This new spot from El Che executive chef-owner John Manion is located inside legendary Berwyn music venue FitzGerald’s, which has undergone a host of welcome upgrades under new owner Will Duncan including an Airbnb above the venue and mobile musician-in-truck concerts that drove around the neighborhood throughout the pandemic. Now back in full swing with live music almost nightly, Babygold Barbeque offers the perfect culinary compliment to a rollicking post-vax evening.

When Mississippi-born brothers Bruce and Myles Lemons first opened their modest Southside BBQ shop back in 1954, they had no idea they’d be launching a Chicago legend. Fast-forward 65+ years and the pair’s fall-off-the-bone ribs, tender smoked rib tips, crispy fried chicken, and tangy original sauce continues to elicit a near-constant line out the door.

This old-school ‘cue shop offers more than a few incentives to make the trek out to the far Northwest side. For starters, there’s the requisite pulled pork, baby back ribs, buttermilk fried chicken, and brisket, all prepared with the signature touch of a seasoned pitmaster. Add to that smoked salmon, overstuffed burritos, Nashville hot chicken sandwiches, smoked Polish sausage, and Cheerwine on draft and you’ll wonder why any other joint even bothers serving lunch.

If Texas-style is your thing, this venerable Northside smoke shack has your slow-smoked cravings covered. Unsurprisingly, succulent, perfectly rendered, and bark-topped brisket tops the menu, followed by ribs, pulled pork, and juicy smoked sausages shipped all the way from Taylor, Texas. And save some room for dessert—the pecan bread pudding, thick and velvety beneath a generous drizzle of bourbon caramel sauce, is a true sleeper hit.

This no-frills Southside counter-serve has been dishing up copious amounts of classic Chicago rib tips, chicken dinners with all the fixings, and fiery hot links plus buckets upon buckets of plump Gulf shrimp for the past 75+ years. And like any good BBQ joint worth its rub, fussy dine-in service was never the draw. Get in and get out, or stick around a while if you want but don’t expect a tablecloth.

As the first location to announce the return of a large-scale local music festival with this summer’s annual Windy City Smokeout, this country-fried Lettuce Entertain You’s Bub City staple is helping ease us back into normal life—that’s if normal life involves absurd amounts of BBQ goodness. Stock up on backyard cookout bliss like hickory smoked chicken wings, dreamy baby back ribs, brisket-topped nachos, and waffle fries loaded with pulled pork and molten hot cheese.

Rustic, rock 'n' roll roadhouse stylings meet cheffy precision inside this West Loop hideout. The take-out and delivery faithful might not be able to recreate Green Street’s atmosphere at home—depending on their apartment’s particular level of late ‘80s Patrick Swayze aesthetic, of course—but at least they can eat like a badass with a full bill of brisket, hot links, pulled pork, smoked chicken, ribs, finger lickin’ sides, and cold canned beer.

Dine dining barbecue? You bet your USDA prime beef. Celebrity chef Art Smith is behind this seemingly contradictory Gold Coast destination, a culinary idea so crazy that it just might work—and work it does. We’re talking brisket meatballs, fried green tomatoes, brisket burnt ends, hanger steak burgers, pulled pork shoulder, and more, each bearing the mouthwatering mark of a bonafide high-end chef.

An Old Town fixture since Old Town was young, this handsome barroom has been quietly serving up some of Chicago’s finest baby back ribs for nearly a century. Old-fashioned fish fry, slow-roasted chicken, stellar BBQ wings, and melt-in-your-mouth hand-pulled pork add some color to the downhome Midwestern nostalgia.

Accomplished pitmaster Willie Wagner helms this homey woodclad Pilsen saloon, complete with a stage for live acts, a lavish mahogany back bar, and more hokey cowboy art than an Oklahoma flea market. And while quarantine has sidelined the once never-ending stream of Hank Williams cover bands, there’s nothing stopping you from pulling on your finest wranglers, grabbing a dusty guitar, and jamming away in your living room to an outsourced backdrop of peppery dry-rubbed brisket.