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| - I've been here twice.
First time - Italian Beef & Sausage Combo (by mistake), Maxwell St Polish
Italian Combo:
I'd never had the combo anywhere before because I don't really love Italian Sausage (blasphemy, I know). But when I got it home and bit into it, I'm glad they gave me the combo instead of just the beef. I could tell that the beef sandwich alone would have been awesome - great tasting juice, tender beef, and all the right toppings. The addition of the sausage didn't really improve the sandwich for me, simply because Ricobenes and Italian Beefs are my favorite things on baggies. But it did make me realize that I do indeed like Italian Sausage sammiches. The combo gave me two different experiences and neither overpowered the other, but came together to form an undeniably delicious sandwich. Therefore, I recommend either the beef or sausage sandwich, or more importantly...the combo.
Polish:
This is the Maxwell St...so its not just a regular polish you'd get at a cart somewhere on Central. The grilled onions, mustard and peppers were all present on top of the familiar taste of that kind of sausage. Hmmm...can't remember if it was a regular bun...drat. Anyway, the ONLY problem was the sausage - it was a bit overcooked. If it hadn't been, it would have been my first taste of a proper Maxwell St since Hippo's in Troy, MI. Don't get me wrong, the taste was definitely legit here...just an unfortunate mishap on the sausage.
Went back yesterday as I was trying to avoid I-10 traffic.
This time I got the 2 Meat Combo with potato salad and red beans & rice. Ribs and brisket were my meats.
Ribs - I have become a dry rub guy (seems like this review is filled with phrases that could be exploited), and I think the presence of an insane amount of sauce lessened my opinion of these ribs. I like to judge a rib without sauce, but that was impossible because of how much they put on them. Regardless, they were tender enough without being "fake". However, they didn't have enough smokiness for my liking. It was dark in the room, so I couldn't tell if there was a significant smoke ring or not. All in all, you could do much worse. But I think I'll probably pass on the ribs whenever I go back. The Chicago offerings are much more intriguing.
Brisket - Can't complain whatsoever. I haven't had a ton of brisket in my life, so maybe I don't know good brisket when I taste it. But this was good to me. A good smokey flavor, tender, and not crumbly or dry. The sauce helped it a bit I think, as the two flavors work well together. I would buy this again. Probably the best I've had in my limited experience.
Da Sauce - Not bad at all. In fact I prefer this over a lot of Famous Dave's sauces. It has a tang to it, but not overpowering with it. Its not a thick sauce. It seems to not fit their ribs the best, though...its hard to explain. Kind of a moppy sauce, but perhaps better on someone else's ribs. Even still, I wouldn't mind having a bottle of it at home for my chicken or burgers. Good stuff.
So yeah, this is a great place to come for some Chi-Town goodies. They get the Italian Beef right, the taste of the Maxwell correct, and they also have some other good stuff I have to back and try. I also gotta try their fried catfish - in fact, they have an all you can eat fish fry on Fridays.
Pricing was normal for this kind of food - about $7 for the sandwiches, $4 for the Maxwell, $16 for the 2 meat combo w/sides. Not bad. Service the second time was nice - a very personable and chatty lady was behind the counter and we had some nice conversation...very kind to replace my red beans and rice after i dropped it by saying good bye haha. I recommend the place and i'm sure I'll increase the rating as I go back more.
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