I'd been meaning to check out Hoxie's (in Elmhurst or some such suburb) for quite a while now. I put it off long enough so now I don't have to bother; instead of me going to Hoxie's, Hoxie's has now come to me. At the end of September they opened a restaurant at the corner of Lawrence and Ravenswood. The place is fairly large with a bar at the front and maybe 20 tables toward the back. The decor is sort of neo-diner with lots of white, chrome, formica and neon. I don't find the atmosphere to be particularly pleasant. The menu is mostly barbecue and some Southern dishes. Thankfully barbecue is not limited to ribs and chicken. For $12.95 you can get a platter with generous piles of pulled pork, pulled chicken, and sliced brisket. Included are a corn muffin (homemade, tasty), cole slaw (homemade and fresh but not very flavorful), one side (the corn casserole was very good, kind of like solidified creamed corn; sweet potatoes were very, very sweet; greens were okay, not great), and a couple slices of sweet garlic pickle (homemade and very good). The meats were all of excellent quality, with a subtle smoke flavor and virtually no fat. Some might find the meat too dry. There are three sauces: standard, mustard and sweet. The standard is extremely good, peppery and vinegary. I'd have to rate this as among the better sauces I've found in Chicago. The red mustard sauce is interesting, sweet and tangy (I liked it in small doses). The sweet sauce is fairly nondescript but decent. Other menu items include ribs, chicken, steaks, pork chops, burgers, fried catfish or shrimp, red beans & rice, and BBQ spaghetti (topped with pulled pork and BBQ sauce!). For dessert they have about a half-dozen homemade cakes and pies (untried by me). It will be interesting to see how this place develops in the future. It's already one of the better barbecue places on Chicago's north side. Hoxie's 1801 W Lawrence Av (4800 North) 773-989-4800 open 11AM-1AM (2AM on Fri and Sat)
Chicago, IL
Non-rib BBQ 6 Hoxie's
NNTP-Posting-Date: 24 May 1999 22:14:58 GMT X-Newsreader: Forte Agent 1.5/32.451 X-No-Archive: yes Xref: alexander.INS.CWRU.Edu chi.eats:5381 Rene G. wrote a LONG time ago: >I'd been meaning to check out Hoxie's (in Elmhurst or some such suburb) for >quite a while now. I put it off long enough so now I don't have to bother; >instead of me going to Hoxie's, Hoxie's has now come to me. At the end of >September they opened a restaurant at the corner of Lawrence and Ravenswood. I finally went there last night and, for the most part, I agree with everything you wrote (I can send your initial review to anyone who is interested). >The place is fairly large with a bar at the front and maybe 20 tables toward >the back. The decor is sort of neo-diner with lots of white, chrome, formica >and neon. I don't find the atmosphere to be particularly pleasant. Agreed. I'd have preferred at least tablecloths. Probably cloth napkins, But the focus easily became one on the food, which I found to be good and reasonably priced. My friend and I decided to pick the belt-buster on the menu. I don't recall what it was called, but if ONE person eats it all, it's free - there is NO way one person can do that, even though our wait person told us that five people have done it. We had MORE than enough for the two of us, and it cost $32. Full slab, pulled pork sandwich with more meat than could be handled by the large bun, rib tips, beef brisket, half a chicken (nice and juicy), side of greens, corn casserole (GREAT!), one corn muffin (sweet, like Jiffy Mix) and cole slaw (bland, like you said - it could easily be spiced up). I think the sides were undersized, and that it would be simple for the place to cut back some on the other items and maybe double the size of the included sides and not lose anything profitwise. I sampled all three of the sauces that were on the table. The standard was quite good and had a definite chili-powder taste with very little sweetness and a good vinegary taste. The red mustard sauce was very nice, but significantly sweeter. And the sweet sauce was TOO sweet. Still, there were choices. Surprisingly (to me), no water was served. Our wait person (I hate being PC!) was dressed in short-sleeved sweatshirt, jeans and Nikes and was VERY friendly AND attentive. When we were done (STUFFED!) and asked for the bill, she did the right thing and asked "You're not gonna have a dessert?". I asked her what she'd recommend, and she immediately went into a a short discussion on the Pecan Pie and why she'd recommend it for that day - it was cooked THAT day and was great - she'd had a piece (I was convinced - there's one born like me every minute <g>). We took it with a HUGE scoop of vanilla ice cream and weren't disappointed. I'll go there again, just to sample the rest of the menu. There's free parking. If you cab it, get ready for a stand outside waiting for a cab home, because Lawrence Ave. isn't exactly your cab-haven ANY day of the week! Paul > >Hoxie's >1801 W Lawrence Av (4800 North) >773-989-4800 >open 11AM-1AM (2AM on Fri and Sat)