Chicago Kosher BBQ Festival

This kosher bbq festival is a must for anyone into kosher food, BBQ or both. Being kosher, the runty pig will not show its face here. But that leaves brisket, chicken, turkey, hot dogs, chili, and sides – enough to satisfy your BBQ craving big time. And it’s all being judged. The cooks are home cooks as well as restaurants, and the way it’s supposed to work is you pick up a sample at each booth and vote. Regrettably, the most frequent offering I encountered was NAM («nothing at the moment») but there were still some great things to taste. Plus Milt’s BBQ was represented in full force with BBQ for sale, if you wanted to eat something substantial. And who doesn’t?
So what did I have? From Milt’s, the charred dog with chili. The all beef red hot is Romanian Kosher, it was barely charred at all, but very beefy and tasty. The brisket chili on top was delicious and had a mild kick. At Duke’s BBQ – NAM. At Holy Smokes, home cooks from Skokie, I sampled some tasty baked beans. At 5 Dudes and a Vegetarian – I sampled NAM. Next up was Burnt Offering – 6 friends who bbq together, and served tasty brisket with three homemade sauces – chicken, rib and bbq – mild, sweet and delicious. Then Reggie’s Smoked Meats – serving up more NAM. Last but certainly not least was Mendel’s Kansas City BBQ. From Mendel I sampled delicious brisket, melt in your mouth perfection, meaty, fatty and sweet; and tasty baked beans with diced green peppers. I’m not sure everyone would like the green peppers but I did. Many thanks to all who served!
This is a great event but they have to make sure that EVERY booth has SOMETHING to offer the public AT ALL TIMES. I realize a booth may run out, or they may be saving items for the judging, but there’s no point in the public attending an event like this unless you can sample whatever your heart desires. Here’s hoping they get their act together for next year so we’re not dealing with a Schande (look it up– it’s Yiddish). P. S.–guys, if you forgot to put on tefillin this morning, Chabad was there to assist.