Belly Up Smokehouse and Saloon – Sweet, Salty and Saucy
By Jessica Lewandowski
It’s finally getting chilly in Chicago (we’re looking at you, global warming), and nothing beats the cold better than sloppy, saucy comfort food. My date and I drove into Chicago to Belly Up Smokehouse and Saloon on South Wabash to fill up, well, our bellies!
Nothing warms up a belly quicker than tasty booze, so we ordered from the cocktail menu right away. I ordered the Ginger Snap: a concoction of Ole Smoky Apple Pie Moonshine, Cranberry, Lime Juice and Ginger Beer. I love ginger flavors in cold seasons, and that’s exactly the craving this drink satisfied. My date ordered the Hunch Punch: a mixture of Ole Smoky Hunch Punch Moonshine, Lemonade, Cranberry and Sierra Mist. Can you say sugar rush? It was a seriously sweet drink.
After our tummies had a little liquor in them, it was time for munchies! We skimmed the list of appetizers, and we decided on the shareable plate they gave us a little taste of everything – the Belly Buster. We received a tray of Ribs, Chicken Wings, South Loop Rolls (pulled pork won-tons), and a drool-worthy pile of Fried Pickles! Everything came with a dipping sauce, but this was a great opportunity to sample the House Made BBQ Sauces that we had been eyeing on our table. The four sauces were the Original – a ketchup based sauce, Windy City – a smoky chipotle, Tangy Heat – a chili spiced sauce, and Carolina Gold – a Dijon mustard flavored classic.
Once all our finger food had been properly dipped and devoured, we moved on to our entrees. The entrée menu at Belly Up Smokehouse and Saloon is actually quite large, and it ranged from handhelds, to full plates, to pastas, to soups and salads, but for the sake of our review, we chose to stick to the full comfort food plates. I ordered the Blackened Catfish and Waffle Fries (I’m a sucker for waffle fries), which came with a slice of Corn Bread. My date ordered the Smoked Brisket with a side of Smoked Mac and Cheese (I see a theme, here), which also came with Corn Bread. We personally found our choices to be best to continue experimenting with the BBQ sauces!
Just before dessert, we each had to fit in another drink. I chose the Red Sangria, which was a house recipe, and my date chose the Old ‘old’ Fashioned, which was a kick-in-the-teeth glass of Bulleit Bourbon, Angostura Bitters and Demerara Syrup, a.k.a. a solid bourbon drink. Good thing dessert was on it’s way!
The dessert menu was quite large, and full of home-cooking-style desserts like Bread Pudding, Peach Cobbler and Apple Pie. Our bellies urged us to go a little lighter, so we chose the Oatmeal Raisin Chocolate Chip Cookie Ice Cream Sandwich. It was not lighter! The cookies were huge, ooey gooey, warm, and totally packed with ice cream and chocolate sauce. Woops.
Belly Up Smokehouse and Saloon is open Sunday through Thursday from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. and Friday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 11 p.m. There are also weekly specials from Monday through Friday!
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