Porkchop

Had a taste for rib tips/​hotlinks was on my way to work and figured since I had eyeballed this place a couple of times they would fill the bill. Now mind you because of the time crunch my pickins got limited and I didn’t have 30 minutes to wait for the combo, so I went with the chicken and waffle sandwich. I could have waited on the combo because this took 20 minutes. It smelled amazing on the ride to work, but once I got there and situated, I see it’s the kind of sandwich that you eat at that instant or not at all. By the time I got ready to eat it the bread had soaked up all the sauce and was falling apart. Too much sauce couldn’t taste the chicken or the Cole slaw. I will go back try again and let you guys know. The trip from Adams to Polk street, 20 minutes.

Went here for lunch — heard they had chicken and waffles, so we wanted to check it out!
Fried chicken (wasn’t greasy) on top of a golden waffle and then topped with a slightly spicy syrup – it was quite delicious!
I would stop here again for chicken and waffles if I was in the neighborhood.

Really had high hopes. Went in «pre-​lunch hour» behind one couple (that’s right, 3 people in the restaurant total, at about 11:15), and still had to wait 20 minutes for an overly sweet and greasy pulled pork sandwich, limp fries, and «meh» cole slaw. The girl behind the counter seemed sweet, but her job (as far as I could tell) was to avoid making eye-​contact with the three (and then five, and then dozen or so) people trying to get back to work on time… oddly enough, ALL the food for EVERYBODY came out at the same time. Think there was only one guy back in the kitchen? On a brighter note, the falafel place across the street looks VERY good, so I might give THEM a try soon!

When Porkchop first open, I was not a big fan, things were over cook or dry… Maybe because they just opened… Gave it another try after a couple of months… And then I fell in love with there rib tips… I think they have one of the best rib tips for a little place… It’s not dry at all, really juicy… I like my ribs and rib tips dry rubbed… This way you can tell if it’s good or not before they put the sauce on… At the same time you can taste the sauce to see if it’s goodie not before you put it on the meat… And in this case… Both were really good… So give a try… It’s really juicy and it’s worth it…

Being a new Unilocal obsessed reviewer, there are times when I try out a new restaurant and I forget to check Unilocal to see what the current ratings are reading. Thank god I didn’t read these reviews before I visited pork chop on Adams/​Wabash because I would not have went in.
First, this food was spectacular. Especially for the price to portion size ratio. I ordered the pulled pork BBQ sandwich with sweet potato fries. The pork was tender, juicy, and hot! The fries were made to order and were also hot and had the perfect crisp. The slaw was pretty good alone, but when added to the sandwich, like we do in the south, it just elevated the entire sandwich.
Perhaps my experience was different because I went during a weird time, 2:00, so there wasn’t a wait. I got my food quickly and made it back to my office on La Salle within an hour. I will definitely return.

+1 star for being the only bbq place near work. That’s about it. Long wait, high prices, not exceptional food. I stopped going here.
My condolences for the 1 girl they always have running the counter who doesn’t get the backup she needs during lunch rush.

I wanted something other than a salad today and thought I’d check this place out. The combo menu said the catfish was $ 10, so I thought that’s not a bad price and ordered. When the cashier ringed me up the total was $ 15 plus change. I didn’t order anything but the combo, so I was shocked by the price and questioned it. The cashier said, «ya the catfish price is wrong on the menu.» I said ok, well I don’t want catfish and give me the special which was $ 9 dollars. The cashier attempted for 10 minutes to refund me the money (used a debit card) and could not figure it out. I said I’ll take the catfish, since I was hungry and there was no manager on site to assist her.
I got the catfish combo and it was not great. The fish was fried in a typical cornmeal batter with no seasoning and the fries were limp and greasy. Very basic meal with no taste. I will not be giving this place a second visit.

Best freaking rib tips I’ve ever had. I see it has bad reviews but you can’t go wrong with these. Seriously. Touched by God.

Had the Beef Brisket sandwich with fries (8.99). Plenty of fries and the sandwich was awesome. I will return soon.

I’m sad that I didn’t check Unilocal before wasting my money and calories on this place. First, they are super slow. Which would be understandable if most of their food wasn’t just assembled instead of cooked. It’s barbecue… it should be cooked already. Secondly, their service is pretty bad. The woman taking your order could care less about her job. And why she bothers to take your name for an order is beyond me, because all she does is yell out what the order is when things come up. Lady, there are 4 people waiting here for a pulled pork sandwich… you’re going to need to be more specific than that.
I had hopes that their food would redeem the experience. Nope. The fries were pretty good; I suppose that I can give them that. The pulled pork sandwich was ok at best… meat was not very flavorful and they put about a teaspoon’s worth of BBQ sauce on it. I’m not greedy with the condiments, but when your food has little flavor, please don’t be stingy with the sauce. Lastly, I tried the mac & cheese and it was TERRIBLE. Honestly, they might as well have handed me Easy Mac… I would have been happier.
Never will I return.

I used to like this place. It was expensive, but the portions were pretty good. Today I got a dollop of cole slaw, a toddler sized handful of fries and a catfish filet little bigger than a chicken breast for a tick over $ 15. If they keep that up, they’ll be gone by Halloween. Really disappointed

Somewhat new the downtown Loop, Porkchop Express popped up between the ⁷⁄₁₁ convenience store and Taco Fresco’s «House of Ptomaine» (see related review here:
) near Adams and Wabash a few months ago.
The interior is super dark, peppered with a handful of high-​top tables and a rather anemic-​looking deer head mounted to the wall. There’s also an unusual collection of handsaws hanging on the railing in front of the bar where you order, so watch what you back into. Noticeably missing from this bbq joint is the smoky smell of a large meat cooker, so I’m guessing the ‘cue and other proteins served here are cooked at a separate location.
I ordered the Rib Tips Combo (sauce on the side, please) with a canned drink for $ 14.00. True to their «express» name, my plastic basket came out rocket fast, the tips drenched in sweet sauce (bummer), alongside a nice pile of perfectly cooked French fries and a rather spicy serving of mayo and mustard-​base cabbage coleslaw.
The rib tips were amazingly tender, with just a smattering of gristle tucked around the meat, so you had to really work for those tasty tid-​bits. Unfortunately, they lacked that true smoky goodness, and much-​needed char, most southern rib tips offer. Like their ribs, the meat is nicely dry rubbed before smoking, making their drowning in the super-​sweet barbecue sauce completely unnecessary — I’ll try for «sauce on the side» again next time.
Speaking of sauces, the options this day consisted of «Sweet» and «Smoky» in re-​purposed catsup picnic bottles — I’m not really sure which was which, since they both tasted exactly the same — think Cattleman’s standard restaurant sauce, with a dash of liquid smoke.
My friend ordered the $ 25.00 BBQ Platter, which was delivered with a handful of ribs, a small serving of pulled pork, a huge helping of fries and slaw, pickle spears and a fantastically spicy smoked pork sausage that stole the show. A bit on the skimpy side for the $ 25 price tag, but certainly a load of ‘cue — enough to put him into an afternoon meat coma.
We’ll certainly give them another try, especially to sample the brisket and, possibly, the shrimp po’boy.

Extremely friendly and personable staff. Unfortunately, there’s no consistency with the food.
One day you could be served a pile of perfectly juicy, smokey, tender pulled pork nestled between to perfectly grilled pretzel bun halves. The next week you might be handed a mound of dry way-​too-​salty park shard afterthoughts within the soggy sponges of a burned grease-​laden pretzel bun. Eew.
Ordering Porkchop’s bread pudding is like playing Russian roulette too. If you’re lucky, you’ll be served a warm pudding bubbling with a toasty undertone of sweet buttery caramel cut by strong hit of rum. But if you’re like me, they’ll follow that visit up with a cold, nondescript bowl of plain raisin bread pudding. Zzzz. Don’t worry, both renditions are moist and tasty. The problem I have, is that one bread pudding is far superior to the other –and yet they are supposedly the same damn thing on the menu of the same damn restaurant. This really bugs me.
I mean, seriously, if there is one crime that is most inexcusable for a restaurant, it’s total lack of consistency with entrées.
I gave Porkchop two chances… and I’m done.

This is a mini Porkchop (awww…) on the corner of Adams and Wabash. I came here last Friday around lunchtime hoping for some lip-​smacking carryout BBQ to kick off the weekend in a glorious, gluttonous fashion. Going in I knew there would be a crowd, but I was not prepared for how hot (by temperature… I’m talking almost stifling with hardly a breath of air) it was in here. I’m adding a star to my review because everyone working the counter was competent, attentive, and friendly. Service is clearly the strong point here. I could tell the menu is truncated compared to the Printer’s Row location, which I had visited last summer during Lit Fest. I decided on a brisket sandwich and side order of sweet potato fries (I wasn’t kidding about the hungry monster). I paid, and proceeded to wait in this hot box for my order to come out. As I waited, I noticed a few people seated at high-​top tables with their orders, as this place offers the option to dine in or carry out. The website says that this location seats 24 people. This is optimistic; at most a dozen could sit comfortably, not even taking into account all of the customers standing/​milling around waiting for their orders. Also good to know: liquor is not served at this location. I wonder if there is a BYOB setup available during the dinner hour but probably won’t be back to investigate.
As far as the food itself, I was definitely underwhelmed. The brisket sandwich I ordered was served on Texas toast, which came as an unpleasant finding, and the brisket itself was thick and oddly sliced. For the price of the sandwich, the paucity of sides was a letdown. It came with a pickle and the side of coleslaw tasted like plastic. Fortunately the portion of coleslaw was tiny, so I didn’t have a bunch to contend with. The side order of sweet potato fries was generously portioned, and perfectly ok, though nothing to write home about. Perhaps the biggest oversight was that the BBQ sauce was slathered directly on the sandwich. For carry-​out, a container would’ve been preferred, so that the sandwich doesn’t get soggy. It also left a bad taste in my mouth that I couldn’t choose what kind of sauce I wanted — unless there is 1 and only 1 option available, which does not a BBQ joint make.
In conclusion, I had high hopes for a cute, nearby outpost of Porkchop to satisfy the occasional BBQ craving. It looks like I will be back to the full size Printer’s Row location or saving up for when I visit St. Louis, home of PM BBQ.

I never realized Porkchop was a chain, but apparently there everywhere throughout the city. The location I went to was smaller than most. I went with the beef brisket. The toast it was served on was good and the beef was plentiful. What i did not like was the $ 11 price tag for just a sandwich. If I wanted to make it a combo I would have had to pay $ 14!
My friend went with the pulled pork sandwich. He said it was decent enough, but it could have used more sauce. Decent food, but the prices need to come down.

Looks like Porkchop has decided to flood the Chicagoland area with openings here and there all of a sudden. My buddy discovered one of their express locations on 29 E Adams so we ventured over for lunch as we wanted something new.
The place is smaller than their normal dining in locations hence the word «express». Menu is on the chalkboard which is on the wall in addition to the paper menus at the counter. I ordered the rib tips which were ok… the sauce was definitely whats up. The dish was definitely piping hot so I had to wait a bit to pick up and eat (no complaint there). The food didn’t take too long to come out so the express moniker seems well deserved. I would come back and try something else.
I actually came back and had the brisket sandwich and it was very good!

Came here during lunch and I was surprised to see just 3 other customers besides myself. Counter help was very nice and service was amazingly fast. I had the rib tip dinner which came with fries and coleslaw. I am all about the taste and if the meal comes with a lot of food then that’s just a plus.
The best part was the fries that have the skin on them. The meat was just ok/​good and the barbecue sauce was just the same. Nothing really to talk about or come running back to if I ever get the taste for rib tips again. They don’t give you much barbecue sauce. For 16.00 I thought I was getting a lot when they showed me the container but later I was disappointed to find out it was just one layer over a whole bunch of fries. After one bite of the coleslaw I decided to pitch it.
I could have spent 5.00 — 6.00 less at some other barbecue joint for the same meal and had a lot more tips and way better taste on all 3 items served. For what I was served at Porkchop, I would only expect to pay around 8.00 — 9.00. I am giving this place 2 stars for the nice speedy service. If they want any more stars they really have to work on the amount and taste of their food for the price that they charge. I don’t see myself coming back here for anything else based on this first time experience. Sorry I did really want to like this place.

Like some of the other reviewers I was excited about an «authentic» BBQ place opening close to work. Finally got a chance to try it today. I ordered the brisket sandwich and what I got was really disappointing.
If what I wanted was overcooked tough beef with no smoke ring (or flavor), coated in mediocre BBQ sauce, on burnt Texas toast, served with a side of flavorless cole slaw, and a pickle… I would have just cooked for myself.
At least the woman at the counter was friendly! Also there are no free beverages here, you pay $ 1 for water if you want anything to drink. Probably won’t be back.

We were so excited there was BBQ place opening near our office so we rushed their on their opening day. I ordered the pulled pork sandwich — a BBQ classic. I also ordered a side of macaroni and cheese. The food was terrible. The service was terrible. I hated the whole experience.
I revisited later really in hopes that my negative experience was due to the fact that it was their first day. I was equally disappointed. I ordered the pulled chicken. No way I would order the mac and cheese again. The first time it was watery and tasteless (and expensive). My chicken was dry and rubbery. I think they were counting on the two drops of sauce for flavor.
I would never return. I must now return to the long walk to Dick’s Last Resort for my dose of decent BBQ. I think my opinion is common for neighborhood workers because only a month after it is open and it is dead at noon.

Came here with some colleagues during our lunch break because we saw that this place was new to the area.
Inside is very small with a few tables to sit and eat.
I got the BBQ chicken which came with fries. Pretty good. Chicken was tender and the bbq sauce was awesome. You might need to ask for extra sauce bc2 they don’t give you much.