Rub's Backcountry Smokehouse

We've been here several times now, both in the dining room and take out. We really enjoy it! We've tried the pork, brisket, chicken, and ribs. The chicken is actually my favorite, which is not typical for me. Their chicken is moist and tasty though. A close second is the pork. Tender and juicy, with plenty of smoke flavor. I'm not usually a huge fan of brisket or ribs, so while I do like Rub's versions they are certainly not the first thing I order. My husband loves them though and gets both! I also LOVE the cornbread. It's not your typical cornbread--it has this baked in creamy layer that adds moisture and yummy, yummy fat. It is rather plain as some other reviews mention, but something about the sweet, creamy layer is just awesome. I'm not joking when I say I would happily eat cornbread and nothing else for my meal. Two misses for me are the mac and cheese (I cannot stand truffle oil so this is out for me). I also didn't care for their smoked sausage--way too smokey for my taste. Otherwise, this place is a big hit!

Im from the south, I know good BBQ and this joint is superb. Way more affordable then most BBQ restaurants here in Chicago. I got the combo platter with sliced Brisket (a little fatty but great flavor) and pulled pork. My husband and I split cornbread (it has custard and corn baked right in) and the truffle mac and cheese. Strangely one of my favorite aspects of the meal was the coleslaw. The meal was excellent. I will continue to visit this place.

I really wanted to love this place because I love bbq and it's less than 10 minutes from my house, and I'm too lazy to fire up the smoker in winter.    First of all, they've moved around the corner to 6954 N. Western.  

I tried Rub right after they opened..  The ribs were okay, but served at room temperature.  The cole slaw was excellent -- creamy, cold, fresh.  Kettle chips were served because they didn't  have french fries which was not a plus.  Based on that meal, we never went back.  Last Saturday, we noticed that Rub had enough staying power to re-locate to bigger digs, so we decided to give it a second try.  It's a much nicer space than on Lunt -- rustic in a good way.  But, I can't say that I'll be back.  Although there were only two other tables of diners, the wait for food was ridiculously long.  There were three people in the kitchen, but they were inefficient in getting orders to the tables.  True, they were also doing takeout, but there needs to be some better organization to fill the table orders.  If they preceded the meal with some bread or chips, or something, it wouldn't seem like such an interminable wait for food.  The owner was there, so we thought he'd go in the kitchen and pitch in, but... .  

The deal is that you order at the "desk" and pay in advance (tip jar on the desk), and a lot later, they brought the food.  This system is odd in itself if for no other reason than we couldn't figure out who our wait person was or how you tip with this method.  Do you put the tip in the jar?  Why not just have someone take your order at the table and serve you start to finish?  

They still don't have french fries.  Instead, you get a miniscule serving of kettle chips.  I mean teensy.  The creamy cole slaw isn't creamy anymore and was served room temperature.  Although the restaurant is called Rub, I could barely discern the rub[s] on any of the meats.  There are three sauces on the table that are pretty good, but again with a name like Rub, you shouldn't need the sauce.  Alas, you do.  We had the brisket which was declared fatty and although smokey, rather bland. The pulled chicken which is tender, moist white meat was tasted and dismissed by one member of our party, although I thought it was the best of all the meats we had The ribs, again, were not even warm.  I'm not a big pulled pork fan, but that was voted the best by my two companions.  None of our party enjoyed the custard cornbread -- too mushy.  

Thinking that part of the problem might be due to their recent move, I tried it again a few nights later. Slightly less wait time, but food hadn't improved.  And, how can they send out that teensy, tiny amount of chips?  Not even what a chip package would call a serving.  Why not raise prices a dollar and send out a reasonable amount of chips if you're not going to have fries?  Serve the meats hot, make the cole slaw creamy and cold.  Get the serve time shortened, and maybe I'll come back.