Barbeque lovers in the western suburbs of Chicago, rejoice! Blackwood BBQ & Catering’s newest restaurant location in Oakbrook serves up huge portions of mouthwatering meats and comfort-laden sides, alongside half a dozen tongue-tingling sauces to please palates and pocketbooks alike. This family-friendly restaurant has a separate allergy menu available upon request, plenty of selections for vegan and vegetarian eaters, and is an excellent choice for keto and paleo diners. We think that you’ll agree this restaurant is the best in the ‘burbs!
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Oakbrook’s Newest Hidden Gem
We were so excited to be invited to try out the newly-opened Blackwood BBQ & Catering restaurant in Oakbrook, Illinois. It’s the latest in the chain of seven Chicago area locations, and it’s quickly becoming a popular local spot for enjoying top-notch, homemade food in a casual, relaxing atmosphere. This cozy location features spacious seating, multiple screens to catch the latest games, and plenty of BBQ sauces at each table.
Step in and place your order at one of the self-serve touchscreens (don’t let those screens scare you–friendly staff are happy to help if you need it), then seat yourself until your name is called, signifying that you are about to have a life-changing, BBQ experience. After you pick up your order, grab some paper towels from the never-ending supply on your table, roll up your sleeves, and dive into the ‘burb’s best BBQ!
The Menu
The first thing that struck me about the menu at Blackwood BBQ was the variety. Beef, pork, chicken, and sausage are ready for meat lovers to slather with sauce, and …stop the presses… JACKFRUIT is available, too. I’m thrilled that a BBQ place has finally come along with a selection for vegetarians! You can enjoy your favorite meat in xx different ways: on a platter, atop seasoned French fries, as a sandwich, as a taco, or on a salad. And if none of that grabs you, a Nashville hot chicken sandwich or a platter of BBQ nachos might! And those are just the main dishes…
We wanted to try a bit of everything, so we ordered The Sampler Tray ($49.99). It consisted of brisket, pulled pork, pulled chicken, sausage, half an Alabama chicken, macaroni and cheese, smokehouse beans, elotes, 2 slices of Texas toast, 2 corn muffins, and a huge amount of pickles and pickled onions. The menu says it’s enough food for 2-3, but it could easily feed 4 people with smaller appetites.
The quality of each dish, from the meats to the sides, was outstanding. This restaurant takes pride in what they serve their guests, and that is reflected in their choice ingredients, like pasture-raised beef and hormone-free pork. Plus, their food is ALL made from scratch, from mains to sides. Trust me, you can taste the difference!
I ordered off the regular menu, but Blackwood BBQ & Catering does have a separate allergen menu, available upon request. It specifies dishes containing common allergens, including gluten, dairy, eggs, nuts, and soy. They also have a list of dishes that are vegan, vegetarian, and sugar-free. While they do not have a dedicated gluten-free kitchen, the staff is very knowledgeable about ingredients and would be happy to answer questions.
No matter what you order here, you can’t go wrong. I found it really hard to choose favorites because everything was delicious, but I did manage to come up with a list of my personal favorites!
Alabama Chicken
When I go out to eat, whether it’s to a BBQ restaurant or any other, chicken is usually low on my list of must-haves. I make chicken often at home, and when I go out I like to eat things that I don’t make. So I barely took notice that the Alabama Chicken came with the Sampler Tray.
But when our food arrived, the Alabama Chicken was the centerpiece of our very full tray. Glistening with a fresh dose of Alabama style white BBQ sauce, its blackened surface practically beckoning. I surrendered and took a bite, and had my mouth not been full of food, my jaw would have hit the floor. It was the moistest, most flavorful chicken to ever grace my taste buds. And while there was a bottle of Alabama sauce at my table, this chicken didn’t need any more sauce. It was absolutely perfect!
Beef Brisket
The best-tasting brisket takes a lot of time and patience to craft, and I’m pleased that Blackwood BBQ understands that so well. They choose pasture-raised, premium grade meat, which they trim by hand. After a generous spice rub, their brisket is smoked for 15 hours using hickory and applewood logs. The result is melt-in-your-mouth, smoky brisket that will have you savoring every bite.
Like most of their meats, the brisket is served without sauce, allowing diners to create their own flavor profiles using the sauces on each table. My favorite sauce on the brisket was the Kansas City style, which complimented the smoky taste of the meat perfectly, while adding an additional layer of flavor. There’s definitely a reason the Beef Brisket is a customer favorite at Blackwood BBQ and Catering. I’d gladly enjoy it again!
Three Cheese Macaroni and Cheese
Your kids won’t like this mac and cheese. But you’ll LOVE it.
The four hours spent making this mac and cheese from scratch are well worth it. The sauce is made from a blend of three cheeses: extra sharp white cheddar, yellow cheddar, and aged Gruyere are artfully melded, creating a sauce that is rich and buttery without being overpowering. The mac and cheese is baked with a crunchy panko topping that adds a delightful bit of texture to this comforting side dish. If you’re a mac and cheese lover, this one will be on your list of favorites for sure!
Elote Corn Salad
I’ve been seeing Mexican street corn, or elotes, popping up on menus all over the western suburbs, and with good reason. Like the American classic corn on the cob at backyard bbqs, elotes pairs well naturally with grilled and smoked meats. While I seldom see elotes on the cob, I have seen it in several restaurants in salad form. But apart from the fact that you need a utensil to eat it, it’s not much of a salad at all.
At Blackwood BBQ and Catering, sweet corn is tossed with cotija cheese, cilantro, green onions, and mayo, served warm and garnished with lime. I loved it because the mayonnaise is used sparingly, enough to give the dish a creamier consistency but not enough to overpower the other flavors. The seasonings add the barest hint of smokiness that makes this veggie side dish a real winner! One bite and you’ll know why I think of BB&C’s elotes not as a salad, but as a must-have comfort food.
The Bo Woods Hot Chicken Sandwich
You already know how I feel about ordering chicken when I eat out, so it shouldn’t be too surprising to learn that I’ve never had a hot chicken sandwich, Nashville or otherwise. Heck, I’ve never even set foot in the trending chicken fast food restaurants. But since hot chicken sandwiches are so popular right now, I thought that I should give one a try.
Holy smokes, I didn’t know what I was missing! The Bo Woods Hot Chicken Sandwich ($12.99) was a huge, messy handful of spicy deliciousness that I devoured in minutes. A thick, juicy chicken breast, coated in fiery, flavorful breading, was captured on a toasted Kaiser roll, along with pickles, American cheese, bacon, and coleslaw. All of THAT was drizzled in Blackwood BBQ’s zingalicious Comeback Sauce, making for an addictive sandwich that I am still daydreaming about today.
If you’re a hot chicken sandwich person, you’re not going to want to miss out on this one!
A Dose of Awesome Sauce
I mentioned earlier that the brisket and some other meats are served without sauce, which surprised me for a barbeque restaurant. But when I started tasting each of the six sauces offered, I realized how unique each sauce was. I started playing with combinations of meats and sauces, creating all kinds of flavor profiles. My two favorites were the Kansas City and the Chicago sauces, but I also really enjoyed the South Carolina sauce, especially on sausage. The only way to discover your favorite is to try them all!
- The Kansas City style sauce (GF) is what I consider to be what most people think of when they imagine BBQ sauce. It’s thick, spicy, and dark brown in color. I loved how it complimented the smoked brisket so well. Honestly, it went with all the meats beautifully!
- Blackwood BBQ’s Chicago style sauce is most similar to the Kansas City sauce, but with a sweet finish and a dose of Old Style lager. It’s got a mellow flavor that I just loved over the pulled pork.
- The Alabama style sauce (GF) surprised me. It’s a white sauce, mayo-based sauce with a peppery, tangy flavor. It’s the star of the Alabama Chicken I loved so much, and as you can imagine it’s also delicious on the pulled chicken.
- Memphis style sauce (GF) tends to have a lot of variations out there, but the one at Blackwood BBQ is well-balanced and thick. It has an element of sweetness, like the Chicago-style sauce, but it’s not as mellow. I don’t find it as spicy as the Kansas City style, but it does have a bit of a kick.
- A sauce that stood out to me as unique was the South Carolina style sauce (GF). This mustard-based sauce is has an apple-cider vinegar zing that makes my taste-buds stand at attention. Try it on the sausage and you’ll be in love.
- Finally, I tried the North Carolina style sauce (GF) for the first time. It wasn’t my favorite as a condiment, but I think I’d get a lot of mileage out of cooking with it. This vinegar-based sauce is thinner than the others and has a nice tang. I would love to use it as a marinade for bone-in chicken on the grill!
More Than a Restaurant
After trying so many delicious offerings at the restaurant, I couldn’t help but think how much my guests would love Blackwood BBQ at the graduation party I’m hosting this summer. Blackwood BBQ offers a variety of catering packages so you can choose exactly what you need at your next event. They offer everything from boxed lunches and party platters to a la carte and traditional catering. They can even send a pitmaster to your next event to carve meat and serve your guests!
While Blackwood BBQ and Catering is all about serving delicious food that brings families and friends together, I was happily surprised to see that they also participate in the One Feeds Two movement. When you purchase a meal at Blackwood BBQ, a school meal is provided to a child in the most impoverished areas of the world. Because of this program, children are not only more likely to stay in school, but they’re more likely to stay healthy. Over time, this will help communities rise out of poverty. So when you’re feeding yourself at Blackwood, you’re also feeding a child.
Check Out Their Newest Location
The newly opened Oakbrook restaurant is located in The Overlook at 1715 W 22nd Street. Dine in and take out is available, and no reservations are needed. Indoor and outdoor seating is available; parking is plentiful and convenient. Hours are Sunday – Thursday 11:00 – 9:00, and Friday – Saturday 11:00 – 10:00. Check them out on the web at https://www.blackwoodbbq.com/
If You Want to BBQ at Home…
If you don’t live near a Blackwood BBQ and Catering restaurant but have a hankering for that tangy taste, give one of these recipes a try!
- Bacon Wrapped Grilled Pork Medallions – bites of succulent pork, wrapped in bacon and coated with BBQ sauce
- BBQ Bacon Stuffed Burgers – huge, messy burgers stuffed with bacon, onions, and BBQ sauce
- Easy Grilled BBQ Chicken – the easiest way to get juicy BBQ chicken on the grill
- 3 Ingredient Slow Cooker Pulled Pork – a recipe for BBQ pulled pork that Lazy Cooks everywhere will love
