe 15, which is more than once a month. Yeah, I think I like the place. Or more to the point, the whole family likes it and it's an easy family place, which is a big contributor to why I've gone there so much.
I like the brisket, which is nicely smoky, tender, and meaty, a lot. It has its own style, a little wet and tender, not robustly meaty quite like, say, Texas hill country brisket, but delectable; as with pizza, I don't see why liking one style should mean I can't like the next five styles too. I like the pulled pork and ribs, but not as much as the brisket. I like the sauces, which are not gloppy sweet like so many, and the bread, which is substantial enough that the sandwiches are actually sandwiches, not the quickly-dilapidated remains of sandwiches, and the sides, which are much more than an afterthought, with very good twice-cooked fries, smoky beans, tartly minimalist cole slaw and the excellent mac and cheese which is the only thing my youngest, bolognatarian son actually eats there (besides fries). I like that it's family-friendly and in Old Irving Park, not frat-boy rowdy and in Lakeview. I like that it's teaching Old Irving Park that there's something besides Gale Street Inn ribs. I like that the owners, who have been behind the eight ball pretty much since Smoque opened, watch and observe and are constantly and conscientiously working to improve the place, or at least keep it from collapsing under its own success.
I like Smoque a lot, and I know a lot of other LTHers do, too.
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