Lillie's Q Open To The Public 7/29

Lillie's Q, aiming to bring award-winning competition BBQ and elevated Southern favorites to the former Aberdeen space in Bucktown, will open to the public at 5pm Thursday, July 29.

Lillie's Q (located at 1856 W North Ave; 773.772.5500) will serve lunch and dinner seven days a week. Lillie's Q will open at 11am daily. Lillie's Q will close at 2am Sunday through Friday (3am Saturday). The Lillie's Q kitchen will be open until 11pm Sunday through Friday (midnight Saturday). Lillie's Q has an 86 person inside capacity (with about 60 seats) and a 22-seat outdoor patio.

Lillie's Q owner/chef Charlie McKenna, a former sous chef at both Tru and Avenues, co-owns and co-opened Lillie's Q in Destin, Florida, with his parents in July 2008. The Lillie's Q team (McKenna, his father, and two friends) won numerous awards on the competition BBQ circuit including ones at Memphis In May -- which is widely regarded as the world championships of BBQ. All of Lillie's Q's marinades, sauces, rubs, and its signature 15-ingredient "Carolina Dirt" rub were created by McKenna over the past seven years and are used at the Lillie's Q in Destin, FL, on the competition BBQ circuit, and will be used in the Lillie's Q Chicago location.

Lillie's Q took first place in the Memphis in May pork shoulder category in 2007 and also took first place in the Memphis in May tomato sauce category in 2006. Lillie's Q has placed in the top ten in the Memphis In May pork shoulder category the last five years (2006-2010).

Lillie's Q is named after two of McKenna's family members. Lillie refers to his maternal grandmother who taught him how to cook Southern favorites as child while visiting his grandparents numerous times a year in Greenville, SC. While the "Q" stands BBQ, it's also a homage to McKenna's father, Quito, who first immersed McKenna in the art of BBQ in the late 70s.

Lillie's Q Menu Highlights (Full Menu Attached)
The BBQ menu portion of the Lillie's Q in Chicago will be limited to pork shoulder, tri-tip, chicken, and baby back ribs. The pork shoulder (8 hours), tri-tip (2.5 hours), chicken (1.5 - 2 hours), and baby back ribs (5 hours) will be smoked over peach wood at 225 degrees in two 7-foot by 6-foot custom built smokers made in Perry, Georgia. The pork, tri-tip and chicken will be available as sandwiches, by the half pound, and by the pound. The baby back ribs will be available by four ribs, eight ribs, and 12 ribs.

The signature side dish at Lillie's Q will be the baked beans studded with housemade & house-smoked bacon in a mixture of Smoky sauce, brown sugar and molasses that are smoked for four hours underneath the pork shoulders - a perfect spot for the beans to absorb pork shoulder drippings from above. Other sides will include housemade bacon-fat abetted cornbread with Tupelo honey butter, macaroni and cheese, Southern cole slaw, caramelized corn on the cob, handcut seasoned fries and handcut sweet potato fries.

Lillie's Q starters include fried pickles, housemade pimento cheese, and boiled peanuts. "Non Q" entree items include BBQ Shrimp & Grits, an individual Low Country Boil dumped on paper tableside, and an 8oz Prime burger cold smoked at 100 degrees for an hour.

A small desert menu will be highlighted by housemade creations like Banana Pudding (bananas, Nila Wafers, pudding, topped with a "Baked Alaska style" vanilla meringue), Strawberry Shortcake Biscuits, and a seasonal cobbler.

Lillie's Q has five signature housemade sauces: Smoky (15-ingredient Memphis-style sweet sauce), Hot Smoky (15-ingredient Memphis-style hot and sweet sauce), Carolina (15-ingredient Western Carolina-style vinegar and tomato base sauce), Ivory (15 ingredient Alabama-style white sauce with a vinegar and pepper kick), and the Carolina Gold (15-ingredient South Carolina-style mustard base sauce). All five sauces and two rubs will be for sale at Lillie's Q. Soon, McKenna will also create a rotating BBQ sauce of the month.
Lillie's Q Beverage Program (Beer List Attached)
Lillie's Q will sport a full liquor bar, and will feature a functional 4-foot tall copper moonshine still behind the bar that will rotate serving two small batch moonshines. All of Lillie Q's specialty cocktails - like a housemade smoked Bloody Mary and an Arnold Palmer riff - will be moonshine based and served in mason jars.

Lillie's Q will have six all-American craft beers on tap - including a specialty beer made by Chicago-based Metropolitan Brewing that was designed to pair well with Lillie's Q's signature rubs and sauces. Lillie's Q will feature a rotating list of about 30 all-American craft beers served in bottles and cans. Lillie's Q will also have a very limited all-American wine list.

Lillie's Q Design
Nick Bowers + Di - Zin, Inc. (behind the recently completed Epic Sky) is the new Chicago-based interior architectural design firm behind the complete gut and remodel of The Aberdeen and transforming it into Lillie's Q. The bright and lively interior will feature actual butcher meat hook lighting fixtures wired with dangling Edison bulbs; a classic foot petal sink outside of the bathrooms; 4"x8" bevelEd White subway tile; reclaimed farmhouse wooded tables, booths, and bar top; gun-metal silver chairs and bar stools; cast irons signs; and black and white photographs.

More About Chef/Owner Charlie McKenna
The son of an Air Force colonel, McKenna was born in Santa Maria, CA, lived all over the country growing up, and attended high school in North Dakota. Prior to opening Lillie's Q in Destin, FL, with his parents, McKenna took on the role of opening general manager of Lucky Strike in Chicago specifically to learn about the financial and front of the house aspects of the business from 2005-2008, and he also helped open four other Lucky Strikes around the country. McKenna was the sous chef from 2002-2005 at Avenues in The Peninsula. After graduating from the Culinary Institute of America in New York in 2000, McKenna spent a year and a half cooking at Tru and left as sous chef. McKenna also cooked at Norman's in Coral Gables, FL, under legendary chef Norman Van Aken. McKenna is also a Florida State University graduate.