rev:text
| - Coming from Hawaii, when you hear "black dog," you usually associate it with something completely different than a smokehouse that churns out delicious barbecue. Well... maybe it's not so different! But, that's neither here nor there.
The black dog in question here is Black Dog Smoke & Ale House, and they really do churn out mouth-wateringly good bbq on the daily. While visiting family in Champagne/Urbana, I was lucky enough to be treated to lunch from Black Dog, and boy did it make 22 degree weather in March that much more bearable (keep in mind, I'm a Hawaiian beach bum, so that's frigid and also very impressive).
As soon as we arrived, I could tell that the place had to be amazing, simply based off of the fact that the line was basically out the door, well past noon. I honestly didn't even attempt to go inside because of how packed it was, and it was pretty cold out. Unfortunately, I can't speak on the service or interior of the restaurant, but it looks pretty nice and the service can't be bad with that many people being effectively moved in and out at all times.
Finally, after driving back to the house and suffering torture by way of hot bbq in my lap, I got to dig into some good 'ol beef ribs. They were 100% worth the wait. I may not get to have real barbecue like that often, but think I can be pretty confident in saying that it was damn good. The meat was cooked to perfection and it absolutely fell off of the bone. I specifically remember going to take a piece and ending up with the bone in my hand and the meat still left on the plate. The stuff was tender. Along with that, it was perfectly flavored. There was just enough sauce on them that I got the additional flavor, but just little enough that I was still able to enjoy the naturally amazing flavor of the meat itself. It was amazing and I am legitimately saddened that I'm not able to eat here on at least a weekly basis.
Long story short: if you ever have an opportunity to try Black Dog Smoke & Ale house, absolutely do it. The line is always worth it.
|