Smokin' Woody's BBQ

Since 2008 I've never felt like giving them another chance. It wasn't good; instead cold and cold is what I always remembered about the last trip. Most times I'll give a place a couple tries, but I don't know, I just didn't. Cold food and atmosphere, irks the crap out of me. It shows no care for the final product or business.

Recently, a close cousin was visiting and he like me, has a love for rib tips. We were both equally interested to see how they (may) have changed since my last visit. This time around I was happily surprised with the results. If indeed Woody's is the same ownership, kudos to y'all for hiring better cooks or working out the kinks. Loved that the tips had a nice singe on them, still moist with a good amount of meat versus fat and the taste was superb. Wished that they offered BBQ sauce in squeeze bottles on the table; but loved that they gave us a side of piping hot BBQ sauce. They still carry Green River which is a plus in my book. That's a soda you don't find everywhere, so it's a treat when it's available. Price was moderate to the amount of food given. Kudos to Woody's staff, I look forward to enjoying your tips again and again.

P.s. Since 2008.. Your reviews have gone from crappy to great, so why continue to sue Yelp?

Just saying.

We had lunch at Smokin' Woody's recently on a Saturday. KT and BS had found it and had eaten there a couple of times. It is small with a good feel. We were welcomed and well taken care of.

BS and I each had a sandwich and the four of us shared a rack of ribs. My sandwich was their Sliced Beef Sirloin Tri-Tip. This is a little unique since usually it is the other end of the animal that is represented in barbecued beef. It had good honest beef flavor. It was not particularly smoky. I ate it as a sandwich although it is a little hard to bite off without pulling it off. The meat was juicy, cooked medium rare as is appropriate for tri-tip. Don't confuse it with brisket. It was good, but not the same. It is more like eating roast beef than barbecue. Ms T's pulled pork sandwich was quite good. It was pulled fairly fine and was moist with mild smoke. I would order either of these sandwiches again.

BS had pretty much the same tri-tip sandwich, but his was called the hot beef sirloin which added cheddar, grilled onion and a Buffalo sauce.

The ribs were good with pretty mild smoke and a good rub. On this day they were just a little dry. They probably a day or so old, but were not stale tasting. KT said they have normally been much better, so this is day-to-day variability. They had beautiful color and were glazed and grilled to warm before serving, so some of the glaze was caramelized nicely. Since we ate at Smoque the same weekend, I have a comparison I can make in pretty much real time. On a good day, these would probably be better ribs than Smoque.

The cole slaw was pretty standard creamy, sweet style. I asked for a bottle of hot sauce to provide some vinegar and it was very good.

I really liked Smokin' Woody's. It is cozy and serves good food. The style is all their own. I'm sure we will be back. It is probably 3-1/2 stars for what we had on this day, but I am rounding up to four because I really liked the feel.

I think that, by distance, this might be the closest barbecue joint to my home, which makes it a neglectful shame that I hadn't tried it before this spring. Sometimes I get a strong jones for barbecue, and I need to know where to go. As a bonus, I can ride my bike there and back, which mitigates some of the guilt of gluttony.

Okay, the meats: The pulled pork is just okay, but the stellar rib tips are by far the best pork product on their menu--huge and meaty. The ribs are in the B+ range. The barbecued chicken is cooked just about perfectly too. I appreciate that they don't pre-sauce any of the food and this works especially well for both the chicken and the ribs.

Speaking of their sauce, it is likely the best aspect of the entire business. It very nicely balances moderate smoke with a slight sweetness and a slight tang.

Sides are mostly standard (pedestrian coleslaw and baked beans, pretty solid sweet potato fries, excellent french fries) but they throw in a couple of curveballs, for example the strangely delectable battered fried green beans. Sides which I haven't tried include tater tots, cornbread, roasted red potatoes, macaroni and cheese, and...a baked sweet potato. Plus they offer smoked chicken noodle soup. See--mostly standard but occasionally intriguing. I appreciate a place that tries a little harder to set itself apart.

It's cash only, which is a pain in the ass, and closed Tuesdays, which isn't. Also, they are BYO and have a patio, two things which almost never influence my restaurant choice. But, some people enjoy drinking and sunshine, so there you go.

I'm looking at past Yelps to see where I've had BBQ in Chicago; in looking at that list, I can't recommend anything at Smokin' Woody's over the other spots I have hit. My feeling is that if you are going to give a two-star review, you need to tell people WHERE you have experienced better.

The chicken is better at most places (including Honey 1 and Smoque), the pulled pork is better at Smoke Daddy or Smoque, the fries are better at Smoque, the dessert is better at Smoke Daddy and Feed, the beans are better almost everywhere (but certainly at Smoke Daddy, Smoque and Feed), the sauces are better at Lillie's Q and Just Turkey, the cornbread is better at Smoke Daddy, and the prices are better almost everywhere. (Thank goodness I had a Groupon; I could stomach $31 of my own cash/Groupon for this amount of food, because the $40 I would have paid off the street would have felt like a ripoff.)

That being said, a friend of mine in LA likes to joke that there is no such thing as bad barbecue, and he is right...at Woody's last night, service was fast and the food was average. But in Chicago, if you love Smokin' Woody's, I'm not sure you have eaten at other local spots yet because I think your opinion will change after sampling the other places I mentioned.

Love me some Woody's, though I usually take it out or have it delivered. Woody used to be down on Southport, but when then neighborhood got too expensive, he trucked up north. Fine with me -- it's closer to my house.

First off, the BBQ is first rate. I'll agree with Mark S that the meat is better than the sauce, but BBQ is all about the meat! Woody's is smokey, tender and delicious. And the sauce is good, it's just not the best in town. The sweet potato fries are terrific, but they don't travel well, so every time I've had them delivered, they were soggy. Get the baked sweet potato instead -- you won't be disappointed.

For the piggy wiglet in you, Woody offers his Create Your Own Platter. Your choice of any three: brisket, rib tips, pork, turkey, ribs or chicken. For me, ribs, turkey and brisket is the ultimate combo. Your tastes may differ.

Man, now I want some BBQ!

Yes, this BBQ joint with the very heavy and hard-to-open front door features a vicious looking logo of a woodpecker with a cigarette in its beak. Fortunately the smoke in the meaty dishes is a result of proper cooking methods and not cigarette butts. We ordered a combo platter, which easily fed two and potentially four (we walked out with a box of leftovers). There were rib tips, BBQ chicken, brisket, along with sides of cole slaw, fries, and side salad. Our waitress was very nice to us, and overall dinner was a tasty, filling, and homey experience.

Seeing as there aren't any other BBQ spots in this area, Smokin' Woody's can perhaps satiate your craving for meats. I stopped in here one evening for a wing and rib tip combo and filled up, though it wasn't that carnal satisfaction that I usually look for when eating BBQ. The wings were definitely the winner - big (drumstick, wing, and tip) and crispy. Unfortunately, nothing else really stood out. It wasn't bad, but I always hope for my BBQ meals to make me happy from head-to-toe.

The guys working here are really great, and I'm sure I'll be back to pick up some wings in the future. But, if given the option, I would prefer to travel a little further away from Northcenter for my BBQ fix.

What's not to like about a place that has a woodpecker smoking for a logo? Gawd . . . the pulled pork sandwich . . . . YUM. The BBQ sauce rivals Hecky's . . . it's really good. And once today's coworkers and I saw the "Warm & Sticky" on the dessert menu, we were off . . .

Yummy, yummy BBQ. I wanted lunch to last for the rest of the afternoon!

I've not really been to any BBQ restaurants, because they're all about pork, beef, etc and I tend toward chicken... but we ordered from here a week or two ago since our kitchen is still being unpacked. My beau enjoyed his ribs, though it was a good thing he ordered extra sauce - he said the ribs didn't appear to have any sauce on them, so all he had was the "extra". I had the turkey club, which was pretty good... I've never eaten a club sandwich on a hamburger bun, and it wasn't really "clubbed" in the traditional sense (not layered or anything, simply the ingredients on the bun). The club was overpriced, but tasty enough.

I don't know that it's a place we'll be eating regularly, but at least there's a nearby BBQ place that we can have from time to time.

I work from home a couple days a week and I'm always looking for a good lunch spot to add to my rotation. Unfortunately I don't think Smoking Woodies will make the cut.

I ordered the pulled pork with woodies potatoes which was okay. The pulled pork was very succulent and tender but lacked flavor. The BBQ sauce helped a lot but still left me craving more. The red potatoes were essentially just cooked and salted and again lacked serious flavor.

Having said that, the portions were huge for 10 bucks and I am very full from the meal but unfortunately that's not enough for me.

Weird side note, how hard is it to fix the door so it opens normally? For a reputable business this seems like a must. Again, not a deal breaker by any means.

Will try this place again but my expectations will not be sky high.