I had an incredible Fat Tuesday dinner at Chuck's, I would venture to say it was one of the best New Orleans style meals I have ever had. I have long said that Chuck needs a larger canvas for his work, and it looks like he will be getting one, though unfortunately not on the north side of town, he is expanding his present location. We had the Chuck's BBQ version of a tasting meal, that is where Chuck comes over to your table and says he will "hook you up," be forewarned, there are no diminutive degustation portions at Chuck's. We started with New Orleans style BBQ shrimp, drowning in warm butter and Cajun spices served with crusty hot bread for dunking, really delicious. The attention to detail in the preparation of the shrimp, they were shell on, but had a stripe of the shell removed so the vein could be removed and the shell peeled easier, was a hint of great things to come. Next up fresh shucked oysters, they were shucked as we watched, and served with grated horseradish and lemon, they were wonderful, fresh as a daisy. After the oysters we had a seafood gumbo that was chock full of seafood and traditionally prepared with file and okra, a few dashes of Louisiana style hot sauce and I was truly in gumbo heaven. Chuck then served us freshly fried oysters with a homemade remoulade sauce, crisp greaseless outside and briny goodness inside, really perfect fried oysters. After the fresh oysters two ways and the snipped shell shrimp I should not have been surprised that that two main courses featured blackened scallops. What did surprise me a bit was that Chuck used dry pack scallops, one might expect dry pack at Nick's Fishmarket or Shaw's, but in a BBQ joint in Burbank, exceptional. The first entree was two orders of seafood etoufee topped with sweet meaty blackened dry pack scallops, here again Chuck surpassed all expectation by using a perfectly made roux. The added richness was readily apparent, in fact when we complimented Chuck on his roux he brought out his container of roux for us to admire. The roux was a rich brown and Chuck said it took him over an hour of constant stirring to achieve that color without scorching. Next up was a huge platter of pasta Magnifique, a creamy seafood preparation with about a dozen blackened scallops on top, both of the etoufees had about a dozen blackened scallops on top as well, no one is ever going to leave Chuck's BBQ hungry. We closed with homemade bread pudding and pecan pie, both served with vanilla ice cream, though we barely had room for even a bite. Please remember that even though I have described a 4 star meal that the ambiance at Chuck's is quite modest, spotless and comfortable, but not a white tablecloth restaurant, though I will say that when Chuck is in high gear, he provides all the ambiance one would ever need. I really can't mention price as we brought a few bottles of zinfandel and shiraz and after the rush died down Chuck sat with us for about an hour, chatted and drank wine. I think when he added up the bill the wine had gone to his head a bit, very reasonable would be an understatement. Chuck really outdid himself for Mardi Gras, and while most of the dishes we had were specials for Mardi Gras, Chuck will be making them on occasion, though one should definitely call and ask before driving out to Burbank expecting etoufee with blackened dry pack scallops. Enjoy, Gary Chuck's BBQ 5557 W 79th St Burbank, IL 60459 (708) 229-8700 BYOB
Chicago, IL