Piggyback

Wish it was as good as i wanted it to be… My gf and I both became Ill less than 2 hours after eating here. Food was nothing spectacular just a good presentation.

My wife and I ordered the «everything plate» and everything on that plate was bone dry and flavorless.
Honestly, this place isn’t even worth typing more about it. Just skip it.

The best BBQ in this area! Real smoke with the ring to prove it. It’s a little pricey for what you get and for not being moist…
Food review follows: Ordered the «Q everything» sampler, which has all 4 meats and only one (large) side. That’s the first thing, these plates typically come with two, even if they’re smaller portions, it’s nice to have 2 of them! Especially for nearly $ 30. The chicken was good and smokey and the moist pulled pork was as well. There was also a lot of both of those, I didn’t finish either and I’m looking forward to having the leftovers! On to the brisket which unfortunately was a bit dry, as others have said and there were only 4 thin little slices. They should cut it thicker and it’ll stay moist and make people happier :) the ribs were also a bit dry and there were only 3 little baby back ones. The rub was great and the flavor is good, a couple more of them and the thicker brisket would be great and make it worth the price. To finish off the greens were great! Just the right amount of sweet and tangy flavor with bacon pieces throughout. Still reading? Looking for a sauce review? Okay, there are 4… My opinion: the mustard is the best, with chicken and/​or pork! Not quite S. Carolina, yet very tasty. I used a little vinegar (which is really basic) with the pork as well and its just not as flavorful as N. Carolina vinegar. The smokey sweet is decent and the zesty is to sweet for my taste, it’s like a commercial sauce. They really need a hot or spicy sauce to round out the lineup. Enjoy!

Came here on a full stomach, I still enjoyed the ribs I had ordered. Definitely pretty good and price was ok

omg! i had the pulled pork tacos and they were the best tacos ever! i usually like seafood or fish tacos but this was pretty awesome! we tried the poutine fries and they were horrible! i wanna come back and try other foods off their menu so i’ll definitely be back!

Good food! I had the pulled pork and Mac and cheese, the Mac and cheese it ok I though it would be better. My sons cheeseburger was delicious and the fries were tasty too!
Service was good! The busboy was very nice and even brought me bbq sauce to take home for my leftovers!

Great food. Very consistent with taste. Also has a variety of good whisky available. The nachos are amazing and very affordable!

Craving pulled pork nachos… live in the area and decided to try the place!
REALLY good… I will be back!

Today was family night out and my husband chose this restaurant. As soon as we parked out car we smelled the BBQ.
This was our first time eating here. The dining area was spacious and they have a downstairs lounge too!
I have a tendency to order fried pickles whenever I see it on the menu. These didn’t disappoint. The breading was so tasty and crispy around the edges. My husband ordered the brisket plate with Mac n cheese. The brisket was a bit dry. :(he loved the Mac n cheese!
I I ordered a slab of ribs to share with the kids and an order of fries. The ribs have a dry rub and are smoked for 4 ½ hours. All tables have 4 different types of sauces to choose from to sauce up your ribs. We all liked the ribs! And the fries were really good. Crispy and the perfect amount of seasoning!
They had posters announcing that they are going to have live performances starting this month!
I’m sure we’ll be coming back here.

First time for the both of us (my husband and myself) and just leaving a few moments ago, we can’t wait to go back and try it again sometime!!! Highly suggest their nachos and the tacos… Ymmm!!!
The bathrooms are a bit weird, but non the less, great place to dine in or take out… They even have delivery!!! How awesome!
Bön appetite

It kills me to write this because I love the food here. Today I decided to get a carry out order. I sat at the bar and placed my order. The guy that took the order was real nice but did not write the order down (mistake #1). I ordered 2 tacos and a piggy back salad w/​the BBQ pulled pork in it with the vinaigrette dressing. I got home to find no BBQ pork on the salad. I called and they never put it in with the order or charged me for it. The mgr said he can have it delivered. When the delivery came it was over $ 11 when on the menu it was $ 6.95 to add the pork. Totally screwed up an easy order. It’ll take a while for me to go back.

Piggyback has consistently been one of my favorite places in the Forest Park area. I’ve come back here every other week since I moved nearby and have yet to have a bad experience. Last night I had two friends from out of town come to check out my place and I brought them here for dinner. I immediately suggest the Piggyback Poutine for an appetizer, and we also got the hot buttered pretzel, which was probably the only appetizer I HAVEN’T had yet, and it was GREAT. It comes with some sort of chipotle cheese, which, I have no idea if that’s what it even is but that’s what I call it; it’s kind of a whipped cheddar cheese that has a nice sweet spice to it. I could’ve put that on anything and ate it.
My one friend order the everything BBQ plate, and loved all of the meat it came with (no surprise there). He singled out the brisket as being his favorite, which is actually mine as well. He had the greens as a side and couldn’t stop talking about how they were the best greens he’s had at a restaurant.
My other friend ordered the mac n’ cheese as a meal with the jalapeño cheddar cornbread as a side. I don’t even need to say much here except that they’re both my two favorite sides (besides the sweet potato tots of course).
I ordered the Piggyback burger with sweet potato tots as a side, naturally. A little zesty sauce for both and it was perfect, again.
We had a few beers and decided, «hey, why not try a flight of moonshine?» Which is ALWAYS the right decision to make. I’m not as knowledgeable about moonshine as I am beer, wine, or whiskey, but I can recommend the apple moonshine. It has the perfect hint of apple-​cinnamon for anyone who’s a little wary to go full-​on, hardcore moonshine.
I’ll probably be back here next week, I suggest you’re there too! :)

It was date night. It smelled really good from the outside and I’ve been wanting to try this place for a while now. Honestly, I was a bit disappointed. They do a dry rub which is typically my favorite for BBQ, heck, I’m no connosour, but I do know good flavor. The meat had decent flavor but the brisquet was a bit dry. The pulled pork was worth the wait and the ribs left me wondering why. The sauces were ok, I would have prefered a little messier bbq if that makes sense.
Mac and cheese was super. The collard greens were good. I think we had the peach cobbler but seriously do not remember cause it probably wasn’t very good. I do remember that our server was pushing the brownie. Really? Didn’t make sense for a bbq place. Oh well.
They have some nice beers on taps. They switch them up. I had the pleasure of Tyranena Rockys Revenge Brown Ale. So yummy and rich. I think I’d come back and only get the pulled pork, mac and beer. Sould be a good time.

Had dinner with a friend, she lives in the area and had wanted to check it out and I having lived in the two separate but equal barbecue kingdoms of Texas and North Carolina am always up for a culinary homecoming of sorts.
As we pulled into the parking behind the building, I was greeted with that wonderful aroma of a good olé country smokehouse and started to get excited, unfortunately that was as close as we got to quality «Q» for the rest of the evening.
We both ordered the 2 meat plate each of us getting ribs and then one with brisket and the other with pulled pork, so we could share. Everything was smoked with a dry rub, with sauce served on the table as a condiment — authentic enough. Dry rub is supposed to be what it is when you put the spice on the meat before you cook it, not what it does when you chew and swallow. Ribs were as tough as shoe leather, brisket not much better. The pulled pork was ok, but also a bit dry.
They did have collard greens, which I love and were done quite well, from scratch and more blanched than boiled to death that you get at most places so kudos for that. Mac an cheese was also worthy.
Service was friendly, although a bit slow, particularly since they did not seem especially busy. Not sure if I’d come back, maybe to try the tacos, which looked tempting, but tacos shouldn’t be the star of a barbecue shack.

Poutine Review: The menu has 1 poutine on it, but you can get it topped with pulled pork, brisket, or pulled chicken for a dollar extra. Otherwise the poutine is $ 6.
Piggyback’s fries are great for poutine, crisp on the outside and soft inside. Their gravy is tasty, though perhaps a little softly. They use real cheese curds on the poutine, and they throw them in just as they’re serving to you so they’re just starting to get melty from the residual heat of the fries, gravy, and meat.
I added pulled pork to my poutine, and felt like I got way more than a dollar’s worth of meat. It’s a BBQ joint, and their pulled pork is on point. Large chunks of meat on the poutine with delicious flavor.

Saw on timeout Chicago Piggyback was offering Cinco de Mayo specials ($ 1 street tacos, $ 5 tacate $ 5 tequila) and since I wasn’t trying to go downtown after work I decided to hit them up.
Parking wasn’t difficult just found one of the municipal lots, TVs a plenty above the bar with blackhawks and pale hose on (both won, Awesome!) So I grabbed a high top and waited. No knock to the wait staff, they were undermanned, it took awhile to get service so I made sure to put in everything I wanted once my waitress stopped by.
I ordered the BBQ nachos (filling by itself), the piggyback everything plate with Mac&cheese, and a couple of street tacos (smaller then regular but you can get any of the 5 types) I did fried catfish since the everything plate had brisket and pulled chicken& pork.
All the food was good and worth the wait, only thing I’ll change is giving some type of bread or shells with the everything plate cuz you can only inhale so much meat.
Drinks can’t be mad @ $ 5 16oz cans and enough tequila choices to please even the stoutest drinker. Will be back!

This place is the real deal! Loved it. Let’s start with the BBQ nachos– To die for, so good! It’s a cool little spot in forest park that definitely is worth a try. The waiters are so nice and attentive. The BBQ burger is really good too. Super big portions at a decent price.
I would recommend trying the pie whole shots. They have apple (which is my favorite), pecan, and cherry. They are literally dessert in a shot. You won’t be able to have just one I guarantee you that! Great place to start off the night on Madison street

We were looking for a place in the Oak Park vicinity to meet a friend for dinner, and Piggyback fit the bill: looked like a convenient location, good menu, nice beer list.
I made a reservation via OpenTable, since we were going on a Saturday night, and had no problem with that. I did have a little trouble finding parking, so if you’re driving, give yourself an extra 5 – 10 minutes if you’re going at a popular time. There are a couple of municipal lots nearby but they were both full and I ended up on a side street a block away.
The atmosphere is casual and fun — a mix of high tops, bar area, booths, low tables, etc. Light industrial chic plus sports bar.
We started with the soft pretzel appetizer, which was big and buttery and yummy. I recommend trying out the different barbecue sauces with it for fun dipping.
My husband and our friend both got ribs; I was drawn to the tacos and got one each of the chicken, pork and brisket. These are sold individually so no side, although I could have ordered one. (Hey, Piggyback, you should do a plate…)
The ribs looked awfully good, although I did not get a bite, I was too engrossed in my tacos. The smoke ring was nice and the crust looked good.
The tacos were quite yummy although my chicken one started to fall apart. The meat was well seasoned and tender. I did steal a fry and it was very good.
I tried a couple of the barbecue sauces, and really liked the sweet and smoky. I appreciate variety and choice in my barbecue sauces.
They also have a good craft beer list, well curated, and plenty of tequila if you’re into that sort of thing.
Service was good, it was easy to split the bill and our waitress was properly attentive.
All in all a great choice for a Saturday night.

I have to say I was disappointed in this place it was just okay and didn’t live up to the reviews.
I got the mac & cheese it was okay nothing really special. It came in a cute little frying pan dish. I also got the portobello burger it was also okay. I did not like how the bottom bun of the burger was soggy and that you could barely eat the portobello burger because it was so heavy and hard to eat. My parents got the baby back ribs they said they were just okay they had better.
The atmosphere was decorated with piggy themed art on the wall. The drinks came in cute mason jars. It was really loud in there and could barely hear the person next to you. You had to scream so the person next to you could hear what you were saying. Overall I don’t think we will be back.

It’s kind of an anomaly for a vegetarian to be reviewing a bbq place, but I’m going to do it anyway.
Piggyback had been open for awhile and I figured it was the last place I’d set foot in due to the obvious fact that I don’t eat what they sell. A coworker mentioned to me that they had veggie tacos and one night, I was feeling unusually agreeable and wound up there.
The first time (we’ve been a handful of times since), it was very crowded and we ate at the bar. I was rather impressed with their beer selection. I tried a peach beer that was utterly delicious. They serve water in precious little mason jars (always with a straw, I don’t even have to ask!).
The only entrée I’ve had has been the veggie tacos. They’re quite tasty. You order them individually, I usually get three. The veggies are so good, they’re large «wood grilled» pieces, thus they have that tasty smoky bbq taste without the «meat» part. The morita cream and queso fresco they top the veggies with is realllllll good. They have a veggie burger also, but I’ve eaten so many of those in my life and would probably only order it out of desperation. The tacos are just so good. They also have a portobello/​veggie sandwich but I haven’t had that yet. Husband would eat anything and everything on the menu, but I think his favorite are the brisket sandwich and pulled pork sandwich. We’ve had the jalapeño cheddar cornbread as a side before but I don’t think husband was very wild about it, which is odd because he usually really likes cornbread and he LOVES jalapenos.
Now for the sauces… I don’t order my own order of fries, I just eat a handful of husband’s. I love bbq sauce so fries have become pretty much the only way I’m able to eat it. Their four homemade bbq sauces are smokey sweet (pretty good, but as it says, quite sweet), zesty (good, I think this is the one I use most), Carolina (never tried it) and a mustard which I haven’t tried either. Carolina bbq sauce is vinegar based and I’m not a huge vinegar fan so I’m not thinking it’s something I will like.
Probably the best part of all is that they have a s’more for dessert! I’ve ordered one every time we’ve gone. I was a Girl Scout growing up and I grew up in the South where bonfires are as common as subway cars smelling like piss here. A s’more isn’t something I’d ever make for myself (despite that Girl Scout/​Southern upbringing, I won’t make my own fire to save my life) so… And it’s only $ 2.50. I realize that one can probably make 30+ s’mores for that price but honestly, I’m not about to consume all of the fat and calories of 30+ s’mores just to get the most bang for my buck. $ 2.50 is more than reasonable and one s’more is about all the «dessert» to which I am entitled.
Husband has had their pie. Key Lime and pineapple and I think pecan too maybe?
When we go out to dinner in Forest Park, if I feel like having beer, this is where we come.