Review: Chicago q

I'd never been to Chicago q until I had their weekend brunch recently. And I still don't understand why it took me so long to try this place out!? BBQ joints are right up my alley. This restaurant is in Chicago's Gold Coast neighborhood, not far from late night bar/where bad decisions are made/dance club Hangge Uppe and Chicago's Clark/Division Red Line Train.

I think the restaurant on the exterior looks like a little Greek white house, like what you'd see on the island of Santorini. It's very quint and surrounded by the Gold Coast high rises.

But enough about the exterior. I'll cut straight to the chase, and let you know the highlight of the meal was the carrot cake pancake I ordered as a side. It literally tastes like a carrot cake in pancake form - all you'd need is the cream cheese frosting and you'd be set! It's definitely sweet and could easily substitute as a dessert, so you should try the side version first before deciding if you could eat the carrot cake pancakes as an entree.

For my main dish, I chose the pulled chicken sandwich with fresh, fluffy honey butter cornbread. There was also a side of pink stuff on the plate, but I can't tell you what it was because I thought it looked like pink slimy worms and I didn't try it. The waiter brings out an assortment of barbecue sauces ranging from mild to hot that you can put on your sandwich, and honestly the mild sauce was amazing. It was a mildly sweet barbecue sauce, which paired perfectly with the sweet bun that housed the pulled chicken. I thoroughly enjoyed the sandwich, with the exception of one bite which tasted like chicken fat and I had to spit that piece out. However this was one of the better pulled chicken sandwiches that I've had in the city, so even with the fatty piece I still approve of this sandwich.

Chicago q also has unlimited mimosas for $20 until 3 pm, so if you're looking to extend your Sunday Funday this would be the place to do just that! I unfortunately had a commitment later in the afternoon that prevented me from doing unlimited mimosas, however I'm sure I'll be back to try this soon because there are a lot of menu items I still want to order!

Takeaways:

• If you enjoy carrot cake, then you must try the carrot cake pancake!
• If this is your first time trying the carrot cake pancake, I'd recommend getting it as a side order to see if your sweet tolerance could potentially handle the pancakes as an entree
• The pulled chicken sandwich was a good mix of a sweet bun and mild bbq sauce. Be mindful that the chicken may have a bit of excess fat on some pieces.