This place is okay. I'm from Texas so I'm a bit of a bbq snob. This place isn't great but it isn't bad. The ribs had a really good flavor, I loved the glaze but they were a little too tough for me. The hot link was a bit dry. The tri tip was pretty good I liked the amount of fat and flavor but it's too chewy. The fries are amazing! But this is a bbq joint, the fries shouldn't be the best thing at the table. The pulled pork sandwiches looked good. Ill be back to try one of those.
Review Source:In the Wicker Park area of Chicago there is an epic battle waging over what is the best BBQ with 3 blocks of my apartment.
Lillie's Q sauces are ridiculously great and there are like 5 of them. It's harder for me to decide which to put on the meat I order than to decide what that meat will be. The brisket is a bit dry for my tastes and the ribs aren't nearly slow cooked enough, but really that's nitpicking for need to delineate between the two.
Really, what I need, and, quite frankly America as a whole needs, is a transformer style combination of Smoke Daddy's meat and Lillie Q's sauces. And yes I will be using this exact same line in my Smoke Daddy review to more easily to pad my Yelp stats. Sue me.
Nice, cute, comfortable BBQ place. The ribs were good. The flavor was there, but they were a bit dry. Same for the tri-tip but I put the Carolina BBQ sauce on it and made it great. The french fries were my favorite part- delicious. I also had the mac and cheese and grits- both worth getting. (I shared all of these samplings by the way...)
Review Source:Standing at the bar waiting for a table, I heard a guy ask the bartender for 2 cosmos. The response: "We don't make cosmos. We don't have triple sec nor martini glasses. Do you want to see a menu?" Sipping my Chicago Toddy, I just thought...fuck yeah.
Lillie's is sauce galore. Delicious sauce galore that I slathered all over the tri-tip and seasoned fries. I continued to eat with meat with my hands after unceremoniously knocking my fork onto the floor. Prissiness isn't one of my strong points or else I'd be lamenting over the lack of cosmos in a barbeque restaurant. While the tri-tip was good, the ribs were inconsistent, but the pulled pork sandwich was nom.
I just really love mason jars, especially to drink beer and whiskey out of. And water. And to receive the check. Kitschy, but I support it.
I'm a tough judge when it comes to Carolina style BBQ. Â When you've been to the best place ever, which happens to be in Detroit everything else will always be second best.
I came here with 3 other friends on a Friday night around 8:30 or so. Â We were seated right away which was nice compared to some other BBQ places. Â I like the decor it is decorated the perfect amount not too much and not too little. Â
I got the pulled pork southern style which meant that the coleslaw was on top. Â I also got a side of the mac and cheese which was great. Â It was a white cheddar mac and cheese with garlic and topped with bread crumbs so good!! Â I would give the mac and cheese five stars on its own.
This being a Carolina style BBQ joint you get to pick your own sauces to go on top of your BBQ. Â I loved the smoky sauce and the Carolina, I could have the name wrong which had a mustard base. Â
The service was really good and they have great presentation.
I really, really want to like this place, but after two visits, I can't give them a good review. Â I am a big believer in every item on a menu being good so the fact that I have had only the smoked chicken should not excuse the poor experiences I have had. Â
I first went to Lillie's Q in May 2011 shortly after they opened. Â I had the smoked chicken and a few drinks. Â The food was good, but not memorable, which explains why I had not visited for more than a year and a half despite living in the neighborhood. Â I do appreciate all the sauce varieties, and I thought the mustard-based sauce was great with the chicken, as they recommend. Â The whole Mason jar for drinks fad needs to go - serving your drinks in a Mason jar does not make you cool or hip. Â
The second visit I had in January 2013 was not great. Â My chicken sandwich had several pieces of cartilage in it (as in more than four!). Â That is gross and unappetizing and just plain laziness in the kitchen. Â It hardly made me want to finish eating my sandwich. Â The fries accompanying the sandwich had a great flavor, but they were limp as can be. Â They had not been fried long enough - a cardinal sin for fries.
So, it's nice to have a BBQ place in the neighborhood, but it should be much better than this one... Â I still will drive for Smoque rather than eat at this place down the block.
I love this place so much. It's seriously so hard to stay away! Seeing my friends' delighted faces when I introduce them to Lillie's wonderful smoked meats and signature sauces is just as satisfying as the very first bite of pulled pork on that heavenly brioche bun. OH MAN.
The staff is awesome. The moonshine is a perfect pair to anything you order off their menu. The trip-tip is always tied with the pulled pork sandwich for me. And don't even get me started on the cavatappi mac 'n cheese!! Some of the best I've ever had in my life. Not even exaggerating.
Lillie's Q is some of the best BBQ that I've ever had, with a restaurant atmosphere to match. I was so amazed by the trendy, clean, and beautifully designed restaurant. The food was out of this world. I didn't know what to pick, everything looked so amazing, and everything came highly recommend by friends and staff. The wonderful thing about this restaurant is that you can order delicious craft beer with your meal. What's better than craft beer and BBQ?
I ordered the hot link sandwich, which consisted of smoked hot links on a brioche bun. Words can't describe my happiness when I bit into it. For the quality of the food here, this restaurant is incredibly cheap. My hot link sandwich was $8, and the rest of the menu matches this cheap consistency. I also ordered a side of green beans that came with homemade bacon chucks in them. Delicious again. My companions both ordered the tri-tip sandwich that was created from smoked beef on a brioche bun. I tasted it and I instantly wanted to order more food just to have my own. They ordered collard greens and cornbread as sides and we shared. The pepper jelly butter that came with the cornbread was great. One of the most spectacular things about this place is that they have a wild amount of sauces at each table that you can put on your meal. They will explain the entire assortment to you because they are wonderful people. With our BBQ, we ordered three pints of New Holland Cabin Fever Brown Ale. You honestly can't go wrong here.
Very good Q with the freedom to mix and match your own sauces. Its a mix of real southern traditional and urban BBQ. I get the feeling this place is more Carolina style BBQ, as opposed to Kansas City style of Smoke Daddy on Division.
If this is your first time, try the Taste of LQ- 3 meat sampler of your choice. Experiment with the sauces so you fully understand what it is you want for next time.
If this is your second time, go with one or two of the meats as a sandwich... or go for the ribs.
I personally like the Hot Smoky mixed with the Carolina sauce.
Ive had some pretty good BBQ in Nashville, and this is just as good (and more convenient). There is a whole world of BBQ and its all about preference- Texas vs Carolina vs Kansas City vs Memphis. I wish this place had a memphis style rub for their ribs.
After miscue and communication breakdown with other friends, I said "screw it" and started driving down North Ave. Seeing the BIG AND BOLD BBQ sign, decide to give this a shot.
Parking is a miserable nightmare in this neighborhood, but that isn't Lillie's Q issue, they didn't screw us on the parking.
Certainly a nice and extensive menu with good sounding options and a great beer list. Settled on a perennial fav: Lagunitas IPA and ordered: Fried Pickles ($5) an 8-bone slab 'o ribs ($15) and two sides: Cole Slaw ($3) and Collard Greens w/ ham hock ($4).
The Fried Pickles... 5 thicker and decent sized "coins/bias cut" but sorta a skimmped portion and not that great. Lots of "batter" and not much of the pickle much less pickle flavor. The (real) Buttermilk Ranch dip is very good though.
NICE SIZED slab 'o ribs and the sides are NOT small either, so you do get PLENTY of food.
Collard Greens... Lots of water and woefully underseasoned. Thankfully, they have their sauces at the ready and a few dashes of their Eastern Carolina Sauce (vinegar and peppers) woke it up, but the greens can stand to be drained a bit more though.
Cole Slaw... Maybe my taste buds are off, but really boring as well and "super finely shredded cut" so if it's sitting for too long, the cabbage get wilted pretty badly. These were pretty wilted and just kinda dull in flavor. The IVORY sauce (mayonnaise, vinegar, black pepper based BBQ sauce) helped but still couldn't make up for the rather pallid texture.
RIBS... (isn't this what we are really here for?) Good dry rub and finished with a bit of a sweet/ sticky glaze (no, not BBQ sauce) so they form this nice "candy apple" style bite and it's to good effect. The first half of the rack (closer to the chuck-end) were meaty and  juicy, the more gentle woods that he is using really do compliment the meat. Extraordinarily satisfying. But the longer bones (second half) were a bit dried out and stringy.
Overall, their sauces are quite good, but to my surprise, the Carolina Gold was my least favorite. I love mustard, I usually love this style of sauce. This was very assertive and really overpowered the rib. The other two Carolina styles were better, but the Easter Carolina Sauce was my favorite, providing excellent contrast to the "candy apple" glazing they got going on their ribs.
If you've got a "good rack", then this stuff really doesn't need a sauce. His rub and smoke combo ARE awfully good.
Now, I know that the Chef has gone to and WON Memphis in May ('07) and that is not a small feat. A few things do need to be tightened up though. At $40 a head, (had a couple of beers) that's not inexpensive and I'd really like to be BLOWN AWAY when you are titled with "Memphis in May Champion".
He won for the Pork Shoulder, maybe when I come back again, I'll have that.
We ordered catering for a small New Year's Eve party we were hosting. Â The catering staff was extremely helpful suggesting how much to order depending on our tastes and size of our party. Â I even changed the count several different times and they were totally fine with that.
When we came to pick up our take our order, we had a couple EXCELLENT drinks at the bar before hand, I highly recommend them.
The order came with all 6 of their sauces in squeeze bottles which was a real plus. Â I can't pick a favorite, because I really loved the chicken, pulled pork, beef and sausage. Â Mac n Cheese was also really good.
Can't wait to diner in, but definitely recommended for catering!
Went here for the first time for dinner. I was very impressed.
Service: The waitress was very friendly and fast. She suggested a few things on the menu, which turned out to be great.
Not sure why the bartender wears a Wrigleyville uniform.
Food: I had the 1/2 pound Tri-tip. The beef was cooked perfectly. Â I tried it with all the sauces and I recommend the Smoky.
We also had the Mac and Chz and sweet potato fries. Definitely get the Mac with bacon. It was creamy and sharp. The bacon added the necessary hard texture. The fries were rubbed with seasoning and tasted great. I recommend both sides. Â
Atmosphere: Casual
Prices: Fair. Â Three entrees, two sides, three drinks for 75 dollars.
Overall: I'll definitely be back.
I love everything about this place. The atmosphere is warm and welcoming. It feels like your on the North side of Chicago but with a twist of Southern charm.
The staff are all friendly and helpful, especially Matt. He was our server for the night and he did a great job of making us feel welcome, schooling us on the sauces and keeping our drinks flowing. He was really good with the kids too.
I love that the drinks are served in mason jars. Reminds me of one of my favorite shows "Duck Dynasty". I guess that's how they do it in the South.
Most importantly the BBQ was delicious! Everybody at the table was happy with their meal. The kids, the pregnant wife, and the teenagers, everybody, absolutely loved everything on their plates. I even heard a few "This is my new favorite place" comments throughout the meal.
I chose the 3 meats so I could sample a few different items. I was given plenty of food, even for my big appetite. The ribs, are hands down my favorite item on the menu, and now my favorite ribs from anywhere in this state. I might even venture to say the country. Don't miss out on the tri-tips, their version of brisket, and really really good and tender. The mac and cheese was also really good. A lot of places preach that they have great mac and cheese, Lillie's Q delivers.
Matt talked us into the banana pudding, and were glad we tried it. None of us had room, so 3 of us split it. After tasting one bite, I knew I should have ordered my own.
I will definitely be back here with more friends so they too can rave about how I put them on to this great BBQ place.
This is my #1 favorite place for BBQ. It just doesn't get better than this. Period. End of story. This place ROCKS, atmosphere is right on... food is spectacular. We shared the shredded pork, sweet potato fries, cheese grits- ALL amazing. What is fun about this place is their broad selection of different BBQ dips for you to try. They are all really good... super unique flavoring.
I have to say, as a big fan of a good BBQ joint, this is my favorite of all Chicago has to offer.
I've eaten at Lillie's a few times, the first time I came in the blonde female bartender took time out to explain a bunch of great meal choices and then also explained each sauce to me which I really appreciated. Â She helped me decide on getting the Tri-Tip sandwich which ended up being really good with the Smokey sauce. Â That time I got the mac-n-cheese for a side, and it was sub-par. Â Pretty dry and bland.
I tried Lillie's again last night and was pretty disappointed with not only the sides but also the service. Â We had ordered take out and whoever had answered the phone was not very friendly. Â He did not answer any of my friends questions on the sauces, stating that "they're all good." Â I'm sure all the sauces are good, to some people, but no I don't think that all the sauces are good-- we were looking for a little more detail into what was in each sauce in order for me to remember which one I had liked previously. Â I didn't think it was a hard request to answer a few questions for a take out order, but the man who was on the phone acted as if he thought otherwise.
My friend and I both got the pork sandwiches with a side of coleslaw and collards. Â The collards were terrible. Â There was something wrong about the taste and I kept feeling like I was chewing on hard little bites of something in the leaves. Â The coleslaw was alright, but I've had much better.
Overall, Lillie's Q has good sandwiches, bad sides, and from my experience, a 50/50 shot of having a caring and friendly wait staff.
The food here is so good you will lick your fingers and plate clean! The staff is very helpful and the place is a cozy and warm. I might be addicted to their pulled pork! They have super delicious fries as well!
I went here twice in one week and I cannot wait to go back! If you are craving delicious BBQ this will NOT disappoint you!
Review would have been 5 stars but the oysters were terrible. My friend had them last visit and was pleased but they were dodgy and quite small even for Washingtons.
The Q more than made up for it. We hit the 3 taste options with the pulled chicken, pork 3 tip, and links. all great. meesing with sauces was fun too!
Holy meat coma. This place is awesome! It was easy to get a table for two on a Friday night so my fupa was happy. We started off with the oysters. There are three different kinds and I don't remember which were which, but they were all good. I went with the half pound of pulled pork and mac & cheese. I enjoyed trying all the different sauces, but some were too vinegary for my liking. My favorite was the smoky sauce. The meat itself was tender and melted in my mouth. I am picky with mac & cheese, but Lillie's Q was awesome!
We tried a few of the moonshine cocktails which were okay. Some were too sweet for me. I would stick to beer since these are overpriced for their size.
One of my former coworkers brought me to Lillie's Q on a Monday night. I wasn't particularly hungry, or in the mood to go out, but all that changed when I walked in the door and smelled the pulled pork.
(It may not have actually been pulled pork that I smelled, but that's sure what I ended up ordering. Plus the best sweet potato fries I have ever had.)
For someone who wasn't hungry when she walked in, I put away an impressive amount of food. I will definitely be back.
BBQ in the middle of Wicker Park. That just doesn't seem right.
It's like getting sushi from the BP down the street.
It's like getting Pizza in the middle of Chinatown. Just wrong.
But I was pleasantly surprised. I ordered the tri-tip. Now I admit some people may be turned off by the texture. It's really tender, almost to the point it doesn't resemble meat anymore. Almost bubble-gummy in texture. But it was interesting, and paired with their great sauces it worked really well. Also tried the tri-tip sandwich. The brioche it was served went really well.
The sides were all well done also. I was skeptical of their grits, but they were amazing. The mac and cheese, fried pickles, collard greens, and sweet potato fries were all good.
Of course it was Chicago-level BBQ, but you gotta get in where you fit in.
Hands down, best fried pickles and home made ranch I have EVER had!!!
Pulled pork sandwich is one of the least expensive things on the menu and is one of the best dishes there - go with it. The sandwich bread is yummy and is appetizing looking. The ribs are very disappointing, the tri tip was tender and yummy but needed sauce. Everything needs sauce - good thing there's a massive assortment of yummy sauces at every table!
The macaroni and cheese is to DIE for. Collard greens weren't very good, even though there's bacon in 'em.
Good cocktails with homemade moonshine - I highly recommend the Cat Daddy with Cream Soda.
Not trying to sound like Rick Ross, but really, Lillie's Q is so boss.
I've been trying to go here for over a year, and one hungry night my wife and I finally made it in...and we were in for a delicious treat.
First and foremost, the wifey doesn't like barbecue. To eat at a barbecue spot and have her lick her fingers and asking for more of rub at the end of the meal says a lot. We had bbq at a few spots around the city, and Lillie's Q definitely takes the cake.
Let's start at the rub: they use it on almost everything. It's a perfect balance of spices, and it works so well on the different meats, and even fries. To complement the spices is a row of some delicious SAUCE (insert Rick Ross grunt). Â I found that I love the sauces individually, but was encouraged to mix a couple together to create an even more interesting flavor combination.
Service was on par, with the staff making our night welcoming and comfortable
But something that I truly admire about Lillie's Q is that they were raising money for cancer research. A simple donation tacked onto your bill will go to research for a cause that hits very close to home.
I'm pretty excited to go back to get my bbq fix.
This is the absolute best BBQ that we have had in Chicago.
It took us forever to finally go and try Lillie's Q. We had heard all about so many other BBQ places that were supposedly the "best" and kept getting disappointed. When we finally made it to Lillie's, we were elated to FINALLY find good BBQ.
I get the tri-tip sandwich just about every time we've been here. Although, we have tried the pulled pork, chicken, and ribs and love them all.
The fried chicken with honey is ridic. It's moist and flavorful and the breading is nice and crunchy. I'm seriously drooling thinking about it right now.
If you want BBQ done right, head to Lillie's!
Stopped in after our noses brought us to Lillie's doorstep. The fact that southern banana pudding on the dessert menu roped us in. The clincher was that the chef had won at Memphis in May.
I had the tri-tip & Mr had the sausage. I'd never had white bbq sauce before but it was prob my favorite that night. The golden sauce was great too-tangy & a little spicy. Our server was great-he was the one that suggested the tri-tip & he was totally right! It was super tender & moist. It was great with or without sauce & tasted good with any kind. The green beans & mac n cheese sides were great too!
The strawberry shortcake & banana pudding was the perfect ending to our meal.
Great space, superior service, excellent beer and cocktails.
We had 1/2 lb each of the pulled pork and the beef brisket, both soft and tender and nicely flavored. Â I did want a bit more fat on the pork, but it was still tasty.
Liked all the sauces, favorite is the sweet and spicy tomato based one.
The sweet potato fries were excellent, the seasoning is salty sweet with hints of pumpkin pie spices. Â Slaw was solid.
Huckleberry shortcake for dessert was a nice topper.
Great BBQ in the city. Tried going to Piece Pizza on a Sunday night, but the 1 1/2 hour wait was not going to do so we hoofed it down to Lillie's Q. They were able to seat our party of 6 right away.
For apps we tried fried pickles, pork rinds, pimento cheese and boiled peanuts. Everything was a hit except for the peanuts.
We had some good draft beers. Nice selection. For entrees we had pulled pork, ribs, shrimp/grits, chicken n dumplings. Everyone loved their selection. Â We'll be back if in Wicker Park and wanting some BBQ!
I tried their tri tip, ribs, & fried chicken. Then for sides we got fries, green beans and baked beans. The tri tip was nice and tender, but you definitely need to add one of their sauces to it because it didn't have much flavor to it. The ribs and fried chicken were delicious. The fried chicken was moist and had just enough breading. The fries had a nice spice seasoning. Nothing special about their green beans or baked beans.
I also ordered the moonshine with lemonade which was strong enough for me. Their drinks all come in cute mason jars. Next time I'm back I'm ordering the fried chicken and fries!
I have been wanting to try Lillie's Q for awhile and luckily so did my date, so we went here for dinner.
For apps, we got the hush puppies which I thought were all right. Not sure if I would get those again. I decided to go all out and got the Taste of LQ (Your choice of 3 meats). I went with the hot links, baby back ribs, and tri tip. The sides were a tough choice because they looked so good, but I decided to get the coleslaw. My date got the pulled chicken sandwich with mac n' cheese as the side. Everything was really good! My favorite BBQ sauce was the smokey one and I liked how they have a variety of sauces at your table, so you can try them all out. Before I went to a full meat coma, I made sure that I had enough room for dessert and went with the shortcake. Luckily the seasonal fruit was strawberries. So good and light!
As much as I liked my meal, I think Smoque is better but I do plan to come back here again though.
I was excited to try this place, as BBQ is one of my favorites.  Good service, great beer list and pretty good sauces were had here. However, the ribs were kind of tough, definitely not tender... they were not very flavorful either. Pulled pork sandwich was decent as well, but only when bathed in sauce. The chicken and  tri tip were OK. Sweet potato fries were the best part of my meal for sure. They were great. That should not be the case at a bbq place. Â
Basically the meat here is kind of bland, I'd definitely hit up one of the many other BBQ joints in the area before returning. Â If you love to cover everything in lots of sauce you'll enjoy the place, but if you like your meat to have a little smoky flavor before adding sauces, you should go elsewhere
Perfectly battered fried pickles started my early dinner at Lillie's Q, although poking even small chunks of the fried morsels in the container of ranch dressing was difficult, as the glass container with the saucewas too small to accommodate a dunk. Â
Creamy grits were heavenly and I could have easily had a second dish as my main entree. Â My pulled pork sandwich, which could have been bathed in a number of tableside sauces was equally flavorful and enjoyable.
Nice decor, creative use of meat hooks as light fixtures.
I have to tell you, I am not usually inclined to dining at BBQ places, mainly because I prefer my beef cooked rare and my chicken plump and juicy vs over cooked and dry! That and I really don't think I've ever had a fond memory of a single place that does BBQ right.
With that said I have never ever suggested BBQ places as  place to go, until I came across a friends picture album of her recent visit to lilies q. The pictures alone had the power to conjure up an unknown craving for BBQ that apparently exists within me! I immediately took it upon my duty to suggest this as the next restaurant for my friends and I to try.
Skipping forward to the meal... I had  to go big or go home if i was going to come to a bbq joint so I got the platter  where you sample three meats. I decided on the quarter chicken, pulled pork and ribs. The winner is the pulled pork along with the chicken. I was a tad turned off by the ribs due to it being dry and over done. The highlight of it all were all the choices of homemade sauces! This place is slightly pricier than other places from what I hear but the quality is there.  There's a down sides are really good but everything is ala carte. I did enjoy the cornbread and mac and cheese. I also had a taste of the tri tips and will definitely order that next time! You will definitely need to have no extravagant plans after this hearty meal!
Im comparing this place w Smoques since its a bbq place. The sweet potato fries were amazing!!! The cornbread, the beans and the mac n cheese were average. They were out of pulled pork so we ordered pulled chicken and the trip(?) beef...not that great. The drinks were pretty good. We got double order of sweet potato fries rhough. Highly recommend.
They have a nice outside patio as well and the service is good. The restaurant was voted one of the best new restaurants of 2011...i dont know if it lives up to it though. If we do go back though I'd like to try their pulled pork! ;)
OK, I get that all the "barbeque" places in Chicago are meant to be Kansas City style (meaning, a variety of smoked meats served with a choice of several add-on sauces) instead of Carolina or Tennessee style (where barbecue is not a verb but a noun, meaning chopped whole hog slow-cooked in sauce). But this place had good reviews and even knows enough to offer sandwiches with cole slaw on them, so tonight I finally got around to trying it.
Well ... on the waiter's recommend, I ordered the tri-tip instead of the "pulled" pork shoulder (in Chicago you can never get it chopped, only pulled). Â It certainly looked appealing, slices of lean beef that were a nice medium, brown shading to pink, although without a smoke ring. And it came out of the kitchen fast (points for that). But the proof is in the eating.
And the tri-tip had ... no flavor whatsoever. This was simply roast beef, although not the more usual brisket. It was cooked with no spices AT ALL. Moreover, it was CHEWY, almost tough.
People, this is NOT BARBECUE. Barbecue should first of all be fork-tender. That's the WHOLE POINT of slow cooking it. (Anybody can roast a cut of meat.) And it should have some added flavor, both from the wood smoke and also from the wet or dry rub spices that you add to it. Lillie doesn't bother to do either.
Pity.
The creamy slaw was pretty good. The green beans were lightly steamed -- which would be fine in your ordinary Chicago restaurant, but not what you want with barbecue and definitely not what any southern cook would recognize as done -- and fairly flavorless.
They were out (!) of the 16 oz draft pear cider I wanted, so I settled for a bottle of apple cider, which turned out to be only 8 ounces (which the waiter didn't warn me about). So I got half as much for the price (of not the same thing).
Oh, and about the price. While Lillie's is in line with a lot of Chicago places, I felt that it was overpriced compared to the barbecue restaurants I have visited in Kansas City, Texas, Memphis, Nashville, Alabama, both Carolinas, and Florida.
And, of course, they cook and serve actual barbecue.
Lillie's Q is across the street from my hair salon, so every three months I would stare longingly at the BBQ joint across the street, wishing I was getting my hair cut around dinner time instead of at 11 am. Â
Well, I finally got to eat at Q, and compared to other BBQ I've enjoyed in NY, St. Louis, and KC, this place is subpar. Â The pulled pork was tender and had good flavor, but lots of fat. Â Way more than anywhere else I've been. Â "Meh" mac and cheese. Awful, awful corn bread. Â Very tasty french fries, but I came for the BBQ! Â The in-house BBQ sauces are tasty, but not the best. Â
Q definitely satisfies the BBQ craving, but leaves me longing for my favorite, Bogart's, down in St. Louis.
Choose your proof? Â Yessir, don't mind if I do.
I'll take the 120 proof  Morning Lillie, a mildly spicy whiskey version of the infamous Bloody Mary, and it comes with a meatstick.  Yeah, a meatstick.  Had it with Koval Rye, and it was vapory meaty cold deliciousness in a Mason jar. Â
But I didn't come here to drink, I came to eat. Â Famished from the combination of thrifting from Boys Town to Wicker + the lately nasty heat index of 110(damn that humidity), we stumbled in here seeking shelter from the sun, and the comfort that only BBQ and A/C(not Slater) can provide. Â
I'm staring at the menu and something catches my eye...
Boiled Peanuts! Â I love boiled peanuts. Â You don't understand. Â I boil my own, just water and salt. Â Lillie's version include some special spice that somehow makes it's way into the shell and flavors them from the inside out, which was great. Â My only complaint would have to be the amount of cook the nuts received. Â I'm picky about my nuts being undercooked, which is how I like them, with a little snap to them. Â I don't really like my peanuts boiled to a mush, at least Lillie's wasn't quite there, but props for the inspiration, I'm going to try to make my version at home. Â
As for my meal, there was so much to try, and so little time! Â If you know me, you know I love BBQ and/or anything grill related. Â Had my eye on the tri-tip sandwich and when our server came by to give us his take on the menu and the must-orders, the tri-tip was mentioned, as it was by the runner who brought my sandwich out. Â I got it southern style, topped with cole slaw. Â
This thing is massive. Â I'm talking huge. Â I cut it in half knowing I wouldn't get to it. Â Medium rare slices of lean beef, and not dry, mind you. Â No, these slivers of protein must have been juicing, they were so moist. Â And the smoke flavor was pretty delicate, almost like a smoke Vellux blanket, as opposed to a thick-ass smoke quilted-comforter. Â Sometimes less is more, allowing you to actually taste the meat. Â After consulting with our server on how to use the futuristic sauce bottles (turn it over and shake it dumbass) I put the Hot Smoky to use and dipped the 'wich in it. Â
Sad part of the meal. Â I was cleaning off Melanie R.'s shrimpo tails.. Â Some of the shrimp juice got onto my new white t-shirt. Â *Tear rolls down face.
I will return for the oysters and the ribs. Â Watch out for my juices.
P.S. I realize my review is full of innuendo and error (shrimpo?) after reviewing my review. Â But you like that, don't you?
Mason jars galore! Water was served up in big jars, moonshine in little jars, dressing in even littler jars still. Even toothpicks and the check were cutely displayed in tiny mason jars. Add to that the cute little ceramic pig sleeping by the door, and you've got yourself one charming place!
And just in case I wasn't sufficiently enamored, our server proceeded to charm my socks off. He didn't laugh when I asked whether I could order the 'Shrimp & Grits' without the, um, grits. He was also accommodating enough to offer to replace the grits with another side dish that better appealed to my taste. And when I couldn't decide what moonshine to get in my 'Lillie's Sour' - he winked and assured me that he knew just the thing. Okay, it's quite possible that I imagined the winking - but he definitely smiled! And after only asking for my proof preference (80, 100, or 120), he magically delivered a cocktail that I absolutely adored.
I believe I was swooning at this point.
Our order of fried pickles came out quickly, and they were DELICIOUS! Juicy pickle slices coated with what tasted like salt 'n vinegar chip batter - these definitely trump any fried pickles I've sampled in the past. My mouth is literally watering at the memory of them. A friendly warning -- they're likely not diet-friendly, so split an order with friends to avoid feeling badly about yourself.
The shrimp was yum-inducing. Generously sized, perfectly sauced and seasoned, and presented in a tiny cast-iron dish - I would have been happy with these alone as my meal.
But then the sweet potato fries arrived. Oh. My. Goodness. They sealed the deal - Lillie's Q most definitely had me wrapped around its finger now. The serving size was HUGE! Brought to the table in in a half-sheet baking tray, I could comfortably share without fear that there wouldn't be enough for me to splurge on. They were crisped to perfection, and seasoned with a sweet yet savory blend of spices that I'm pretty sure reduced me to that annoying person who mmmmm's all throughout their meal. I'd like to announce that they are (drumroll please) tied for first in my Sweet Potato Fries Hall of Fame! And even better - our dreamy server comp'd them from our bill because they arrived a couple of minutes behind the rest of our dishes.
More swooning ensued.
Call it infatuation, but I'm already fantasizing about my return!
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