Chicago All Fired Up

After a long, hot, final day of Pitchfork, we left with the mob and set out down Ashland. My first stop was the small ice cream van that incessantly played «Pop Goes the Weasel». I grabbed a strawberry sundae from the nice couple that owned it while their cute kid played inside. (If I remembered the name of the van, I’d review them on Unilocal,too.) I figured that would be my only street food experience of the night. I was wrong. DEAD WRONG *dun dun duuuuun*
But seriously, my friends were looking for a place to eat, and soon we got to the corner of Ashland and Carroll Ave. There we saw a big van with a trailer attached to the back. The trailer had a huge smoker/​grill and a generator. On the sidewalk stood another huge grill and some tables. We had discovered Chicago All Fired Up… as had many other people. There were only two choices: jerk chicken and baby back ribs. Both had $ 10 portions that came with some side, and there was a $ 20 rack of ribs available. Between us, we got two portions of the ribs and one of the jerk chicken.
Let me tell you. Amazing ribs. Honestly. Amazing. I’m really picky about my ribs, but these were great. In my top three for sure. I wish I wasn’t so full so I could have had some more. Next time I guess though.
What really sealed it for me though was when Troy, the owner, started walking around the corner to the curb where we were seated. When I saw him look around and notice ~10 people eating his food on the street, he let out a very satisfied laugh. We eventually flagged him down and started to talk to him. First he told us how to find him regularly and gave us his number. Soon though, he went into full on story-​telling mode. Told us a little about his restaurant business, his battle with officials on the street food issue in Chicago and his thoughts on northsiders vs. southsiders. Oh, and somehow he managed to work in a bit about Daley’s genitals. The entire thing was hilarious, insightful and interesting. Seemed like a great guy.
Bottom line: If you find him, try him. If you like great ribs, seek him out.

Meet Troy Marcus Johnson.
Recent recipient of TOC «The Lone Ranger Award», he sports a great black cowboy hat, super cool cowboy boots (pointed toes, please) and a cute little beard (I am a sucker for beards, sorry for those of you with sensitive cheeks but boy! it’s manly!) that give him a look of BBQ super hero.
He kind of is in his own right since he’s the first one to successfully deceive our city stupid food truck permit policy with his… fire truck.
Hurray for him — I like a guy who knows how to get what he wants. It was not easy but here it is, gleaming and rolling in the streets of Chicago, white with red strips and a glorious 70s-​style logo on the side. Just. Spendiferous.
He has a few regular stops on his road — Green Dolphin Street on Monday night, Reynold’s Lounge on Tuesdays, Vision Nightclub on Thursdays — and he will be every afternoon but Sunday at 63^rd beach this summer.
South Side love.
So if you are in the mood for fried fish, shrimp chicken and/​or smoked ribs you can track him down with a phone call or on Facebook. Or you can go see him at Ms Minnie’s, the restaurant he owns on Stony Island.
Shrimps on the beach — oh yeah… here I come.