Food Blog

A couple of weeks ago I ran into a friend at a bar and the conversation turned to BBQ. Pretty soon we both had convinved ourselves that we wouldn’t make it through the night without getting some Hecky’s. At one point I had to persuade him against ordering another round - doing so would put us in peril of missing Hecky’s 9pm closing time. Not many things cause me to stop people from ordering another round, but Hecky’s is one of them.

I haven’t had Hecky’s in quite some time (perhaps a couple of years) but luckily somethings don’t change. I ordered the large rib tips for 14 bucks and salivated the whole way home.

The tips are the same as they’ve always been, some pieces are meaty, some are fatty, all are coated with that damn-near intoxicating sauce. Slightly spicy, sweet and smoky, you could put that stuff on a dish sponge and I’d still eat it. Everyone says the same about the rib tips - you’ll get a few pieces of pure fatty gristle, but when you bite into one of the meaty ones, you forget all about them. There will always be disagreement among the Chicago foodies about the best local ribs, or even if Chicago has any decent ribs, but I’m glad I have, in my mind, the undisputed “best ribs on the north shore” close by. Ok, maybe just the best rib sauce on the north shore. I’m only talking about the original Evanston location, the Division and Halsted location is apparently a completely different story.

The large rib tips are served with crinkle cut fries and one slice of white bread and is enough to feed a serious eater for a dinner and the next days lunch.