Fast, friendly & attentive service! We had the brisket queso appetizer which was delivered before the drinks could make it to the table! I had the pulled pork w/Georgia Peach sauce ... excellent! He had the brisket with the habanero sauce ... again, excellent! Truly, enjoyed the atmosphere & aesthetics of the old train station, too. I would recommend the Black Dog to those who are BBQ fans and even to those who aren't --they might become one after a meal here!
Food is absolutely delicious. The smoke on the meat is fabulous. Sauces are not what you would expect, but very good.
The food was delicious. We ordered to go and were told a 20 minute wait after ordering our food. We may have waited a total of 10 minutes. We will come back again next time we are in town.
They did a great job . We had a huge party. Got us all seated pretty close to each other in a reasonable time frame.The brisket queso was disappointing to me . Not much cheese in there . More like brisket and gravy the way it tasted. The Texas caviar wasn't that great either . Really bland .I ordered the two meat special . I thought the brisket was really good . The hot polish was ok . Lots of bbq sauces to choose from . You get two choices with each order.Thank you for getting the whole party seated in a timely manner
First time visiting Black Dog Smoke and Ale House on an out of town trip from the Chicago area down to Champaign. The restaurant has a nice ambiance, and the service was excellent:: prompt seating, quick service, and very friendly.For appetizers, I ordered a garden salad with a tasty creole vinaigrette dressing, and also the daily special of smoked chicken and andouille sausage gumbo, which was served hot and had a nice heat kick. The andouille sausage was little bland, but it was still a decent gumbo.For the main course, I ordered a two meat platter consisting of sliced brisket from the flat (lean), and also burnt ends from the (fattier) point meat. My two sides choices were the pit beans and the twice baked potato casserole. My two sauce choices were the Texas Red and the Georgia Peach.The sides were decent, but not outstanding. The pit beans were tasty and smoky with nice chunks of meat, but were barely lukewarm when served. The twice baked potato casserole was served hot and was also tasty, but it was a very small portion size, served in an aluminum muffin tin.A single review will not accurately give any establishment an accurate account of their full menu, as I did not try many of their other meat selections or sides, so take my comments with a grain of salt...I am a self proclaimed BBQ aficionado, an avid smoker of meat, and I like to visit top rated local BBQ establishments throughout my travels locally in Illinois, as well as to other states...As BBQ styles and tastes vary so much regionally, personal preferences can impact one's opinion of the quality of the food they are eating.That being said, my gold standard for every BBQ establishment I visit is always centered around the main course, and I always go for the most challenging meat any pit master knows there is to smoke, which is typically beef brisket...I asked my server what type of wood Black Dog uses to smoke their meats, and also what type of smoker they use. She promptly replied that they used cherrywood, and she was unsure about the smoker, but came back shortly thereafter with a framed diagram of Black Dog's wood fired rotisserie smoker that is used outside to smoke their meats.My evaluation of their brisket is that is decent, but not great. Nice bark and smoke ring on the point and flat, but the flavor was not there for me. The meat was smoky, but cherrywood is a sweeter and softer profile than my pallette is used to, which is Texas style BBQ smoked over post oak or mesquite, with a peppery kick. I definitely preferred the point meat, which was warm and moist, over the flat, which was right on the borderline of moist/dry, and also not warm and fresh. The bend/pull test on the flat was a C-, which barely passed.As I continue to write occasional reviews locally, this is common for higher rated BBQ establishments in the midwest that are open from 11am until 8 or 9pm.What that means to me, is that there is a reason why certain top BBQ establishments in Texas are only open as little as one to a few days a week, and also only open until the meat sells out... That being said, I am still on the journey to find a local BBQ establishment that can wow me with a fresh, moist brisket...The only real dissapointments I had were the barbecue sauces, which if you are a true barbecue connoisseur, should not matter...As Aaron Franklin has stated, good barbecue does not need bbq sauce.The Texas Red and the Georgia Peach were probably two of the least favorite BBQ sauces I have had. Very pureed, and somewhat watery texture, and also lacking any pop of flavor profileIn closing, this is probably one of the better BBQ establishments in the Champaign-Urbana area, and in line with similar overall ratings of top BBQ establishments in the Greater Chicagoland area. I might have given a higher revue if I would have ordered ribs, pulled pork, chicken, or smoked wings, but when you compare the brisket to any establishment in the Texas Monthly Top 50. you might be disappointed.Still worth a second visit...
I have eaten here quite a bit. The first time I went I was not impressed, I ordered the brisket and it was just okay. But, I ordered the baby back ribs and the smoked chicken wings are excellent! Even the ranch dressing and fries are probably the best I've ever had. The smoked wings and ribs are the best I've ever had (highly recommend these items). The Carolina red sauce is also fire. The service is also great!
It is a nice-looking restaurant inside and is a bit upscale looking. However, the food was just okay. Not a repeat. I had the salmon and it was okay but my dinner mates were not impressed with their sandwiches. I really expected more.
My husband has never left chips & salsa on a restaurant table uneaten. I have never left macaroni & cheese uneaten. The restaurant and bar itself is beautiful. The staff was friendly, but made absolutely no suggestions or even asked if we needed anything else when she deemed it was the end of our meal. They use tablets for ordering & payment, so while you’re paying they’re hovering over you for you to hand their tablet back, hate that. The food was mediocre and the portions are insanely small for a BBQ place, but fast to get to the table. The staff is also fast to push you out the door. $50 with a more than generous tip and we left hungry. We won’t be back, but we’re not locals so no big deal. 2 stars because it was edible, but the whole experience was underwhelming.
stopped by on a saturday around 11:15 am-not very busy-sarah was our waitress and did a good job for us as it was our first time here--it is kinda hard to find and looked to be an old railroad depot building-we both had the brisket sandwhich which was very tender with a good taste-i had the cornbread and it was ok-not the best i have ever had-the chips and salsa were very good-the salsa has quite the kick to it but it is very good-i had an old fashioned with orange burbon and it was extremely good-when we were ready to leave almost all tables were filled and a line waiting to get in-we will be back!!
This place came highly recommended however I found it just average. The food was good but there's nothing to entice me to go back. I couldn't even find a barbecue sauce that I liked. I tried what the server recommended as a sweet sauce but it wasn't very good so I asked for another type and it was $0.50 so be ready to pay if you want to try a different sauce LOL.