Lem's

Sorry one more passing post. Going to the New Apartment Lounge
on East 75th in a couple of weeks. Von Freeman on a Tuesday, killer.

Anyway Lem's is 2 blocks away, never been, what do you order?
Also Lem's is all carryout I presume, guess we are eating in the car

Dave

It's always rankled me that this is an impossible double. Unless their hours have changed, Lem's is closed on Tuesdays.

As an alternative, consider an evening at the bar next door on Wednesday. No Von Freeman, but a lively scene on at least one occasion.

Or if you're intent on Von Freeman, you could go to Barbara Ann's...don't miss the hot links.

Cheers,

Aaron

Damn that was way cool, what a complete drag lem's is closed, bummer.
Where the heck is Barbara Ann's again? Is it carry out only?

Great story, I have had some experiences like that on the West Side,
in New Orleans and Mississippi

Dave

Barbara Ann's is at 7617 S. Cottage Grove Ave. There's no sit-down area that I recall, though the restaurant adjoins a motel, so I suppose you could get a room and eat in.

Good luck. BA's ribs are pretty good, too.

Cheers,

Aaron

Aaron Deacon wrote:Barbara Ann's is at 7617 S. Cottage Grove Ave. There's no sit-down area that I recall, though the restaurant adjoins a motel, so I suppose you could get a room and eat in.

Good luck. BA's ribs are pretty good, too.

There isnt any sit-down area at BA's, as you say - purely carryout. If youre
driving it really isnt that far from Lem's, only about 5 minutes away or
less.

Personally I prefer BA to Lem's anyway BA's ribs are pretty good, but
their rib tips are probably better than the ribs - and the hot links are the
best in town, bar none, by a big margin IMHO.

Or, if youre not in the mood for BBQ (or in the mood to sit-down), and on
75th... there is always the new "Cafe Trinidad", for Caribbean-Trinidadian
food (and LTH needs a review, too . And there is the old standby Army
and Lou's for soul on 75th near Lem's too.

c8w

c8w wrote:Or, if youre not in the mood for BBQ (or in the mood to sit-down), and on 75th... there is always the new "Cafe Trinidad", for Caribbean-Trinidadian food (and LTH needs a review, too . And there is the old standby Army and Lou's for soul on 75th near Lem's too.

Tropical Taste is down there too, right? Great jerk chicken. Army & Lou's is also closed on Tuesdays, I believe.

c8w wrote:...Personally I prefer BA to Lem's anyway BA's ribs are pretty good, but their rib tips are probably better than the ribs - and the hot links are the best in town, bar none, by a big margin IMHO. ..

c8w

The hot links at Barbara Ann's are better than the hot links at Lem's? I'm not arguing--I've never been to BA's--but I wouldn't have guessed that a better hot link than Lem's was possible. Can you elaborate?

Thanks.

Kurt

Oh, there's no comparison betwenn BA's links and Lem's links. BA's links are of a coarser grind, you see little bits of pork and fat and seasoning in them. The spiciness of the sausage sets off well against the sweetness of BA's sauce. Lem's on the other hand has a finer sausage grind, which I think, results in a more muted sausage flavor. Also, the lems sauce, as good a match as it is for slabs, is not nearly as good a match for spicy links.

YourPalWill wrote:Oh, there's no comparison betwenn BA's links and Lem's links. BA's links are of a coarser grind, you see little bits of pork and fat and seasoning in them. The spiciness of the sausage sets off well against the sweetness of BA's sauce. Lem's on the other hand has a finer sausage grind, which I think, results in a more muted sausage flavor. Also, the lems sauce, as good a match as it is for slabs, is not nearly as good a match for spicy links.

Thanks for the great description. All I can say is that if it's better than Lem's it must be fantastic. I can't wait to try it.

Kurt

Count me as the one guy who prefers Lem's links, though to be fair, BA's and Lems are both better than just about anything else. BTW, c8w, I mentioned something about Cafe Trinidad on the Monday, the 14th, here. Nice sit-down place with excellent roti.

kvltrede wrote:

YourPalWill wrote:All I can say is that if it's better than Lem's it must be fantastic. I can't wait to try it.

I have had BA's links a couple of times in the past few weeks. I have some advice. If you are interested in an Optimal BA's Links Experience, ask that they be well done.

BA's tips KILL. IMO, they are much better than those at Lem's.

Regards,
Erik M.

OK, I guess I'll have to just try BA's links again. I have room for both at my table, and it's not hard to pull off logistically.

The variations in grinds and spicing among hot links (again, many varieties are on hand at Peoria Packing) is further proof of what a great sausage town Chicago still is.

JeffB wrote:OK, I guess I'll have to just try BA's links again. I have room for both at my table, and it's not hard to pull off logistically.

I'll tell you, the links that they are serving at BA's these days aren't the links that I fell in love with, Jeff. I would swear that the recipe has changed. I tried to describe the difference to Rene G., and I'm still short for words. A more "commercial" tasting product perhaps? Whatever the case, to me, they taste like something that you might find in the Jewel. The flavour seems, I dunno, "focus-grouped." There. That's close enough.

But having them finished off "well" helps out alot.

Oh, and I've found that they are great with the sauce, as mentioned, above. Try blending the mild sauce with the hot sauce. That is just about perfect for me.

Regards,
Erik M.

Erik, your post got me of the couch tonight and down to Barbara Ann's tio try some hot links. You're right. They're still coarsely ground, there are still bits of flaked spice in the meat. But, it just doen't come together like it used to. Don't get me wrong. It's still very good. But, it's not what it used to be.

I just had BA's tips and hot links on Wednesday for the first time, and must agree that they were the best that I have had in Chicago (and the links might compare with the best anywhere). If you like a coarse ground sausage they are an excellent choice. BA's sauce doesn't have the complexity of Bryant's, for example, but it is very flavorful, nicely sweet, and has the right level of heat.

I had been disappointed with the ribs that I ordered from Lem's, but I ordered them at the end of the day, and the tips at BA's early.

Timing is everything.

JeffB wrote:Count me as the one guy who prefers Lem's links, though to be fair, BA's and Lems are both better than just about anything else. BTW, c8w, I mentioned something about Cafe Trinidad on the Monday, the 14th, here. Nice sit-down place with excellent roti.

Yes, saw that, thanks JeffB. Sounded well worth a try - unfortunately I
*still* havent made it there to actually eat (just stopped in that one time
and picked up a menu Its a long way away, and when one makes
the trek it invariably ends up with BA's tip-link-combo

I think the next time, I'll stop in and have lunch at Cafe Trinidad instead -
and then pick up BA's and use it for dinner. They dont have as large
a menu for lunch IIRC, but still carry quite enough roti-with-meat, no?
Id especially like to see how well they do goat. And a side of chana-dal
and collards might be interesting, just to be able to say "I once ate
chana-dal and collard greens in the same restaurant"

c8w

YourPalWill wrote:Erik, your post got me of the couch tonight and down to Barbara Ann's tio try some hot links. You're right. They're still coarsely ground, there are still bits of flaked spice in the meat. But, it just doen't come together like it used to. Don't get me wrong. It's still very good. But, it's not what it used to be.

Unlike the two of you, I didnt come to BA's *that* early I suppose I linked to
Erik's old CH post,a ndi t was back in 2002 IIRC - hadnt been to BA's back
then. I did make it there a few times before they remodelled (which was what,
late 2003?), and have made it back much more often since. So, maybe I
dont know their "old" link at all - it sounds like it must have been quite
amazing.

At least from pre-remodelling and post, I dont knowif Ive noticed a big
difference - theyve always been very good. Once or twice it hasnt been
as good, maybe a timing factor - but in general theyve been fairly
consistently great. And thats quite unusual with most restaurants, really.

Will's description was excellent - its probably the coarser grind that makes
BA's a personal fave over Lem's, to me. Its probably spicier too, I
think - I like the red flakes in the meat and all that. In general I think Iam
a bigger fan of BA's than Lem's anyway, from the personal experiences
Ive had.

And thanks, Erik, for the "well-done" tip - never requested that of them
before. Ive tried the hot-mild-combo sauce (dont think I knew they did
that until you mentioned it a while ago , and its worked well enough
usually.

c8w

HI,

Has anybody told Barbara Ann's directly you've noticed a change in their links? Either they switched recipes or vendors, maybe a few comments might make them reconsider their current link offering. They'll never know their clients thoughts about their links until they're told.

did a side by side taste test recently with Lems and Barbara Ann's, Lem's won.

What has happened to Barbara Ann's?, didn't have the deep smoke flavor I used to enjoy and the sauce seemed off.

Is there a difference between a "hot link" and a "sausage"? Certainly a hot link is a sausage but is "hot link" a style like "Polish" or "Italian" or is a hot link considered something else altogether? Please forgive my obvious ignorance. I'm very familiar with brats and Polish but I'm new to hot links.

The reason I ask is that some friends and I did a head-to-head with Lem's and Barbara Ann's hot links. FWIW, we found the Lem's hot link to be a clear winner but we also found them different enough so that it could be said we were comparing, well, not apples and oranges but, say, Fuji apples and Granny Smiths. The Barbara Ann's hot link reminded us of a spicier Polish sausage--very, very tasty but substantially different from Lem's link. I wouldn't say that a head-to-head taste-off really proves anything.

FWIW, the three of us would choose the Lem's link over the BA link without a second thought and we'd choose the well-done BA link over the standard BA link. Thanks to Erik for that tip. Frankly, the standard BA link has sizable chunks of fat that aren't particularly appetizing. Getting them cooked well-done takes care of that quite nicely.

As for rib tips, we preferred BA's rib tips over Lem's and we were particularly enamored of BA's mild and mixed sauce.

Kurt

kvltrede wrote:Is there a difference between a "hot link" and a "sausage"? Certainly a hot link is a sausage but is "hot link" a style like "Polish" or "Italian" or is a hot link considered something else altogether? Please forgive my obvious ignorance. I'm very familiar with brats and Polish but I'm new to hot links.

Yeah, a hot link is just a style of sausage. Ideally it's also a method of preparing said sausage, but not everyone smokes their hot links.

That being said, the name "hot link sausage" to me just implies a spicy sausage in link form. I think, though, that anyone you said "hot link" to would assume you meant the type sold at bbq joints.

In my experience, the Chicago hot link is a rather unique subset, heavy on the sage and red pepper with a very course grind. Texas is lousy with hot links, no doubt owing to the German and Bohemian heritage that pervades much of the cue. However, the TX links I've had, while delicious, are not nearly as rustic or breakfasty tasting as the Chicago link. Much more like a Polish.

No hot links in Carolina and rare or invisible in other BBQ meccas I've been. KC is my big blank spot, BBQ wise. I know they do links (what don't they BBQ, I mean they smoke spaghetti sauce), but I don't know if the link follows the Chicago or the TX model.

PS, I know KC doesn't "follow" when it comes to BBQ, it was just and expression.

As an expatriate Texan who has traveled across the real Southern hot-link states (Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi), I admit that the designation is confusing and I have realized that the perfect hot link is in the eye of the beholder.

"Hot links" come in fine-grind, coarse-grind, smoked, unsmoked, beef, pork, mixtures of beef/pork/chicken, mild to eye-wateringly spicy, meaty to grease-bombs, thumb-sized to rings to long continuous chained links.

I love them all, and have never met a sausage that I didn't like (with all due credit to and apologies to the spirit of Will Rogers). My personal favorite is a coarsely ground all-beef smoked ring.

I am posting a link (damn, I like the way that came out), on Shopping & Cooking to a source for sausage-making recipes. If there's any interest there, I'll post sources for mail-ordering various kinds of TX/Southern hot links.

Cheers,
Wade