Black Dog Smoke & Ale House — Restaurant in Champaign

First time visiting Black Dog Smoke and Ale House on an out of town trip from the Chicago area down to Champaign. The restaurant has a nice ambiance, and the service was excellent:: prompt seating, quick service, and very friendly.

For appetizers, I ordered a garden salad with a tasty creole vinaigrette dressing, and also the daily special of smoked chicken and andouille sausage gumbo, which was served hot and had a nice heat kick. The andouille sausage was little bland, but it was still a decent gumbo.

For the main course, I ordered a two meat platter consisting of sliced brisket from the flat (lean), and also burnt ends from the (fattier) point meat. My two sides choices were the pit beans and the twice baked potato casserole. My two sauce choices were the Texas Red and the Georgia Peach.

The sides were decent, but not outstanding. The pit beans were tasty and smoky with nice chunks of meat, but were barely lukewarm when served. The twice baked potato casserole was served hot and was also tasty, but it was a very small portion size, served in an aluminum muffin tin.

A single review will not accurately give any establishment an accurate account of their full menu, as I did not try many of their other meat selections or sides, so take my comments with a grain of salt...

I am a self proclaimed BBQ aficionado, an avid smoker of meat, and I like to visit top rated local BBQ establishments throughout my travels locally in Illinois, as well as to other states...

As BBQ styles and tastes vary so much regionally, personal preferences can impact one's opinion of the quality of the food they are eating.

That being said, my gold standard for every BBQ establishment I visit is always centered around the main course, and I always go for the most challenging meat any pit master knows there is to smoke, which is typically beef brisket...

I asked my server what type of wood Black Dog uses to smoke their meats, and also what type of smoker they use. She promptly replied that they used cherrywood, and she was unsure about the smoker, but came back shortly thereafter with a framed diagram of Black Dog's wood fired rotisserie smoker that is used outside to smoke their meats.

My evaluation of their brisket is that is decent, but not great. Nice bark and smoke ring on the point and flat, but the flavor was not there for me. The meat was smoky, but cherrywood is a sweeter and softer profile than my pallette is used to, which is Texas style BBQ smoked over post oak or mesquite, with a peppery kick. I definitely preferred the point meat, which was warm and moist, over the flat, which was right on the borderline of moist/dry, and also not warm and fresh. The bend/pull test on the flat was a C-, which barely passed.

As I continue to write occasional reviews locally, this is common for higher rated BBQ establishments in the midwest that are open from 11am until 8 or 9pm.

What that means to me, is that there is a reason why certain top BBQ establishments in Texas are only open as little as one to a few days a week, and also only open until the meat sells out... That being said, I am still on the journey to find a local BBQ establishment that can wow me with a fresh, moist brisket...

The only real dissapointments I had were the barbecue sauces, which if you are a true barbecue connoisseur, should not matter...

As Aaron Franklin has stated, good barbecue does not need bbq sauce.

The Texas Red and the Georgia Peach were probably two of the least favorite BBQ sauces I have had. Very pureed, and somewhat watery texture, and also lacking any pop of flavor profile

In closing, this is probably one of the better BBQ establishments in the Champaign-Urbana area, and in line with similar overall ratings of top BBQ establishments in the Greater Chicagoland area. I might have given a higher revue if I would have ordered ribs, pulled pork, chicken, or smoked wings, but when you compare the brisket to any establishment in the Texas Monthly Top 50. you might be disappointed.

Still worth a...

Came here on a whim while on a road trip. Decided to go after finding it on Google maps based on all the reviews. Super cool place, the refurbed train depot is cool as hell and we even had a train go by on the tracks behind the parking lot. Service was excellent. Our server was lovely and attentive. They were completely out of ribs when we got there, which is indicative of their quality right out of the smoker. I got the rib tips and they were good, but it kinda tasted like it’d been sitting out all day after being cooked and probably would’ve been completely delicious had we eaten around lunchtime. I also got the mac n cheese bites, which were very tasty! The light garage beer I had was also good.

HOWEVER. I got a side of cornbread with my rib tips. My flabbers? Gasted. I have tried many different restaurants and their cornbread. I have never, in my entire life, had BEANS in my cornbread. When I received my plate and saw bits of something that was NOT CORN??? I was very confused. (Imo, kernels of cooked corn shouldn’t be in cornbread either imo but to each their own on the corn.) I can confidently say I have never had what looked like pinto beans in cornbread. Quite honestly, I was so disappointed after being on the road for so long because it just tasted like canned beans. It’s so beyond wild to have BEANS in CORNBREAD that it’s comical. And trying it after picking some of the beans out it still tasted more of beans than bread, which was frustrating.

Ultimately it’s a cool location, had great service, but was lightly disappointed in the ribs and just completely bewildered over...

My partner and I came for lunch this past Friday. We got right in and loved the vibe of the place. We looked at the appetizers and none jumped out to us so we skipped getting any. I ordered the brisket sandwich with both the twice baked potato casserole and the Mac n cheese. My partner ordered the beef ribs with a side of their brisket chilli. Looking around it was clear this place is very popular at lunch time and everyone looked to be enjoying their food. We, however were let down by the food. After one bite of my sandwich, it was clear that it was far too over cooked and dry to eat as a sandwich. The flavor was good, it just was very dry that it was hard to swallow so I ate the 4 pieces of sliced brisket on their own. The Mac n. Cheese is the same Mac n cheese that you will get from any buffet, bland and mushy. The twiced baked potato casserole tasted premade/outsourced and just reheated. Nothing to rave about. The brisket chili tasted more like a mix between onion soup (there was a TON of onion in it) and some chili. My partners beef ribs looked good, and when tasting it they were moist but the smoke on it was very strong. I personally would not have been able to eat them. Overall the atmosphere is great, the waitstaff was fantastic the food was a let down. I think we just ordered the wrong items to try. Or it was an off day. We were not impressed with our...