ManBQue was born in Chicago – birthplace of pretty much every delicious idea fueled by beer and self-confidence. That first night, we were seven guys on a rooftop, realizing we hadn’t been making the time to get together, grill meats, drink beer, and catch up with each other. The idea to do it every month, like all beer-fueled 2 a.m. ideas, seemed fantastic at the time. But for once, the meat-stuffed boozers in question stuck to it. And then we did it the next month. And the month after that. Before we knew it, friends were bringing new friends who were bringing their own new friends. The Tribune came calling. Chicago’s Best TV came around not long after. The Today Show shot a segment, and we got the singularly odd experience of hearing Ann Curry and Al Roker say “ManBQue” on air. Their envious faux-horror at our Midwestern eating habits led to a book, which led to another book, which brings us to you today. If you ever need a hilarious fact at a party, mention that Jacques Pepin, Rick Bayless, and ManBQue all share the same agent. It’s true, and it’s just as bizarre to us as it is to you.
The whole time we were bringing in new meat fanatics, we were still MEATing every month (that’s not us being cute – they’re called MEATings) and throwing beer to ice and meat to fire. And we still do it on the last Thursday of every single month. If it’s 90 degrees at night, we grill. If it’s -20 and the weatherman’s calling for an icy hellscape, we’re still grilling. We started ManBQue to cook good food and enjoy great beer, and we’ve done it every month since we started this thing in 2006. We’ve cooked at Baconfest twice, we’ve catered for Goose Island beer releases, and we’ve even bested a Michelin-starred restaurant in a straight bare-knuckle hot dog cookoff.
(Once. When were were having the greatest cooking day of our lives. Oh god, we hope he’s not reading this.)
So that brings you to here, scrolling bizarrely far down a rote bio page on a website. Here’s were we mess around, play with new recipes and techniques, and try to pass on our love of good food and cold beer. Cook something, drink something, and come on out to tell us about it.
Welcome to the cult. Welcome to ManBQue!
Very cool!
Makes the heart warm. Haha
[…] MANBQUE wrote a love letter to Chicago! […]
I have been on the eating of your adventure. You and your brother taught me a lot about smoking and cooking. All I can say is your last ribs were the best. Have to go my mouth is watering.
luvs me sum bar b q!!
I know nothing about how you do it, but yours is the best smoked meat I have ever put in my mouth! Ha!
Fantastic post! Looking forward to the next one. And to tasting the next round of Flaming Meat Sushi, a la Detroit.
great post! I also want to know about the moment when you realized you love beer.
There’s just nothing like a fine bourbon.
NICE
Love this! It’s nice to know that when I want to drink a beer, I’ve got someone to guide me to a unique and flavorful brew!
OK Mike, what the hell is this ManBQue thing. You know me I love me some barbecued meat and have had some wild beer obsessions over the years. Even have some 18+ year old Samuel Adams Triple Bock in my basement. What’s the story here?
hmmm, I need to try this one! Bacon S’mores – can’t go wrong.
Nice Work Lukas!!! Now give me your sausage!!!
Shucking techniques (from one who generally shucks 3 doz ersters an 3 doz clems every goldurn Christmas day…): 1) As suggested, get a proper oyster knife. DON’T try to use a butter knife, puddin’head. 2) Have a bowl or container nearby to pour oyster liquor in. 3) Have a damp bar towel nearby, with which to hold the erster whilst you shuck. 4) place the erster with the deep side of the shell on the bottom. 5) stick the point of the knife into the joint of the shells; wiggle, rock and press into the joint CAREFULLY until you feel it pop. 6) holding the erster over the bowl, slip the knife across the top shell to sever the adductor from the shell. 7) drain the liquor into the bowl. 8) sever the muscle from the bottom of the shell, as mentioned. 8) put on your plate, iced bowl or baking sheet; grab the next one and repeat. 9) when done, spoon a bit of liquor back into the erster and complete above recipe, or another of your own choosing.
Do I remember shucking oysters…………
And BTW, Bryson…you owe me one of these.
And thank goodness for that…It’s one of my favorite deep, dark, cold-as-Mr.Burns’-heart, dead o winter pleasures…the warmth, the sweetness, the caramel aromas, the burn over the tongue and throat…and finally, the physical release that comes with a nice big jolt finely-crafted alcohol to the system. It doesn’t get any better than that!
Bud Lite in a kegger!
No Pork Shoppe!?! (California and Belmont)
If you like, you can challenge @[762384512:2048:Lukas Gelman] to a duel at the MEATing on the 28th. First to eat six pounds of lamb wins.
Pork Shoppe is in my top 3.
I said there was a 100 way tie for 10th, that not good enough?
Obviously it isn’t, Gelman. Get your shit together!
Everyone shoots the messenger, Luke. Luckily I talked about one sandwich and a place 350 miles away.
Uncle Bubbs and Pork Shoppe were left off this list but Real “Urban” BBQ made it?
you are the godfather of mbq right? better get that shit in line quick!
I think there needs to be a substitute for Lillie’s Q on account of, you know, the water heater barbecuing the rest of the restaurant.
Bad timing on their part, makes us look like assholes.
Uh, I beg to differ with JB about the urbanity of Frank Lloyd Wright…
This recipe looks tasty and its really fucking funny. John Carruthers does a great job with this stuff. You should also check out the recipes posted on Man B Que’s website. It’s some good shit right there.
Quit fuckin swearing, bro
Man, who writes your material!
When I went to Amsterdam I went to Beer Temple which was a mostly American beer bar and Proeflokaal Arendsnest.
Great start to this series!
Sadly, I was only there for 1 day. But I might be going to Brugges this May and could make a trip back to Amsterdam.
well said JB – Little known fact: when canned tomatoes where first introduced into the market the acid was eating into the cans and was not only rusting the cans at an alarming rate, but the chemical reaction was getting people very sick. It took a while before they (scientists) developed the right coating to protect the metal from the acid, next time you open a can of tomatoes (Im pretty sure we all use them you pretentious foodie assholes) notice the coating on the inside of the can.
Yeah, putting acidic food into a cast iron pan is a great way to completly fuck up the years of seasoning your gram-ma painstakingly and patiently perfected. You want to fuck with gram-ma’s pan? I didn’t think so.
It’s nice to see a bunch of men bonding over cast iron cooking implements…warms my cockles!
I just got into the cast iron age in my house – haven’t used another pan since
And for those of you not in the know, Death Toll brewed the beer he mad the bread with. Way to go, Henny Penny!
Man shit.
Right on, ManBQue! You know you’re beer. Speaking of stouts, I hear Founders KBS will be on tap at a familiar bar very soon. I also hear that they will be raffling off a bottle of Founders CBS (Canadian Breakfast Stout from 2011) that night as well. I hear both are pretty “okay” stouts as far as stouts go. But, what do I know. It’s just “hear say” and probably all false anyway.
Genius: “It’s a callback to the days before brewers decided to perform a hopkakke on all of their lighter beers”.
oh my lord… do not know if want.
I ended up cooking the spinach with Garlic in a frying pan till it was perfect.. then cooked my pizza doe about 3/4 the way – about 5 minutes.. then topped the pizza with sauce (freshly cooked and a bit hotter than room temp…. then put the cooked spinach on…then added the cheese (goat / Ricotta / fresh Mozz) then put it back in for 5 minutes – came out awesome! though next time I will add pine nuts when cooking the spinach.
Doe??? Really?
Mmm bacon vodka og kød glas JA DA! I JUST LOVE PORK.
sådan
sounds so great must try this soon!
Are you leaving the shot glasses IN the meat wrappers while cooking, or removing them?
Based on what I read in the recipe, I think the glass stays in until the cooking is done.
Presumably that means you would want to be very careful taking the glass out once you have cooked the shot glasses in the grill.
I’m sorry this just really looks gross.
Would make for good Bloody Marys!
Trying this weekend.
Huey? Dolly? My case has been rested.
My guilty musical pleasures: Def Leppard and Rick Springfield.
Lite 100.3? No wonder your sister says your the biggest pussy in the family.
And I like Melissa Forman, too, but I won’t listen to her station…
I would like to win, I mean participate in this event. how does one go about signing up to blow the minds of these wing eaters?
Email me – editor[at]ManBQue.com and I’ll make sure you’re in the loop.
MMMMMMMMmmmmmm — I love meat in my mouth!
Yeah you do!!!
That’s what she said.
Yup, I remember Cabo.
I hate it when you talk with your mouth full!!
WoW…. Good pizza!
I’m wondering how to cook the roast itself. In a shallow baking pan (2 inches?) and do I cover it with foil or just leave it open?
I could eat more wings.
Yeah, and I’m tired of burgers, too.
I think it’s long overdue that Manbque had a sausage fest. I promise if we do it, I will make something different than my already award winning Beer Bacon Cheddar Sausages.
Gotta go with Tomax on the fish tacos: as an added level of flavor, I like to grill the fruit for my salsa (be it pineapple, mango, cantaloupe, etc.) and caramelize the sugars a bit before dicing to make the salsa. I also add some shredded radicchio.
Cool photo. Tis one of mine. =)
This is your recipe!
yum
*Sniff* It’s beautiful……..
If the smelliness of the five boys (under the age of 22) that stayed at my home this weekend was any indication of what I might have experienced on a mass scale, I feel safer having stayed home.
Also, when questioned about the most EPIC band performing that weekend? “Ah, man, AFI. TOTALLY.”
Sigh.
If they were smelly boys over the age of 32 they would have said, “Ah, man, The Replacements. Totally.”
Thanks for the recap…other than the couple that you mentioned, did you see any music?
Guided by Voices and The Replacements, were there other bands playing?
Brilliant recap. I feel like I was there.
Make sure to do a quick run around your block in damp, muddy socks then jump in the shower with all of your clothes on for the full experience…
I’m still super sad I didn’t get to go… Aside from the “muddy” portapotties.
This is pretty hysterical, I really enjoyed it, thank you. I love that Bikram is mentioned, he really does look like a lesbian woman. You are spot on the 13 year old shithead mentality that he has never evolved from. It is so sad, that someone with his power acts like such a douche.
Our thoughts exactly, Anna! This kid sucks so bad.
-The Godfather
Ohhhh come onnnnnnnnnn How can you possibly hate on Radiohead?
The best thing about the new style Juke Boxes, its a rich mans game, you pump and dump a touch tunes full of enough play nows and you can right the ship while watching the underlings deal with they’re songs not being played.
Other songs that should have made this list:
Mumford and Sons
anything New Metal or Screamo or “Suburban Punk”
Great Alternatives:
To Journey: Sweet Madame Blue by Styx, or anything by Boston
To Neil: Rod Stewart (other than do you think im sexy) and James Taylor
Radiohead: Pixies
Zack Brown Band: IDK i think that song is the alternative for most country music played… basically if country is being played.. hope that song comes on
can you please add red solo cup?
Amen…
When I’m drinking metal does it for me… or silence. I try to go to places where the d-bags aren’t putting crap on the speakers and making us all suffer. They should be doused in Malort and set on fire.
How’ve you been, Jesse?
One time while i was drinking at quenchers someone played the entire Ritual de lo Habitual album. That album is a compilation of 8-minute bummers. I wanted to punch whoever that was in the face.
This is why I hate the new digital jukeboxes. Sure you get the ability to search out the song you want, but it allows so much awfulness into the world as well. I love any bar that continues to hang on to the CD jukebox and takes the effort to keep good things in it and bad things out.
Who the fuck is the Zac Brown Band?
Nice review. Now I might have to go out and get some o’ that Proprietor’s shit…
Can you guys recommend a beer to drink while on a toilet in West Ridge pondering why my toilet still leaks despites efforts at changing the wax ring?
I would love to hear your opinion on Lockdown Bar and Grill (http://www.lockdownbar.com). I have always been a big fan or their burgers!
MH
Hey, I’m a season behind! I had a SKA Autumnal Mole Stout today (SKA BREWING – DURANGO, CO) at Howells & Hood in the Trib Tower (someone else was paying!) It was a sweet stout, I guess…this is their description:
“The Autumnal Mole Stout is an ale brewed with cocoa nibs, spices and three varieties of chile peppers: Mulato, Ancho and Hatch green chiles, also known as Anaheim Peppers. ”
To me, it tasted a bit too strongly of cumin and maybe the ancho chiles. I enjoyed it…but not nearly as much as the Unholy Mole! You guys should be proud of that stuff, motherfuckers!
Thanks, buddy, for eating all these burgers for me…it’s just hard to get away sometimes, but I feel I was almost there reading this review. And I will DEF be going to Tumans with Brett one of these days soon! Oprah, ya got a date!
HEY, SHOW ALERT! Death is gonna be playing Reggie’s on New Years Eve, baby!
OMG, Hawkwind! Saw them at The Fucking Auditorium Theatre in 1974…first balcony…just totally intense! They had just careened through some long number and then brought it down to a whisper, when some poor young shirtless dude stood up a couple of sections over and yelled “MY GOD, HELP ME!”
His friends carried him out, flailing, a couple of minutes later…
Hey, I was just kidding about the “I’m buying” part…
This recipe is pure Sex.
Thanks for this! LOVE me some raw food, especially proteins. Brett did himself proud with this one (it’s NOT a second place dish anywhere else unless Tomax is there…). And did I mention how beautiful the photo is? Thanks, Aubrey!
Cheers and Kudos to Clint at Lake Effect!! We went through that barrel of Unholy Mole real quick and now people are calling to make sure we still have some of the next stout he created…Espresso gone Stout…We just finished our barrel of Scurry which was on Nitro and we still have just a few BCS Proprietor and barleywine in addition to the coffee, rye and 2013 edition. Come stop by and join me for some real good beers!! Cheers!!
We’re going to be bottling the Unholy Mole in January. We should talk about collaborating on an event!
I recommend chasing pepto and ibuprofen with parrot bay instant piña coladas, a frozen 5% malt beverage in Capri sun packaging
Oh, FUCK yeah! I’m old enough to remember when this album came out, and may even have a (uh, borrowed) copy in my LP collection. “Summertime Blues” was an awesome chart hit in a day when AM pop radio could still somehow actually play good songs.
And btw, the flip side of the 45 release was a song called “Out of Focus”…gee, I wonder what that was about!
I think the first Sabbath album is way overrated, sonically. Maybe the songs are good but it sounds like it was recorded on scotch magic tape through a 100 watt wastebasket, making the songs (no matter how good War Pigs is, which could be debated in this forum…) far less powerful than they ought to be for a band purporting to be the harbingers of the Antichrist.
How about reviewing The Magician’s Birthday by Uriah Heep?…another band that truly paved the way for metal.
But where do those little barrels come from? Did you address that and I missed it??
D’oh! A great point, dear Reader Ana. A small bit of googling revealed these sources:
http://oakbarrelsltd.com/
http://www.barrelsonline.com/default.aspx?AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1
And may I remind one and all, Prince played that set on an electric guitar in the driving fucking rain. He’s lucky he didn’t turn into Purple Smoke! Simply THE BEST SBHTS evah!
And, who’s Bruno Mars?
Agreed! While most halftime shows are whitewashed marketing BS, Prince took things to a whole other level. Amazing how many people forget what a great musician he is! I think he won the Super Bowl that year.
Hello,
I saw your Manbque Stadium online and I’d love to show it on an upcoming episode of ABC’s The Chew, which would be distributed across our various media platforms.
Could we get your permission to show your photo on The Chew?
Thanks in advance for your help!
Best,
Meg
Hi Meg,
We make all sorts of meat creations. Feel free to use, just make sure you give us credit 🙂 If you need anything else feel free to contact us a info@manbque.com
Awesome primer for me…in 1992 I had two kids and hadda sneak into the basement to “listen to music” (ahem…cough,cough). Guess I’ll have to git me some o’ this Chronic.
Thanks, this looks exactly like what I was looking for; something to make this Midwest winter just a little less painful.
Thanks for the hat tip 😉
Home made sausages are fantastic! Probably since you know what they contain och you have selected the spices yourself 🙂
[…] We’re still not done mourning the epic loss that is Harold Ramis. So, we’ll be watching this on repeat for the next few […]
Hey, add a shot of gin to that wheatbeer-grapefruit concoction, and now you’ve got a real cocktail. Add a slice of lime to fancy it up a bit. I’ma gonna be experimenting quite a bit this summer with beer/booze combinations…it’s easy to make a cocktail with classic ingredients (booze, sour, sweet, bitters), but will be much more invigorating to use brews in addition to the other ingredients.
Gotta disagree with you about smoking steaks. As a one-step smoke your steak low and slow until done, yes, you are right. But doing a reverse sear on a thick steak by smoking it at 225f until it hits 115f internal, then throwing it on a super hot grill to sear until done is a thing of beauty. You get some smoke flavour and you get a steak that’s done more evenly than just straight grilling.
Only works with steaks that are 1.5″ and up, but I know you’re not cooking those little steaks anyway.
A quality steak doesn’t have much collagen and connective tissue to break down at low temperature, so the cumulative effect isn’t nearly as dramatic. Add to that the need to get a butcher to custom-cut 1.5″+ steaks, and it’s pretty clear that smoking is not the best application for a steak. It seems like the effect you’re describing could be achieved with a cold-smoking gun post-sear. Which isn’t to say we won’t give your way a shot. For science, you see.
Oh, you motherfuckers are making me hungry!
Skip the beer, start with Jamo!
Thanks for the legal disclaimer! I think I’ll go chug a bottle of Jamo now and kiss a cop!
[…] this ingenious take on the drink lets the whole Bloody Mary (shot) sit in its own beef container. (Recipe) […]
IDK about anyone else but Im pretty excited for High On Fire at the Empty Bottle!!
Jesus Christ! You weren’t kidding about “Get This Money”.
no mention of Waynes world?
the coolest event I have ever been to…..some many people from all over the world ….hanging out …sharing beer and stories and new friends. #EPIC
Worst beer – warm Hamms, with Dishonorable mention to Keystone, MGD 64 and Mickey’s Malt Liquor.
Deep v. Thin – who gives a rat’s ass, I just scrape the cheeze and meat off and leave the fuckin’ crust, anyway. We got 99 problems, but crust ain’t one.
Worst “celebrity” ditty – anything from this worthless compilation…http://www.amazon.com/Spaced-Out-Leonard-William-Shatner/dp/B0000089JE
Thank you for reviewing (I would never accuse you of actually listening to) these songs so we don’t have to.
Just doing my job, sir. Interesting side effect of listening to that much bad music: every time I push the lever down on my toaster now, I hear the screaming of a thousand tortured ghosts.
These are magnificent tips. Thank you.
Great job guys! It seems that Daisy Cutter got lost among the giants. Would not dispute Zombie Dust as #1 it’s perfection in a 12oz bottle. As for the RIS Old Rasputin is best on the nitro pull.
Ahh! Soy sauce! That is gross.
Love!
No Revolution love? 🙁
Anti Hero would be a great addition to the line up. We’ll be sure to include them in the next taste off!
I love Moz myself but I just try to turn a blind eye to his antics.
How to fat-wash (side benefit, you get to eat the bacon):
Vodka goes in a lidded container. Cook some bacon. Eat it. Filter the still-warm pan drippings through a coffee filter or paper towel so they’re nice and clean. pour the liquid filtered drippings into the vodka. Doesn’t take a lot; 5% or so of the volume of vodka is plenty. Lid up, and shake vigorously for about 20 seconds so you get an emulsion. Leave it alone for a day, then pop into the fridge until well-chilled. Run chilled vodka through a fresh coffee filter or paper towel in a funnel back into its original bottle or other suitable container for storage.
Works nicely for whiskey too. Ham fat is awesome in a sweetish rum.
Revolution does it again…can’t wait to tap into a Dos Osos!
Awesome! I especially appreciate tip #4…this whole “searing in” nonsense was disproven by Harold McGee back in the fucking 80s, yet I still hear “chefs” touting it as God’s Truth. Maybe on Faux Newz…and YES, FOR GOD’S SAKE, let it rest a bit.
Now for me, I’ma gonna try and convince the old lady that the bison ribeye in the freezer needs “liberation”…happy 4th, all!
Nice article, though I have to say that I think Chad Kroeger’s eyes are framed by his dark-n-stormy eyebrows…but I nitpick with the editorial choices. Nice Michaelangelo rip, howevs.
Oh, and did Madison Rising really spell it “…Regan”? Maybe they thought former Treasury Secretary Donald Regan actually ran the show back then (lord knows Ronnie hadn’t a clue), in which case I’d suggest that MR has their collective thumbs on a new and totally jaw-dropping conspiracy theory which will blow anything from The Motely Fool to pieces…
Finally…”except Memphis”? Puh-lease, that’s pretty much unforgivable blasphemy for men who claim to respect BBQ and music…now excuse me while I kiss this guy.
Love it!
It all sounds like Spinal Tap to me…
Any advice on where one would acquire pork blood? I’m all out of pigs at my house.
Peoria Packing or any of the West Loop butcher places should be able to hook you up. Aside from that, I’ve always had luck with Asian groceries.
We checked it out the other night and while we’re not huge beer drinkers, the food was excellent.
Did they not have the Purple Line beer available for you to taste? The table next to us seemed to really enjoy that one…
I’m surprised SLC Punk isn’t listed. Minor Threat, Adolescents, Dead Kennedy’s… even a little Glen Campbell. Excellent soundtrack.
Fact: Stan Humphries had a fat head and needed specially designed helmets.
I feel his pain. Until Reebok lost the contract to make Bears merch, they literally didn’t make any easy-fitted hats big enough for my head.
Cans really are the best container for beer. Not only does it completely block out harmful light, as mentioned above, cans also completely seal out any oxygen or bacteria. Bottle caps and “cork & cages” are good, but caps can be dented and corks can shrink in which cases oxygen will find it’s way in and ass-rape all the yummy out of your baba. Oxidized!
Smartass: “Well if you lay the bottle on its side, it’ll keep the cork from getting dry.”
Response: Although this is true, laying it done with your moist cork is still not getting the job done. You are still exposing more of that beer to air that’s already in the bottle. Look at a full bottle standing upright. That little gap of space at the top of the neck between the surface of the beer and the bottle cap or cork has air. Lay that bottle on it’s side that same space just got a whole lot wider exposing more beer to that air. Not even your moist cork will fill that gap.
Lesson Learned: Be a man. Take it in the can.
moist cork
Nice list John! Wasn’t a big fan of the OAKtoberfest and I still need to pick up some Goose Island’s Oktoberfest. But I do have plenty of Staghorn, what a great beer!
Great article – thanks for the pic of The Ohio Taproom’s mobile taproom — we had a blast serving up Hairless Hare, Zaftig, and Rhinegeist. The Mobile Taproom is available for events and parties state-wide. Thanks again guys — cheers!
[…] guests something that will not only satisfy their hungers but also quench their thirsts, prepare meat shot glasses filled with bacon infused vodka or Bloody Mary’s. These ground beef cup shaped snacks are not […]
How much mustard did you use? My meat was way to loose.
I really have fun with the natural and organic life style, thank you spreading!
Love it! Zauber makes great beer, is a fun place to visit, and Geoff is the best. If you ever get to that part of town, Zauber needs to be on your to-do list! After that, it will probably be on your to-do list all the time! I love the Myopic Red.
And gawd, wasn’t the remix of “Pretty in Pink” just lame? So glad I got out of HS before Ducky and his ilk showed up.
That sounds awesome
I’ll take two of each. Call me in the morning to see if I’m still alive…
We barely scratched the surface, but it’s a good intro for those not familiar with the scene
Pic of Boysetsfire is at Euclid Tavern, Cleveland, OH. Pic of Buried Alive is at Fire Exit, Columbus, OH. Pic of Earth Crisis is at Alrosa Villa, Columbus, OH.