Blackwood BBQ

This location is nice and new and has lots of seating, even a little bit of outdoor seating. I had the pulled pork platter with a side of coleslaw and I chose the North Carolina sauce because I love sour/​tangy stuff. The meat was awesome. The coleslaw was okay. It seemed healthy at least and wasn’t too creamy. Next time I will try the Chicago sauce since the North Carolina sauce didn’t really blow me away. The meat, however, was great for bbq near the loop. I would come back to try the brisket.

Never heard of this place was in the area for a training walked by and went it. It’s a different type of bbq restaurant that I’m used too. I had the beef brisket sandwich with the Chicago sauce. Delicious plan on going back today for lunch .
Very limited seating which was a disappointment because it was a beautiful day too nice to be inside an office.
Great place to grab a bite.

Had the brisket and pulled chicken and both were amazing. I like their take on coleslaw since I dont like heavy mayonnaise-​y versions. Have been here several times and will probably return when I’m walking that way. No parking ANYWHERE so it’s a pain to get to unless you walk there. Note: The portions are small for the price but definitely worth trying.

God bless the chef. Blackwood IS BBQ done right. If I had a teenager’s metabolism I’d be here all the time.
Generous portions, fairly priced. May be a touch on the high side for a quick service lunch, but the quality of food can command such a price. In addition to the bbq, do yourself a kindness and get the Mac n cheese. They nail it.
Service is great. Efficient and to the point. We’re not here for the chatter, we came for the brisket.
To the owners: Please open a few in Northwest Indiana. I suggest Michigan City. :)

I live in the area and have yet to really get used to the fact that restaurants on Clinton Street operate on a 9−5(ish) schedule. So while there is a plethora of places to eat, it’s rare I actually get the opportunity to try them.
I decided to head into Blackwood BBQ for lunch one day I was home, and was blown away by how delicious it was! I was not expecting the quality of ingredients to be as they were — very fresh veggies, home cooked baked beans and macaroni, and boastful about their antibiotic and horomone-​free meats! Love, love, love!
The menu is very limited, but that’s okay — ’cause you’re there for just what they have — some meats, and some to be expected sides of pickles, mac ‘n cheese, corn bread… You get the idea.
I opted for my favorite of the BBQ meats family — pulled pork — which is slow roasted dry, so you have the opportunity to pick your sauce. They have probably close to a dozen different sauces for you to try, all categorized by region and briefly described on the menu — I loved this! I’m a vinegar lover, so the fact that I could actually choose a Carolina sauce full of tang, over the sweet style that Memphis has to offer was awesome! (They even have a Chicago sauce, which according to my boyfriend is slightly sweet and spicy). Your sandwich will come with house made pickles (YUM), all other sides are additional. My eyes were larger than my stomach on this particular day, not to mention I’m a sucker for baked beans, so I decided to get a side of them — they were good, but honestly I was so full just from my sandwich and pickles, I could only have a taste of them or I would’ve blown up.
Price fits the quality and portions of the food, and despite coming for lunch and given its location, service was super fast, efficient and friendly!

Beef brisket platter with mac n cheese and cole slaw. EXCELLENT. I did not care for the Chicago BBQ sauce but need to return to try the other ones. My coworker went and picked it up so I didn’t get opportunity to use other than Chicago, which i ordered. Excellent food. I wish BBQ places would be a LITTLE less expensive and a little more liberal with their sides. Pretty small for the price. But overall a great place.

The food is decent but the portion sizes are tiny and the prices are high. It also gets crowded during lunch hour.
I don’t like that they don’t have extra sauce for you to dispense. They only sauce you get is what the person behind the counter puts on your food. My guy gave me half a squirt and called it good.
Overall my experience was just ‘Meh’

Stopped in here with a buddy who knows one of the cooks. Dillon was really awesome, talked to me about the different styles of BBQ, methods of cooking, and even showed me one of their cook machines. Really awesome. The brisket was the best brisket I think I have ever had. Absolutely amazing. A new favorite.

Decent bbq place to downtown sums this place up. I would lean towards giving it 3.5 stars if i hadn’t followed it up with dinner at Green St Smoked Meats.
The brisket here was so smooth it falls apart in your hands. Pretty good flavor and smoke.
The baked beans were also pretty good with some brisket and maybe pork mixed in.
Great overall service and experience. The interior is a bit tiny, but gets the job done.

My coworkers and I frequently order from this location. We usually get the pulled pork platter, and have tried several of the different sauces.
The North Carolina vinegar style and the Memphis sweet sauce are my favorites. The vinegar sauce is just strong enough for a delightful refreshing taste, while the sweet sauce is also quite a treat.
Their Mac n cheese is great also, definitely my favorite side.
This place always delivers on time as well, usually well ahead of the promised timeframe. We will continue to order on a weekly basis.
I can’t wait to visit their other locations, including the one on Belmont in Lakeview, close to my home.

Surprisingly good BBQ in downtown Chicago!
I got the brisket platter with Kansas City sauce, and a side of mac and cheese. The mac and cheese is sooo good, and comes served in a little cup with cheese and breadcrumbs baked on top. Would seriously consider coming back here and ordering 5 of these Mac and cheese cups as a meal.
I wasn’t the biggest fan of the Kansas City sauce, and if I were to come back, I’d probably try it with the Chicago sauce. However, the brisket itself was very well cooked, with nice marbling of fat and lean. I also really appreciate that they ask you if you prefer a leaner/​fatter/​medium cut of brisket. The fatty parts melt in your mouth, and the lean pieces are still extremely tender!
Definitely try it out for lunch if you work in the area! You can’t beat half a pound of brisket and delicious mac and cheese for $ 10.

Delicious!!! I ordered the beef brisket platter through
. the food was delicious, I thought the brisket was very tender and they give you a very large portion that will fill you up. It comes with a side of your choice and pickles, I decided to go with the three cheese macaroni. I would recommend this place each platter is about $ 8.50. The staff and atmosphere was very friendly when I went to pick up my dinner. The only downfall about the place is there is absolutely no parking.

I’m a Rhode Islander, so I might not be a world authority on BBQ (We don’t have much). I do know one thing though: Blackwood BBQ was super tasty. Service is done assembly-​line style: pick your base (platter, sandwich, salad), pick your meat, and pick your side (s), drinks, and pay. Fast, friendly, and fresh.
I had the brisket platter with some mac and cheese. The mac and cheese is served in it’s own little foil dish with ample amounts of crispy cheese to seal in the gooey cheesy macaroni within. As for the brisket, it was the best I’ve had so far. You get your choice of fatty cuts or lean cuts of brisket and there’s plenty of it. The chicago style sauce was tasty too; well balanced with sweet and heat.
I liked the choice of craft sodas too, always a plus! I’ll be thinking about coming back here until I get to finally make it back.

We just tried the Clinton store for the first time. Absolutely no parking but good if you live or work in the area. Clean with an ok staff. Friendly enough but a little scary looking. The employees that is.
Portions were a little small. Taste was excellent. I got a combo brisket and pulled pork platter with extra Chicago sauce. The mac and cheese is some of the best I’ve ever had and so is the cornbread muffin.
My friend basically said the same thing about the pulled chicken with North Carolina sauce.
Will definitely return.

I tried the brisket and the pulled pork plate. I really enjoyed the food, however the portions were small and they did not put much bbq sauce. I also did not like that I did not have complete control over the sauces. You have to order the sauces when they prepare your plate. I wish they had the sauces available for you to dispense as much as you wanted. The Mac and cheese and slaw were really good as well.

I am not a huge barbecue person, but I really enjoy Blackwood BBQ here in the West Loop! You get to choose among three meats (chicken, pork and beef) prepared three different ways (sandwich, salad, platter), as well as regional sauces to top it off.
My go-​to is the beef brisket sandwich with the North Carolina sauce (tangy and not too heavy/​overwhelming). My friend really enjoyed her pulled pork sandwich with the Chicago sauce. We split mac and cheese and corn bread. The mac and cheese was great; love the crispy top. The corn bread was so-​so, but I’m not a corn bread fan to begin with.
It gets a little crowed inside, so be prepared to either take your food back to the office or become «that person» who stands over a table until the occupants are done.

Just had the best BBQ I’ve had (so far) in Chicago. It’s (un)surprisingly difficult to find good BBQ in this city (and the suburbs). We stopped by after a day at Shedd (on the way back to the train). It was about 4:30 pm and not busy at all. We ordered the brisket and scored some burnt ends with it as well, also ordered mac n’ cheese, and a honey cheddar muffin. We tried the Chicago and KC style sauces.
Brisket (5 out of 5) — $ 9.99 — This brisket was delicious. The sliced brisket had the nicest smoke ring I’ve seen on brisket in a long time. The meat was well seasoned and didn’t even need the sauce (so we minimized our use of it since it was our least favorite thing we tasted here).
Mac n’ cheese (5 out of 5) — under $ 2 — This stuff was very rich, but also very delicious. It even has gruyère cheese in it! Impressed that the sides were as good as the bbq since often sides are an afterthought (or taste so).
Honey Cheddar Corn Muffin (5 out 5) — under $ 2 — This muffin had nice flavor, was moist, and actually had corn in it! It was a nice compliment to the rest of the meal.
They serve an interesting pickle, bean, and onion «salad» with the meal. This was interesting too, good, but I was too stuffed to eat much of it.
The staff were very friendly too. Great experience, we will be back!

My favorite BBQ is a tie between what my mom makes or what I make. I have yet to find my BBQ holy grail but I’m trying! The reviews here were so good that I wanted to give it a shot.
I will admit I’m in love with the mac and cheese and the corn muffin. The mac was perfectly crispy on top and oooey gooey, cheesy on the bottom. The muffin was damn good. No explanation necessary. If my reviews were based off these two items alone it’d be a five, but it’s not.
I’ve never had brisket before today and I was feeling adventurous. I told the guy I was a first timer and he gave me a nice explanation of everything. He recommended the brisket «half and half.» He slices through the middle of the brisket cuts a chunk out then places it on top of an end piece. This way I get to try some dry meat and some fattier pieces, which he says have different flavors. Whatever the flavors, I wasn’t feeling them.
The Chicago sauce also didn’t help. It just tasted like some high fructose, processed sauce. I usually make my sauce from scratch so I know the difference.
The reviewer who compared this to a BBQ Chipotle is spot on. I was surprised by how «chain restaurant» it felt. Not to hate on that but it makes a difference.
I seriously might come back for that Mac & cheese though.

We stopped into Blackwood BBQ for lunch and enjoyed our meal.
Décor: It’s a BBQ place so there isn’t much going on, it’s all business. There’s enough room for a decent line to for and they prepare your food right in front of you as you move toward the register. There are a handful of tables and even a few «bar» seats at the front window. Everything has a BBQ feel to it, with wood tables and metal hardware, and it’s a very relaxing atmoshphere.
Bathroom: unknown
Staff: Everyone was very friendly and they prepared our food very quickly, they keep the line moving!
Food: We each had the Brisket Platter (with mac ‘n cheese) and a different sauce: Chicago (tasty) and Kansas City (more of a hot sauce consistency but definitely more heat), and a bowl of the Brisket Chili (very tasty!). Additionally I had a bottled lemonade, which was enjoyable. The serving size is quite good and I left feeling full (but not stuffed).
Value: The prices are great, given the serving sizes!
This is a great lunch spot and one I will certainly remember for the future for lunch (although, Green Street Meats is still king of BBQ).

Lovers of simplicity and BBQ, meet your new favorite lunch joint.
Blackwood was simply one of the places by the office that I frivolously passed by once in a while. I was meeting up with a coworker for lunch and had a visual epiphany… Long and behold, the BBQ of downtown is here!
Enough of the story talk, the menu is short and straightforward, so if it is on the menu, it has got to be the best or nearly the best you have ever tasted. I ordered a beef brisket platter with mac n cheese. The moment you see them gently slice through the beautifully charred piece of meat, you instantly knew we had a winner. The beef sweated like a cow in the desert and the meat melted perfectly with the Kansas City sauce. To top it off, fat over fat, I gobbled up the cup of cheesy mac. Just writing this makes my mouth water.
The meat alone gave this place a 4.5÷5. Now, off to my food coma paradise.