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| - I love barbecue in all its incarnations: Chicago, Carolina, Texas, and Kansas City to name a few. If you do as well, I don't think Black Dog will let you down. This review is for the original Urbana location, although they now have a larger restaurant in Champaign as well. Situated in a renovated but unremarkable old building, it is functional with seating in booths, tables, and at the bar. The only downside of this location is that there is often a wait at lunchtime.
Using their custom-made smokers, Black Dog puts out a varied array of tasty meats. These include Polish sausage, brisket, pulled pork, turkey along with some less common offerings like salmon and free-range chicken. Selections are accompanied by your choice of sauces up and down the heat scale from mild to Ghost Pepper hot. My personal preferences are the mild and sweet Georgia Peach and the medium hot Carolina Red. You can mix and match to get it the way you want. You can order meat in combos (your choice of two or three meats) with two sides and sauce. Sandwiches and salads are also available if you're leaning towards a lighter meal.
To complete the deal, you'll want a couple of side dishes. Black Dog has typical choices you'd expect in a barbecue joint: Cole slaw, beans, corn bread. These are decent but are not stand out quality for me. On some days you can get the Mac and cheese and I do recommend that.
The one thing that keeps me from giving Black Dog five stars is the service. To be sure, you're always welcomed as family here. What I never know is if that family is the Cosby's or the Addams'. The inconsistency in training and/or personalities is a bit of a turn off, as is the wait time. If you don't want to wait or if you like their burnt ends (limited supply daily and treated as a local delicacy) be sure to arrive early. Overall, it's a definite hit.
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