MISSION BBQ — Restaurant in Downers Grove

We were looking for a bite to eat and stumbled upon Mission BBQ. Never hearing anything about it, off we went.

It’s huge on the inside. A big open floor plan with memorabilia adorning the walls honoring service men and women and first responders. I have no idea if they give back to charities for them or not, but let’s get into the restaurant a bit, shall we?

Having never been there, we walked up to the register to order. It’s a fast casual counter service establishment. The cashier, Briana, seemed enthusiastic about helping us. Okay, you can’t read tone, so that was sarcasm. She was busy separating aluminum containers. Was there a “Hello. Welcome to Mission BBQ. Have you dined with us before,” greeting? No, there was not. And I know you’re thinking, “well, that’s oddly specific.” And you’re not wrong because a manager realized there were people behind us in line, opened another register and said those exact words to the people behind us.

My wife ordered the pulled chicken sandwich and a side salad with Italian dressing. I asked about the number of sides and if I could get a salad as a side. Briana looked at me as if looking through me and said, “you gotta pick a main first.” Well, duh. I was just asking a question (I thought but didn’t say aloud). So I picked the brisket sandwich. She asked if I wanted it dry or moist. I’ve never heard brisket offered that way before and must’ve had a weird look on my face as she followed it up with, “dry is lean and moist is not.” Again, never heard brisket offered dry or moist before. Who would order it dry?

So I got the MOIST brisket sandwich, side salad with ranch dressing and fries and a large drink.

There are six different bbq sauces on the table. None are all that good. The best (and I use that term loosely) is the KC bbq sauces and the Chicago sweet sauce.

So, back to the meal. My wife had the pulled chicken. To say it was salty is an insult to salt. It was insanely salty. You could taste the salt more than the chicken, or the bun, or the sauce. A deer might like it, but it was all your daily sodium in a couple bites.

The salad was fresh, but the Italian dressing tasted off. We couldn’t figure it out, but it was just off.

My brisket was moist. It was good, but if the lean is dry, it must really be dry based how moist the other brisket was.

And my salad was fresh as well. The ranch was different. It had a little kick to it. I kept thinking something was wrong with it until I figured it out and it would have been nice if they had stated that.

The fries were really good. Fresh, hand cut, fried well, but not overdone with a nice seasoning. They should focus more on their fries. Maybe make a bbq version of poutine. They were that good.

And the salads were really good too. Maybe offer some different add-ins for the salads.

The moist brisket was good. Again, if I got the lean, how dry would it have been? I don’t want to think about that.

The pulled chicken was the big loser along with the Italian dressing.

Oh, and our cashier. I don’t think she could have been less enthusiastic for us to be there or her being there for that matter.

When we’re in the area again, we’ll stick to something else. Maybe Portillo’s, or Outback, or someplace else. We...

Feb 14th 2018 Decided to try this place out for lunch and I did liked it. The restaurant itself has a nice ambiance not that of a fast food joint. You do approach big menus on the wall, place your order, wait for it to be made then you find a seat. Seating was pretty full and we were there during lunch hour 12:39 so make sure you have a seat before placing your order otherwise not sure what you would do. All meals for just a sandwich is about $8 plus then add $3 for 1 side and drink. My meal was around $13 for a sandwich not to bad but not cheap. I went with a friend so we each got a different sandwich so we could try 2 vs 1. All sandwiches are dry rubbed and only one the brisket has both dry and with sauce offered. We tried the Pulled Pork Traditional and the Chopped Brisket Marinated in Memphis Belle and I really liked the brisket myself. The sauce is not to harsh or spicy and not overly sweet. The pulled pork was also very good but I would get the brisket again. Mind you when you sit at the table you have 6 bottles of sauces to try on your sandwich so you could put the same sauce on the brisket on your other sandwiches. We also tried the fries which were just basic fries nothing to right home about but we did also tried the Maggie's Mac-N-Cheese which was awesome just wish it was a tad bit bigger serving, it was the size of your typical take out coleslaw container size. Staff friendly and willing to answer questions. I enjoyed my meal, my friend wished the sandwiches were a tad bigger for the price, I thought they were fine. Good food, tad pricey for a lunch and super...

Great food, great staff, great concept. Love design of restaurant honoring our heroes. Love the different types of sauces you can try to find what suits you that day, that meal, or that type of meat. The staff is great about explaining menu. IF YOU HAVEN'T BEEN HERE... GO INSIDE.. NOT THE DRIVE THRU. If delivery..ask questions be sure you understand. Menu is a little quirky. But once you get it and figure out sauces you're golden and you'll be craving this. Don't be afraid to ask if they can make any changes either. They were so sweet. Some things they could not do but the worst anyone can say is no. You'll have a better experience asking for clarifications and you'll love the food more because they, or someone in line will help you figure it out. The crew working there were patient and once you look at full menu and possibly ask a few questions.. try some sauce then, you're set to do it faster. The food was hot, fresh, and fairly fast (but I wasn't watching a clock if it'd fit for short lunch. If you have 1hr yep. If you're trying to run back and forth in 30 min I wouldn't. I'd just bring it home for dinner.) It was a LOT of food. If you don't want to stuff yourself you can have lunch the next day. Especially if you add dessert. lol Anyway what I'm saying is don't miss this if you're in the area. It's really good and between the 6 BBQ sauces, I'm sure you'll find at least one that's mouth...